Jefferson County is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area and has the highest population of the four-county MSA.

The southern part of the county is largely marshland, much of which is within Sea Rim State Park, reaching the storm-battered beach at the Gulf of Mexico.

It is also represented in Texas State House District 22, which takes in much of Beaumont and Port Arthur, by Democrat Joe D. Deshotel, who has served in this seat since 1999.

In the 81st Legislative Session, Deshotel was appointed to serve as chairman of the House Business and Industry Committee, a post he continues to hold today.

[19] In addition, the Texas Youth Commission operated the Al Price State Juvenile Correctional Facility in an unincorporated area[20] within the Mid County region.

[22] In 2015 the county commissioners announced that it would lease the facility to a Beaumont charter school, Evolution Academy, at a minimal cost for 35 years.

Jefferson County has been dominated by Democratic voters in presidential elections: prior to 1965 they were majority white and the party has since attracted many minorities.

[26] The Democratic trend continued in 2012 when Barack Obama won Jefferson County with 50.34% of the vote, while 48.73% went to Mitt Romney.

The Sabine Neches Waterway provides deep-water access to ocean-going vessels, which are served by public ports within the county.

The county continues to diversify its economic base as evidenced by the increase of jobs in the services and government sectors.

Several large projects are in construction, permitting, and development for the area and the county continues to work with other taxing entities to create a business environment conducive to this growth.

Petrochemical expansions at the Motiva, Total, and Valero facilities located in Jefferson County represent approximately $15 billion in project improvements.

[citation needed] In addition, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on terminal and pipeline facilities to support these projects.

Construction of the Trans-Canada Keystone XL pipeline which would deliver Canadian tar sands crude to Jefferson County and proponents say would help in relieving US dependence on oil from more politically volatile regions is awaiting federal permit approval.

Cheniere, one of two companies with Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals on the border of the Texas/Louisiana Coast, is completing construction of a $10 billion liquefaction facility.

Golden Pass LNG has filed with federal authorities for permits allowing it to build a $10 billion gas liquefaction facility in Jefferson County, as has Sempra Energy.

It is anticipated that these permits should move through the approval process more expeditiously now that former Texas governor Rick Perry has been confirmed as the new Secretary of Energy.

The U S House and Senate recently passed legislation which was signed by the President authorizing the construction of the waterway improvements at a cost in excess of $1 billion.

The resurgence in U. S. oil and gas exploration and production has made the county the place of choice for those industrial sectors seeking to exploit opportunities to profit from historically low priced energy commodities.