AUSTIN, Texas — On Tuesday, the Travis County commissioners got an update from Tesla on the company's economic impact in Central Texas.
Tesla's Gigafactory opened in southeast Austin last year, and as of the end of 2022, Tesla officials say the company has supported more than 15,000 jobs in Travis County – either through direct employment with the company or through the extended supply chain.
They reported Tesla has an average wage of $74,000 and also said part of the reason they have so many employees is because of the scale of the Tesla Gigafactory.
"What's really difficult is that people don't understand the scale, even when you’re driving through it" Rohan Patel, North American director of policy and business development at Tesla, told commissioners. "It's 50% bigger than the Pentagon. It's the second-largest factory building in the world. And that doesn't happen without a lot of partnership with government."
When it comes to taxes, Tesla estimates from 2020 to the end of this year, it will have paid $15 million in taxes to Travis County. In Del Valle, during that same time period, it estimates it will have paid more than $49 million.
The southeast Travis County facility has been making the company’s new Cybertruck. After years of delays, the first one of those vehicles rolled off the assembly line last month. The company could start rolling them out to customers later this year.
In August, Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell announced Tesla would be expanding into Hays County. The electric vehicle manufacturer plans to lease three warehouses along Interstate 35 in Kyle and could rent more later on.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.