San Augustine County

San Augustine County, Texas — key demographics

Population size

• 7,918 (2020 Census; down from 8,865 in 2010)

Age

• Median age: about 50 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: ~19%
• 65 and over: ~28%

Gender

• Female: ~51%
• Male: ~49%

Racial/ethnic composition (ACS 2019–2023; Hispanic is any race)

• Non-Hispanic White: ~60%
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American: ~28%
• Hispanic or Latino: ~9%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic): ~2%
• Other groups (including American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, NHPI): <1% combined

Households (ACS 2019–2023)

• Total households: ~3,300
• Average household size: ~2.3
• Family households: ~66% of households
• Married-couple families: ~47% of households
• Households with children under 18: ~24%
• Owner-occupied housing unit rate: ~79%
• Median household income: roughly $43,000
• Individuals below poverty level: roughly 22%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census; American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP05, S1101, S1901, S1701)

San Augustine County, TX snapshot

• Population: 7,918 (2020); land area ~531 sq mi; density ~15 residents/sq mi.
• Digital access: ~73% of households have a home internet subscription; ~87% have a computer or smartphone. About 20% of online adults are smartphone‑only users; ~7–10% have no internet access, reflecting rural gaps below the Texas average.
• Estimated email users: ~4,500 adults. Method: ~6,500 adults (18+), ~75% online, and ~92% of online adults use email.

Email user breakdown (estimated)

• By age:
  • 18–34: 20% (900 users)
  • 35–54: 32% (1,440 users)
  • 55–64: 20% (900 users)
  • 65+: 28% (1,260 users)
• By gender: 51% female (2,295), 49% male (2,205); near parity in usage.

Trends and insights

• Email is near‑universal among connected adults and stable across genders.
• Older adoption is strong; seniors form a large share of users due to the county’s older age profile.
• Connectivity remains the constraint: subscription and speed lag urban Texas, with reliance on mobile data, fixed wireless, and satellite outside town centers. Improving last‑mile broadband would lift email reach most among lower‑income and remote households.

San Augustine County, TX mobile phone landscape (2025 snapshot)

At-a-glance context

• Population: ≈7,900 residents (small, rural county in Deep East Texas).
• Age structure: notably older than Texas overall; seniors comprise roughly a quarter of residents, pushing the median age near 50 (Texas median is mid‑30s).
• Income/poverty: substantially lower incomes and higher poverty than the Texas average, shaping plan choice (prepaid) and device turnover.

User estimates

• Mobile phone users (any mobile, including basic phones): ≈6,900 residents, or about 88% of the total population. Among adults 18+, penetration is roughly 95%.
• Smartphone users: ≈6,000 residents, or about 76% of the total population. Smartphones account for the vast majority of devices among working‑age adults; basic/feature phones remain common among older adults.
• Household internet via smartphone only (no fixed home broadband): estimated 28–32% of households, materially higher than the Texas average (≈20–22%). This reflects both fixed‑broadband gaps and household cost constraints.

Demographic breakdown of usage (modeled from national ownership rates by age applied to the county’s older age profile)

• Age:
  • 18–49: near‑universal mobile ownership; smartphone adoption in the mid‑90% range.
  • 50–64: very high mobile ownership; smartphone adoption around the low‑80% range.
  • 65+: mobile ownership is high but smartphone adoption drops to roughly 60–65%, with a meaningful minority using basic phones.
• Income:
  • Low‑ and moderate‑income adults are more likely to be smartphone‑only for internet access, use prepaid plans, and keep devices longer (3–4+ year replacement cycles).
• Race/ethnicity:
  • Black and Hispanic residents exhibit high smartphone adoption but are disproportionately represented among prepaid and smartphone‑only internet users due to affordability and fixed‑broadband availability patterns in rural areas.

