| Official Name: | Kyle, Texas |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Nickname: | Pie Capital of Texas |
| Named For: | Fergus Kyle |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Coordinates: | 29.9892°N -97.8758°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name1: | Texas |
| Subdivision Name2: | Hays |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Council–manager government |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Travis Mitchell |
| Leader Title1: | Mayor Pro Tem |
| Leader Name1: | Michael Tobias |
| Leader Title2: | City Manager |
| Leader Name2: | Bryan Langley |
| Leader Title3: | City Council |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 80.99 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 31.27 |
| Area Land Km2: | 80.48 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 31.07 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.51 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.20 |
| Population Total: | 45697 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Kyleite |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code |
| Postal Code: | 78640 |
| Area Code: | 512 & 737 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | −6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −5 |
| Elevation M: | 222 |
| Elevation Ft: | 728 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 48-39952[3] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 1339257[4] |
Kyle is a city in Hays County, Texas, United States. Its population grew from 28,016 in 2010[5] to 45,697 in 2020,[6] making it one of Texas' fastest-growing cities.[7]
Kyle is in eastern Hays County at 29.9891°N -97.8759°W (29.989080, –97.875947).[8] It is bordered to the south by San Marcos and to the northwest by Mountain City. Kyle is 21miles southwest of downtown Austin and 58miles northeast of San Antonio on Interstate 35.[9]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 50sqkm, of which 49.4sqkm is land and 0.51NaN1, 1.06%, is covered by water.[10] The Blanco River runs through the western side of the city, while the central and eastern parts of the city drain east to Plum Creek. Both waterways are tributaries of the San Marcos River.
The longest-active school building in Kyle was built in 1939 as part of the then-Kyle Independent School District, later named Kyle High School and today known as Kyle Elementary School following the construction of Jack C. Hays High School in 1964, named after the same Jack C. Hays that gives the school district, now Hays Consolidated Independent School District, its namesake. High-school students have since attended either Jack C. Hays High School, Lehman High School (since opening in 2004), or Johnson High School located in neighboring Buda (opened in 2019).
In higher education, Kyle sits just seven miles (11 km) north of Texas State University located in San Marcos and is home to the Hays campus of the Austin Community College District which has been fully operational since 2014[11] with the college district's Public Safety Training Center opening a few years afterward.
Austin–Bergstrom International Airport is 25miles northeast of Kyle, San Marcos Regional Airport is 10miles to the south, and San Antonio International Airport is 53miles to the southwest.
The MoPac rail line runs through downtown Kyle but currently there is no stop in Kyle. The Amtrak Texas Eagle passenger rail line has a stop located 10miles south of Kyle in San Marcos.[12]
Residents have access to I-35, SH 45 toll road, FM 150, FM 1626, SH 21, and SH 123.
The Kyle city council in September 2021 approved of a citywide trail system known as The Vybe to connect city residents with a mix of dirt, crushed granite, and paved trails along with existing roadways and trails.
The city of Kyle is governed by a council-manager form of government. The city council consists of three members representing geographical districts, three at-large council members, and the mayor, who is also elected at-large. Each council member is elected to three-year terms.
The Management and Training Corporation operates the Kyle Unit, a prison for men in Kyle, on behalf of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.[13] In 1988, the construction of Kyle Unit, the first private prison for the TDCJ, sparked controversy. The Kyle Unit became the second-largest employer in Kyle, after the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. In 1989, the prison had a $50,000 weekly payroll, with much of it going to the city's residents.[14]
The United States Postal Service operates the Kyle Post Office.[15]
As part of railroad expansion along the International-Great Northern Railroad (I&GN), railroad tycoon and entrepreneur, Jay Gould, found an opportunity for additional revenue between the cities of Austin and San Marcos which were lined with cotton fields and livestock farms. Originally, the line railline was to cross over to Mountain City, located three miles north of Kyle, but when addressing with his secretary, Ira Evans, it was seen as more cost effective to build a straight track from Austin to San Marcos which went right through the private lands of Fergus Kyle and his wife, Anne Moore. Following an agreement between the I&GN and the Kyle and Moore families for $1 and the enhanced value of the developed land of 200 acres.The rights to the track through Kyle was then sold to the Texas Land Company, which would be in charge of plotting the town, who then sent a surveying party and filed plans with the county clerk for the town on September 7, 1880. The town originally consisted only of 6x3 city blocks for both commercial and residential zoning as well as a combination train depot and separate cotton platform along the tracks. The first lots were sold at an auction on September 25 under the now historically designated 'Auction Oak' with the railroad offering free rides and food for attendees from Austin.
