South Padre Island is considered a Small Town with a population of 2,830 and 831 businesses. 11 in 2018 were added to the South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce business directory which was more than 2017 which had 5.

The economy of South Padre Island employs 1,537 people and has an unemployment rate of 0%. Some of the largest industries in South Padre Island are Restaurants (72),Motels & Hotels (57), and Condominiums & Townhouses (45).