Kent County

Kent County, Texas — key demographics

Population size

• 2020 Census: 753 residents

Age structure (ACS 2019–2023)

• Median age: ~47 years
• Under 18: ~20%
• 65 and over: ~27%

Gender (ACS 2019–2023)

• Female: ~49%
• Male: ~51%

Racial/ethnic composition (2020 Census; mutually exclusive for Hispanic)

• Non-Hispanic White: ~72%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~24%
• Black or African American: ~1–2%
• American Indian/Alaska Native: ~1%
• Asian: <1%
• Two or more races/other: ~2%

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: ~330–340
• Average household size: ~2.2
• Family households: ~60–65% of households
• Married-couple families: ~50% of households
• Owner-occupied share: ~75–80%

Insights

• Very small, sparsely populated county with an older age profile (roughly one in four residents is 65+).
• Predominantly non-Hispanic White with a sizable Hispanic community.
• Small household sizes and a high owner-occupancy rate typical of rural West Texas counties.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census (DHC) and 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Figures rounded; small-county margins of error apply.

Kent County, TX email usage (estimates, 2025)

• Population and density: 730 residents across ~900 sq mi (0.8 people/sq mi), essentially 100% rural; county seat: Jayton.
• Estimated email users: ~550 residents use email at least monthly (≈75–80% of total; ≈85–90% of adults).
• Age distribution of email users (count, share):
  • 13–17: ~40 (7%)
  • 18–34: ~115 (21%)
  • 35–64: ~260 (47%)
  • 65+: ~135 (25%)
• Gender split among email users: ~280 male (51%), ~270 female (49%); engagement rates are effectively parity by gender.
• Access and devices:
  • Households with internet subscriptions: ~65–70% (≈200–215 of ~300 households).
  • Primary access: majority mobile-first; ~60–65% of email users check email mainly via smartphone; desktop/laptop more common among 35–64.
  • Connectivity: 25/3 Mbps fixed broadband widely available in/near Jayton; fiber presence growing but still limited; many outlying ranch areas rely on fixed wireless or satellite, which depresses heavy-email/work usage.
• Trends and insights:
  • Gradual uptick in fiber and fixed-wireless coverage since 2021, improving reliability in town centers.
  • Older residents (65+) show steady adoption, but usage intensity trails 35–64.
  • Low population density and long last-mile runs are the primary constraints on higher-speed email usage and multitasking.

Mobile phone usage in Kent County, Texas — 2025 snapshot

Key context

• Population and density: Kent County is one of Texas’s smallest counties with roughly 650–700 residents spread across about 900 square miles (well under 1 person per square mile). The extremely low density and older age profile shape both demand and network economics in ways that differ markedly from Texas overall.

User estimates (modeled from Census/ACS age structure, CDC wireless-only household data, and Pew smartphone adoption, adjusted for rural/older skew)

• Unique mobile users: 520–600 residents use a mobile phone regularly, including 470–540 adults and 50–70 teens.
• Smartphone share: 80–85% of adult mobile users, below Texas’s large-metro norm near 90%.
• Wireless-only households (no landline): 65–70% of households, below the Texas statewide share that is typically mid-70s, reflecting a higher retention of legacy landlines among older residents and ranch operations.
• Prepaid vs. postpaid: Prepaid lines likely 30–35% of consumer lines (a few points higher than the Texas average), driven by price sensitivity and limited device financing options in a sparse retail footprint.
• Multi-line penetration: Family plans dominate among younger households; single-line postpaid and minimal-data prepaid are common among older adults.
• Usage mix: Voice and messaging represent a larger share of total use than in Texas’s urban counties. App-heavy data use is present but constrained by coverage and speed variability outside highway corridors.

Demographic drivers of usage

• Age: Seniors comprise a materially higher share of residents than the Texas average. This depresses smartphone and app adoption and increases persistence of basic phones and voice-first behavior.
• Income and education: Income and bachelor’s attainment are below Texas averages, pushing a higher share of budget plans, older devices, and longer replacement cycles.
• Household composition: Small household sizes mean fewer shared data plans per address but a relatively high mobile line count per adult.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Macro sites: Expect only a handful of macro cell sites serving the county and adjacent-county edge coverage, yielding large cells and variable signal indoors away from highways and in low terrain.
• Technology mix: 4G/LTE is pervasive along primary routes; 5G is present mainly as low-band coverage with limited mid-band capacity reaching into the county from neighboring markets. Millimeter-wave 5G is effectively absent.
• Carriers: AT&T and Verizon provide the most reliable rural coverage footprints; T-Mobile coverage is improving along corridors but remains spottier off-road. AT&T’s FirstNet presence adds resiliency along main routes and community anchors.
• Backhaul: Microwave backhaul is common; fiber-fed towers are limited. That constrains peak and especially uplink performance compared with Texas metro norms.
• Performance: Typical outdoor speeds range roughly 10–40 Mbps on LTE and 30–150 Mbps on low-/mid-band 5G near highways, with significant drops indoors and in remote ranchland. Latency is acceptable for voice and basic apps but can be inconsistent for real-time video in fringe areas.
• Redundancy: Single-point tower and backhaul dependencies mean localized outages can produce larger coverage gaps than in urban Texas.

