Huntsville is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Huntsville have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Huntsville’s economy is one such example of this.
The education level of Huntsville citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 21.06% of adults in Huntsville have at least a bachelor's degree.
The per capita income in Huntsville in 2018 was $19,277, which is low income relative to Texas and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $77,108 for a family of four. However, Huntsville contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Huntsville is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Huntsville home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Huntsville residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Huntsville also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.47% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Huntsville include English, German, Irish, French, and Nigerian.
The most common language spoken in Huntsville is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African languages.
