“Fort Cavazos is not just a military base — it's a 45,000-soldier city with privatized housing communities, dozens of dining facilities, and administrative buildings that create pest control commercial account demand comparable to a mid-size urban market, anchored by government-backed employment that does not fluctuate with economic cycles.”
The Fort Cavazos Market
Fort Cavazos — renamed from Fort Hood in 2023, home of III Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division — is one of the largest military installations in the world, covering over 215,000 acres in Bell and Coryell Counties. The base's garrison of roughly 45,000 active-duty soldiers, plus civilian employees and contractors, creates a surrounding metropolitan economy of nearly 450,000 in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood MSA. Killeen is the city immediately adjacent to the installation's main gate, while Temple — 35 miles south on I-35 — serves as the region's healthcare hub anchored by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Temple, one of the largest hospitals in Texas. The corridor's economy is dominated by military and defense, healthcare, education (Texas A&M-Central Texas in Killeen), and the retail and service industries that support the military workforce.
Pest Pressures in Central Texas
The Killeen-Temple corridor's Central Texas climate — hot, semi-arid summers with temperatures regularly exceeding 100°F and mild winters — creates year-round pest pressure across all service categories. Subterranean termites are widespread across the corridor's residential stock, including the dense military family housing developments surrounding Fort Cavazos. Fire ants are endemic across Bell County's residential yards, athletic fields, and the military installation's training areas. German cockroaches are persistent in Killeen's food service corridor along Fort Hood Street and W. Stan Schlueter Loop. Scorpions are a significant residential service driver in newer construction zones where development displaces cedar and oak habitat. Rodents — deer mice, packrats, and house mice — create year-round residential and commercial demand. Bed bugs tied to the military transit population and the corridor's hotel sector generate recurring commercial revenue.
Valuation Benchmarks
Pest control businesses in the Killeen-Temple market typically trade at 2.5x–3.8x SDE. Businesses below $500K SDE with residential programs in the military family housing community generally trade at 2.5x–3.0x. Mid-market operators between $500K–$1.2M SDE with Fort Cavazos base operations contractor relationships, Baylor Scott & White, or Texas A&M-Central Texas commercial accounts can achieve 3.0x–3.6x. Businesses with documented military installation or major healthcare anchor accounts can reach 3.6x–3.8x. Austin-based operators — roughly 65 miles south on I-35 — are the most frequent buyers in the Killeen-Temple market, treating it as the northern anchor of the Austin-to-Waco I-35 corridor strategy.
Thinking About Selling? Get a Free Broker Opinion of Value
Get a broker opinion of value specific to your business — free, no obligation.
Military Installation Commercial Accounts
Fort Cavazos administers pest control through its base operations support contractors — large defense contracting firms that hold the base's facilities management contracts and sub-contract specialized services including pest management. The scale of the installation — housing areas for 45,000 soldiers and families, administrative buildings, dining facilities, motor pools, medical treatment facilities, and training support structures — creates a pest management requirement of extraordinary scope. Base housing pest control at Fort Cavazos is particularly significant: the Residential Communities Initiative (RCI) privatized housing program manages thousands of residential units that require ongoing pest management services. Operators who have established relationships with the RCI housing manager and the base operations support contractor hold one of the most durable commercial account categories in Central Texas.
Texas Tax Advantage
Texas's zero state income tax creates the standard favorable economics for Killeen-Temple sellers: only federal capital gains rates apply on the net gain from the business sale. The military economy's above-average household income — E-5 sergeants earn roughly $50,000 in base pay, mid-career officers earn $80,000–$120,000, and civilian contractor employees earn competitive salaries — means the residential pest control customer base in the Fort Cavazos market has stable, government-backed income that sustains service renewal rates. This income stability translates to lower residential attrition than markets with more economically volatile consumer bases.
Buyer Dynamics
The Killeen-Temple market attracts buyers from Austin — the dominant Central Texas buyer hub — as well as Waco-based operators extending south and Dallas-Fort Worth operators expanding south on I-35. PE-backed platforms executing Texas corridor consolidation strategies view the Killeen-Temple market as the military installation anchor of the I-35 corridor, with institutional commercial account quality that justifies premium multiples despite the market's mid-size status. Buyers with existing Fort Cavazos or military installation commercial relationships view Killeen-Temple acquisitions as straightforward extensions of their institutional portfolio. Local independent buyers using SBA 7(a) financing are active in the sub-$600K SDE range.
Jason Taken
Pest Control Business Broker · HedgeStone Business Advisors
Jason specializes exclusively in pest control company acquisitions and sales. He works with sellers across 34 states and buyers ranging from owner-operators to private equity platforms.