Cotton is the area's principle crop, accounting for 57 percent of total agricultural receipts. Services Service employment accounted for 28,900 jobs or 27.4 percent of the Lubbock metro area's employment in December 1994. This sector added 100 jobs over the past year. Major sectors in the service industry are business and health services, accounting for 19 percent and 43 percent of total services employment respectively in the first quarter of 1994. Almost 11,000 people are employed in Lubbock's health services sector.
Local hospitals contribute heavily to service employment.
Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center, a 320 bed facility has 1,700 employees and 1,280 academic and medical students. Methodist Hospital employs 3,900 and has 750 licensed beds, while St. Mary of the Plains Hospital employs 1,840 workers and has 420 beds. In an effort to provide area residents with more comprehensive service, Lubbock's hospitals are expanding. Methodist Hospital has opened a new out-patient center, and the Joe Arrington Cancer Center will open in July 1995 at St. Mary of the Plains. St. Mary's has also expanded its services across the South Plains, opening family health care clinics in nearby Levelland and Littlefield.