Killeen is located within Bell County and presently has a population of approximately 140,021. Over the past decade the city has undergone significant development. In 2000, the population was just 86,911. By 2009, it was 119,510 and during 2010 the population had increased to 127,921. The city of Killeen is one of the principle cities of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Originally, the area that the city of Killeen now occupies was a farming community referred to as Palo Alto. Palo Alto had been around ever since the year 1872. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway purchased 360 acres of land during the year 1881, comprising the land where Palo Alto was situated. They created a 70-block town on the land. The town was named after Frank P. Killeen, the assistant General Manager of Railroad. The city of Killeen flourished, and by the following year a railroad depot, saloon, a school and several stores had been developed. Some people from nearby communities relocated to the city of Killeen and by 1884 the population had risen to around 350 people. During this time, the city of Killeen had five general stores, two gristmills, two saloons, two cotton gins, a blacksmith shop a hotel and a lumberyard.
Fort Hood is situated really near Killeen City, helping to form a main sector of the city's economy. Killeen's economy is heavily dependent on the numerous soldiers that are stationed at Fort Hood. Fort Hood is the area's largest source of employment. Various fields of work within Killeen City are educational services, government, healthcare, construction, food and accommodation services, and finance and insurance. Around 25% of the labor force works in sales and occupations. About 21% is involved in management, professional and related occupations and around 24 percent is employed in service work.
In the city of Killeen, many of the occupations provided in the city do need a university or college degree. The most common of these jobs consist of teachers, registered nurses, training and development specialists, management analysts, educational, network and computer systems administrators, school and vocational counselors, computer programmers and computer systems analysts. Roughly 16% of the population holds a bachelors degree. The cost of living index is 79.9 and in the year 2009 the average income was $32,000.
In the city of Killeen, the biggest employers in the nearby area consist of Fort Hood, Central Texas College, Killeen Independent School District, MetroPlex Hospital, Metroplex Adventist Hospital, Walmart, West Business Services LP, H E Butt Grocery, United States Postal Service, Kmart Corporation, Mantech Telecommunications and Information, Frank Mayborn Enterprises, System Studies and Simulations, Lowe's Home Centers, Inc. and Home Depot USA, Inc.