Digital infrastructure and coverage realities

• Networks present: All three national carriers operate in the county. LTE is the default coverage layer; 5G is available but not countywide.
• 5G availability: Primarily low‑band 5G along main corridors and around population centers; mid‑band 5G capacity is limited compared with metro Texas. LTE remains the workhorse for data in many areas.
• Coverage pattern: Strongest near San Augustine and other towns and along major routes; signal attenuation and dead zones appear in heavily forested and sparsely populated tracts.
• Capacity and performance: Evening and weekend congestion is common on a small number of macro sites that serve large rural footprints; average real‑world speeds trail urban Texas, especially indoors and at cell edge.
• Public safety: First responder LTE/5G coverage is better aligned along highways and towns than in remote forested areas; agencies lean on AT&T’s FirstNet where available.
• Backhaul and fixed broadband context: Limited cable/fiber outside town centers increases reliance on mobile data and hotspots for schoolwork, telehealth, and small business connectivity.

How San Augustine County differs from Texas overall

• Older users, more basic phones: A much larger senior share drives lower overall smartphone penetration than the Texas average.
• More prepaid, MVNO, and budget devices: Price sensitivity is higher; prepaid share is meaningfully above the statewide mix.
• Greater smartphone‑only internet reliance: A notably higher fraction of households depend on mobile data as their primary home internet substitute.
• Slower 5G transition: Coverage gaps and limited mid‑band spectrum deployment keep LTE as the primary experience longer than in urban Texas.
• Lower average speeds, more variability: Wider tower spacing and forested terrain create more pronounced indoor and fringe‑area challenges than typical in the state.

Key takeaways

• Roughly 9 in 10 residents use a mobile phone, but only about 3 in 4 use a smartphone, a shortfall driven mostly by older adults.
• Mobile networks shoulder a larger share of “home internet” duties than in Texas overall, elevating the importance of coverage, capacity upgrades, and affordable plans.
• The most impactful improvements for the county would come from continued 5G mid‑band build‑out, additional rural macro sites or small cells on key corridors, and expanded affordable device/plan offerings to accelerate smartphone adoption among seniors and low‑income households.

San Augustine County, TX — social media snapshot (modeled 2025 local estimates, based on ACS county demographics and Pew Research Center social-media adoption by age/rural status)

Overall usage

• Adults (18+): ~6,200
• Adults using at least one social platform: ~4,400 (≈71%)
• Share of all adult social-media users by age:
  • 18–29: ~20%
  • 30–49: ~31%
  • 50–64: ~29%
  • 65+: ~20%

Adoption by age cohort (percent of adults in each cohort who use social media)

• 18–29: ~90%
• 30–49: ~82%
• 50–64: ~73%
• 65+: ~50%

Gender breakdown (of adult social-media users)

• Women: 53% (2,350 users)
• Men: 47% (2,080 users)

Most-used platforms (share of all adults; multiple platforms per person)

• YouTube: ~74%
• Facebook: ~70%
• Instagram: ~35%
• Pinterest: ~30%
• TikTok: ~24%
• WhatsApp: ~18%
• Snapchat: ~18%
• X/Twitter: ~15%
• Reddit: ~10%
• Nextdoor: ~6%

Behavioral trends

• Facebook is the local hub: heavy use of Groups and Messenger for churches, schools, civic updates, buy/sell (Marketplace), and event promotions.
• Video-first consumption: YouTube for how‑to, repairs, outdoor/recreation content; short‑form video (Reels/TikTok) drives discovery among under‑40s.
• Older adults are “Facebook‑only” or Facebook+YouTube; younger residents multi‑home across Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.
• Messaging dominance: Facebook Messenger is the default; WhatsApp has niche use for family ties outside the county; Snapchat functions mainly as private messaging for teens/young adults.
• Local news and safety: High engagement on weather, school sports, road outages, emergency alerts, obituaries, and community fundraisers; trust is higher for posts from known local pages.
• Commerce: Strong response to simple, price‑forward posts and Marketplace listings; phone‑call or message CTAs outperform web forms given uneven broadband.
• Timing: Engagement peaks evenings (7–10 pm CT), with secondary spikes at lunch and Sunday afternoons; weekend mornings work well for event‑oriented posts.
• Creative that works: Plain‑language copy, recognizable local landmarks, and faces; vertical video under 30–45 seconds; flyers/one‑image posts still effective for older audiences.

Note on methodology: Figures are best-available local estimates derived by applying national platform adoption by age (Pew, 2024) to San Augustine County’s adult age mix (ACS 2018–2022), with rural adjustments for older skew.