Located in Bell County is the city of Killeen, Texas. Killeen has an approximate population of 140,000 people and has seen significant growth over the past decade. In the year 2000, the population was 86,911. By the year 2009, it was 119,510 and in the year 2010 the population had reached 127,921. Killeen is among the principle cities of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Originally, the area that Killeen City presently occupies was a farming community referred to as Palo Alto. Palo Alto had been around since 1872. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway purchased 360 acres of land in the year 1881, comprising the land where Palo Alto was situated. They constructed a 70-block town on the land. The town was named after Frank P. Killeen, the assistant General Manager of Railroad. Killeen City prospered, and by the following year a salon, railroad depot, a school and some stores had been developed. Some residents from nearby communities relocated to the city of Killeen and by the year 1884 the population had risen to about 350 individuals. During this time, the city of Killeen had two gristmills, five general stores, two cotton gins, two saloons, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, and a hotel.
Fort Hood is situated very near Killeen City, helping to form a main sector of the city's economy. Killeen's economy is heavily dependent on the many soldiers that are stationed at Fort Hood. Fort Hood is the area's biggest employer. Other areas of work within the city are educational services, government, construction, healthcare, accommodation and food services, and finance and insurance. Around 25% of the workforce works in sales and occupations. Roughly 21 percent is involved in professional, management and related occupations and roughly 24 percent is employed in service work.
Within the city of Killeen, a lot of the occupations offered within the city do require a college or university degree. The most common of these jobs comprise teachers, registered nurses, management analysts, training and development specialists, educational, network and computer systems administrators, school and vocational counselors, computer programmers and computer systems analysts. Approximately 16% of the population holds a bachelors degree. During the year 2009, the average income was $32,000 and the cost of living index is 79.9.
The leading employers in the city of Killeen and the nearby area are Fort Hood, Central Texas College, Killeen Independent School District, MetroPlex Hospital, Metroplex Adventist Hospital, Walmart, H E Butt Grocery, West Business Services LP, United States Postal Service, Kmart Corporation, Frank Mayborn Enterprises, Mantech Telecommunications and Information, Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., Home Depot USA, Inc. and System Studies and Simulation Inc.