According to the latest data from the U. S. Census Bureau, San Antonio was ranked as the fastest-growing U.S. city in terms of numeric population growth between 2021 and 2022, and the second from 1990 to 2000. With a growing population of nearly 1.5 million, San Antonio has a diversified economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $121 billion in 2018. San Antonio’s economy focuses primarily on military, health care, government–civil service, professional and business services, oil and gas, and tourism. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the city has become a significant location for American-based call centers and has added a sizable manufacturing sector centered around automobiles. The city also has a growing technology sector. Located about 10 miles northwest of Downtown is the South Texas Medical Center, a group of various hospitals, clinics, and research (see Southwest Research Institute and Texas Biomedical Research Institute) and higher educational institutions. Over twenty million tourists visit the city and its attractions every year, contributing substantially to its economy, primarily due to The Alamo and the River Walk. The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center alone hosts over 300 events annually with more than 750,000 convention delegates from around the world. Tourism provided over 130,000 jobs, and it had an economic impact of $13.6 billion in the local economy according to information gathered in 2017. The city of San Antonio received $195 million in the same year from the hospitality industry, with revenues from hotel occupancy tax, sales taxes and others.
