Unconventional oil and gas extraction efforts have raised the specter of the resource curse in affected communities, as has been demonstrated in other industries or geographies. Yet because these developments in unconventional extraction industries are so new, data for analysis is limited. This study examines recent activity in the Eagle Ford Shale area of South Texas with a time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) approach using data collected from 14 actively producing counties over a four year period from 2008-2011. Results indicate that the number of completed oil and gas wells has had a positive impact on per-capita income to-date. Previ-ous research suggests that communities in South Texas have the opportunity to overcome the resource curse, but that it will require good local governance and thoughtful long-term plan-ning.