College Station, Texas is situated deep within the heart of Brazos Valley. College Station boasts a population of over 93,857 people. Brazos Valley is right in the middle of the most heavily populated region of the state of Texas, being extremely near the cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Houston.
The Bryan-College Station metropolitan area includes the two cities of Bryan and College Station. The two cities represent roughly 203,371 inhabitants, making it the 16th largest metropolitan area within Texas.
Located in the city of College Station is the main campus for Texas A&M University. The name "College Station" really comes from the railroad situated close by. The university is designated as a Sea, Land, and Space-Grant institution. At any one time there are some ongoing projects, funded by agencies like the National Institute of Health, NASA, the Office of naval Research and the National Science Foundation, which are being researched at the University.
Money Magazine placed the city of College Station in 2006, as the states most educated city, and ranking 11th in the whole country.
The history of College Station is directly connected to the development of Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University was established in 1876 and was the first institution of higher education within the state of Texas. Because the university was somewhat isolated, the school administrators offered facilities as part of the infrastructure of the collage. As time went by, the area developed around the university. The Post Office designated the region "College Station" during 1877 based on the name of the train stop nearest the region. On October 19, 1938 the people of the growing community voted to incorporate the city. The campus Administrative Building was the place of the very first City council meeting.
Texas A&M University is the city of College Station's biggest employer and due to its overall size, the university plays a very significant role in the economy of the city. Several of the other businesses that are situated in the city are Pfizer, Novartis, Hewlett-Packard, Schlumberger and Conoco-Phillips. The Research Valley offers several private and public sector jobs connected to energy, the homeland security, life/health science industries and information technlolgy.
The key job sectors of the economy, includes food and accommodation services, healthcare, professional, educational services, and technical and scientific services. Approximately 45% of the workforce within the city is involved in professional, management, and connected jobs. Office and sales occupations make up about 22 percent of the jobs.