page_title: Odessa, Texas
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Odessa, Texas / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Downtown Odessa, Texas. Taken by me on March 21, 2020
context_page_description: Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census, making it the 28th-most populous city in Texas; estimates as of July 2019 indicate a population of 123,334 in the city. It is the principal city of the Odessa Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Ector County. The metropolitan area is also a component of the larger Midland–Odessa combined statistical area, which had a 2010 census population of 278,801; a recent report from the United States Census Bureau estimates that the combined population as of July 2015 is 320,513. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Odessa as the third-fastest growing small city in the United States. In 1948 Odessa was also the home of First Lady Barbara Bush, and the onetime home of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Former President George H.W. Bush has been quoted as saying "At Odessa we became Texans and proud of it."
context_section_description: Historically, the Odessa economy has been primarily driven by the area's oil industry, booming and busting in response to rises and falls in the crude oil price. Many of the city's largest employers are oilfield supply companies and petrochemical processing companies. In recent decades, city leaders have begun trying to decrease the city's reliance on the energy industry to moderate the boom-bust cycle and develop greater economic sustainability.
  Odessa has also taken steps to diversify the energy it produces. A new wind farm has been constructed in northern Ector County. A new coal pollution mitigation plant has been announced for a site previously entered in the Futuregen bidding. The new plant will be run by Summit Power and will be located near Penwell. This new plant could lead to the creation of 8,000 jobs in the area. Plans are in place for a nuclear power plant to be run in conjunction with the nuclear engineering department at University of Texas of the Permian Basin, called High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor. This reactor is planned to be near Andrews. 
  Odessa's main enclosed shopping mall is Music City Mall, which includes Dillards, JC Penney, At Home, Burlington Coat Factory, an indoor ice skating rink, and CBS News. Construction of new retail in recent years has been concentrated on the city's northeast side. In November 2007, the city approved a contract with a company that develops armaments for US Army helicopters to begin operations in Odessa.
caption: Downtown Odessa as seen after a drizzle on March 21, 2020. 12-story Prosperity bank is currently the tallest building in Odessa
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