The new town drew residents and businesses from Mountain City as well as Blanco, four miles west, as well as independent farmers and ranchers in the county. Tom Martin operated the first business in Kyle as a saloon-meat market combo, the first of four saloons to open in the town's inaugural year. Other founding families like the Nance and Wallace families would open a cotton gin and lumberyard not long after, and by 1883 the population exceeded 500, growing to over 700 by the first census the town participate in, but would later decline during the Great Depression and ensuing Dust Bowl. Kyle was incorporated in 1928 as a general-law city with a mayor and five council members. In 1937, Mary Kyle Hartson, daughter of Fergus Kyle, was elected mayor by a write-in vote. Hartson, after winning election again in 1944, would serve as mayor as part of an all-woman city council and making Kyle the only Texas town with an all-woman government.
From 1892 to 1901, Kyle was the childhood home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter. Many of her most famous short stories, such as "Noon Wine", are set in locations in and around Kyle. Her former home is now a writer's residence open to the public by appointment. The Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center hosts readings by visiting writers.
| White (NH) | 18,374 | 40.21% | |
| Black or African American (NH) | 2,265 | 4.96% | |
| Native American or Alaska Native (NH) | 124 | 0.27% | |
| Asian (NH) | 742 | 1.62% | |
| Pacific Islander (NH) | 33 | 0.07% | |
| Some Other Race (NH) | 211 | 0.46% | |
| Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) | 1,588 | 3.48% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 22,360 | 48.93% | |
| Total | 45,697 |
Of the 14,701 households, 54.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were not families. About 14.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15, and the average family size was 3.51; 391 persons in the city lived in group quarters rather than households.[17]
In the city, the age distribution was 33.7% under 18, 7.4% were from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.2% were 65 or older. The median age was 30.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.[17]
For 2012–2016, the estimated median annual income for a household was $72,191, and for a family was $76,992. Male full-time workers had a median income of $50,235 versus $39,474 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,348. About 6.8% of the population and 5.4% of families were below the poverty line; 7.3% of the population under the age of 18 and 7.7% of those 65 or older were living in poverty.[18]
As part of a municipal branding scheme in the chase of becoming the "Pie Capital of Texas," the Kyle Pie in the Sky Hot Air Balloon Festival has been an annual event in Kyle on Labor Day weekend since 2017 and attracts thousands of visitors each year. The event features morning hot air balloon "mass ascensions” where balloons take off at sunrise flying over Kyle on Saturday and Sunday morning, as well as “glows” in the evenings, where tethered hot air balloons glow against the evening sky at Lake Kyle.
Aside from glows and morning flights, the festival will also light up the night sky with two fireworks shows on Friday and Saturday night. Every year, Pie in the Sky also features pie eating contests, a pie baking contest, a Pie Café, a vendor market with artisan crafts, unique products and food, libations, live music performances throughout the weekend, a children's zone with activities and the 'Gathering of the Kyles'—the city of Kyle's annual attempt at the Guinness World Record for the most people with the same name in one place since 2019.
Kyle achieved its goal on June 8, 2021, when Kyle was officially designated as the "Pie Capital of Texas." However, The Kyle City Council voted to discontinue the annual Pie in the Sky festival in 2024 due to budget constraints and that the event is unreliable due to its weather dependency.[19]