Dyess is mostly inside the city limits of Abilene, Texas, a city of about 118,000 people, and is in Taylor County, which has a population of about 132,000 people. Other nearby small communities include Tye and Merkel.

It is about 9 miles from downtown Abilene to Dyess; this takes about 20 minutes to commute, but the city is fairly large and busy, and travel times can vary significantly. The average commute in Taylor County is about 16 minutes.

Major local employers are the base itself, local government, the Hendrick Health System, the Blue Cross Claims Center, Abilene Christian University, and the Abilene Regional Medical Center.

Local Housing Rental Prices: The average apartment rent in the Abilene area ranges from $400 to $700 per month, with a median of $560 per month.

Local Housing Purchase Prices: The average price for a house in Abilene is about $93,000, compared to $124,000 for Texas. The average price for a house in Taylor County is about $91,000.

Short Description of the Area: Abilene is a mid-sized city of West Texas (or central Texas, depending on who you believe), surrounded by rolling plains and fields. Abilene started in the late 19th Century as a cattle shipment point for Kansas cattle driven down the Chisholm Trail - this railway still physically divides the city into north and south, and parallels both I-20 and 1st Street.

Climate and Weather: The area has a mixed humid and semi-arid climate, with humidity switching depending on weather. Temperatures vary greatly. Winter temperatures of the mid-50s to low 30s (record high of 90 and record low of -9 in January) and summer temperatures of the mid-90s to low-70s (record high of 111 and record low of 48 in August). The area has regular summer thunderstorms and tornadoes, wetter Mays and Junes but otherwise relatively light rainfall, and little snowfall in winter.