How Kent County differs from statewide Texas trends

• Adoption and device mix: High mobile adoption but lower smartphone share and slower upgrade cycles than Texas overall, driven by older age structure and income mix.
• Plan types: Greater reliance on prepaid and entry-tier postpaid plans than state averages.
• Usage intensity: Lower average monthly data consumption per line than Texas urban counties due to coverage variability and fewer video-centric use cases.
• Coverage quality: Substantially less mid-band 5G capacity and fewer fiber-fed sites than the Texas average, producing larger swings between corridor and off-corridor performance.
• Wireline substitution: Wireless-only households are common but less dominant than statewide, reflecting persistent landline use among older residents and for ranch operations.
• Resilience: Higher exposure to single-site dependencies and weather-related microwave backhaul impacts compared with the more meshed, fiber-heavy urban Texas networks.

Implications and actionable insights

• Consumer experience: Reliable voice/text and basic app use countywide; best data experience clusters near highways and towns. Residents traveling across ranchland should expect dead zones and plan for offline maps and asynchronous apps.
• Business and public-sector operations: AT&T/FirstNet often offers the most consistent emergency and fleet coverage; dual-SIM or cross-carrier device strategies improve uptime for critical operations.
• Digital inclusion: Targeted device upgrades, Wi‑Fi offload at anchors (schools, libraries), and fixed-wireless access where mid-band 5G reaches homes can narrow the service gap without waiting for full fiber builds.
• Investment focus: Adding a few strategically placed mid-band 5G sectors and fiber backhaul to existing towers would materially lift capacity and indoor reliability, delivering outsized benefits given the county’s small but dispersed user base.

Social media usage in Kent County, Texas — concise snapshot (2025)

Population base

• Residents: 762 (U.S. Census, 2020).
• Share of adults in the U.S. using at least one social platform: ≈72% (Pew Research, 2024). In a county this size, that implies several hundred adult social-media users locally (roughly in the low-to-mid 400s), with substantial multi-platform overlap.

Most-used platforms (share of U.S. adults who use each; local rankings mirror these in rural Texas)

• YouTube: 83%
• Facebook: 68% (highest for local/community engagement)
• Instagram: 47%
• TikTok: 33%
• Snapchat: 30%
• Pinterest: 30%
• LinkedIn: 30%
• X (Twitter): 23%
• Reddit: 22%
• WhatsApp: 21%
• Nextdoor: 19% Notes: Percentages are platform reach among U.S. adults. In rural counties like Kent, Facebook’s practical reach/engagement for local news, events, and buy-sell-trade activity tends to outpace other platforms even beyond its raw adoption share.

Age-group patterns (behavioral)

• Teens (13–17): Heavy on TikTok and Snapchat; YouTube is near-universal. Low use of Facebook for posting, but present for school/sports updates.
• 18–29: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat dominate; Facebook mostly for Groups/Marketplace.
• 30–49: YouTube and Facebook strongest; Instagram growing; TikTok moderate; uses Messenger/WhatsApp for coordination.
• 50–64: Facebook and YouTube lead by a wide margin; Instagram/TikTok used but secondary.
• 65+: Facebook for community/news/family; YouTube for tutorials, weather, services.

Gender breakdown (typical U.S. skews reflected locally)

• Facebook: ~50/50
• Instagram: ≈55–60% female
• TikTok: ≈58–62% female
• Snapchat: ≈55–60% female
• YouTube: ≈52–55% male
• X (Twitter): ≈60–65% male
• Reddit: ≈65–70% male Note: These are platform-level skews; local gender composition is roughly balanced, so overall county social-media use is near even by gender.

Behavioral trends observed in rural Texas counties of Kent’s size

• Community-first on Facebook: High reliance on Groups (schools, churches, sports, county offices, volunteer and emergency updates). Facebook Marketplace is a key utility.
• Local info engagement spikes: Weather alerts, road conditions, school sports, county events, and hunting/land/ranch updates drive shares and comments.
• Video habits: YouTube for how‑to, ag/ranch, DIY, equipment repair, and local government recordings; short-form TikTok/Instagram Reels for quick tips and local highlights.
• Messaging is central: Facebook Messenger is default; SMS and group texts remain common; WhatsApp is present but secondary.
• Posting windows: Engagement tends to peak early mornings (6–8 a.m.) and evenings (7–9 p.m.), with weekend mid-morning surges tied to events and sports.
• Content formats that perform: Short local videos, photo carousels of events, school sports clips, local business promos, and lost/found posts.
• Reach beyond county lines: Many residents follow and interact with pages in adjacent counties and larger hubs (for health, retail, and events), so targeting a 25–50 mile radius captures most practical audience spillover.

How to interpret the numbers for Kent County

• Platform percentages above indicate likely reach share among adults; actual local counts are small and overlapping (most people use multiple platforms). For planning, prioritize Facebook and YouTube for broad reach and reliability, add Instagram and TikTok for under‑40 reach, and use Snapchat selectively for teens/young adults.