Texas · Bexar County

San Antonio Authority

Population

1,479,835

Median income

$65,056

Median age

35

Figures from U.S. Census ACS — each figure links to its source query.

Also known as: Sanantonio Metro Authority

San Antonio is one of those cities that tends to surprise people who have not looked at the numbers recently. It is the largest city in Bexar County and, according to Census ACS 5-Year data, home to a population of 1,479,835, which places it among the largest municipalities in the United States by a comfortable margin. The city is also, by several measurable indicators, considerably more affordable than its size might suggest.

Population and Demographics

Census ACS 5-Year 2023 data puts San Antonio's total population at 1,479,835, with 547,883 total households, of which 338,609 are family households. The Hispanic or Latino population stands at 939,737, making it the largest demographic group in the city. The white population is recorded at 704,055, the Black population at 101,390, and the Asian population at 44,616. These figures reflect a city whose demographic composition is, in the most literal sense, majority-minority.

The median age, derived from Census ACS demographics, is 34.9 years. Children under 18 account for 348,859 residents, or 23.6 percent of the population, while the 18-to-34 cohort numbers 393,867. The age profile, taken together, suggests a city that skews toward what demographers tend to call a young professional character, though the presence of nearly a quarter of the population under 18 complicates any tidy label.

Housing Affordability

Calculated from Census median income and home value data, San Antonio's price-to-income ratio sits at 3.6, and rent as a share of median income runs at 24.4 percent. Both figures place the city in the affordable range by conventional benchmarks, which is a somewhat unusual distinction for a city of this scale. Many American cities of comparable population have long since crossed into ratios that make routine housing decisions genuinely difficult for median-income households. San Antonio has not, at least not yet by these measures.

Climate

The nearest weather station with reliable long-term data, San Antonio Incarnate Word, located 3.8 miles from the city center, records an average temperature of 69.3 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 18.3 inches, according to NOAA ACIS. That precipitation figure is notably modest for a city in the southern United States, and it has practical implications for water planning that the Texas Water Code addresses at some length, including provisions under TX WA Code § WA.7.302 governing the grounds for revocation or suspension of water permits, a regulatory framework that reflects how seriously the state treats water resource management in a region where rainfall is not something one can simply count on.

Air Quality

The EPA AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 days with an AQI reading in San Antonio. Of those, 174 were classified as good days and 170 as moderate. Twenty days fell into the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups category, and 2 days were classified as unhealthy. No very unhealthy or hazardous days were recorded. The maximum AQI reached 199. This profile is broadly consistent with a large inland city that experiences periodic ozone events, particularly in warmer months, without the sustained poor-air stretches associated with some larger metropolitan areas.

Broadband Access

According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, 100 percent of the city's 648,012 housing units have access to service at 25/3 Mbps, 100/20 Mbps, and 250/25 Mbps thresholds. Access at the 1,000/100 Mbps tier reaches 67.9 percent of units. Full gigabit coverage, in other words, is not yet universal, but the baseline connectivity picture is notably complete.

Education

San Antonio hosts 44 colleges and universities, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data matched by city and state. Among the most prominent is The University of Texas at San Antonio, which Texas Education Code § ED.71.01 establishes as "a coeducational institution of higher education in Bexar County," with its site determined by the board of regents. College Scorecard data for UTSA shows an enrollment of 30,580 students, an admission rate of 86.8 percent, in-state tuition of $9,011, and an average SAT score of 1,105. The city also supports 364 licensed childcare centers, a figure drawn from state facility records, ranging from large center-based operations to smaller specialized programs distributed across the city's neighborhoods.

Civic and Cultural Infrastructure

The IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File identifies 870 churches operating within San Antonio, along with 47 arts organizations, among them The Opera San Antonio, the Ballet Conservatory of South Texas, and various school orchestra booster associations. Fifty-three civic service organizations are also on record, including a Boys and Girls Club chapter and a Texas 4-H affiliate. The Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce, matched via the IRS canonical registry, represents the city's chamber of commerce presence in the federal nonprofit data.

Eight animal rescue and shelter organizations are documented, including the Humane Society of San Antonio and Heart of Texas SPCA. Seventy-three attractions are recorded in proximity to the city center, ranging from cultural galleries to theme parks, with several within a mile of the urban core.

Banking and Financial Services

FDIC Institutions and Branches data identifies multiple bank branches operating within San Antonio, including a Truist Bank location at 19141 Stone Oak Pkwy and an International Bank of Commerce Roosevelt Branch, among others. The presence of both national and regional institutions reflects a financial services landscape typical of a large Texas city.

Municipal Governance

San Antonio's municipal code is maintained and publicly accessible through Municode at https://library.municode.com/tx/san_antonio. The code governs a wide range of local matters, from zoning to rights-of-way management. The city's authority to regulate public rights-of-way, for instance, is grounded in ordinance provisions that, per the corpus excerpt from municode, are construed in accordance with city code sections and subject to the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Texas. Zoning, similarly, operates under a formal city zoning ordinance framework. These are not unusual arrangements for a Texas home-rule city, but they are worth noting for anyone navigating local permitting or land use questions.

Further Reading

• Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
• NCES, Common Core of Data 2022 — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
• City of San Antonio, Municipal Code (Municode) — https://library.municode.com/tx/san_antonio