Land Area – 14,255.54 hectares

Population – 117,722

1. Urban – 21,222
2. Rural – 96,499

No. of Household – 29,901

1. Urban – 4,276
2. Rural – 21,349

Household Annual Ave. Income – Php 122,620.77

Annual Ave. Income per Capital – Php 27,047.62

Number of Barangay – 53

1. Urban – 8
2. Rural – 45

LGU Total Income – Php 189,375,349.00

Economic Activity

1. Major Industry – Farming
2. Other Business Activity (Quarrying / Poultry / Swine Raising / Metal-Wood Crafts)
3. Business Establishment – 1,273
4. Financial Institution
   • Banks – 9
   • Lending – 22
5. Tourism Attraction – 6
6. Industrial Establishment
   • Light Industries – 52
   • Small / Medium Industries
     • Rice Mill / Cono – 71
     • Piggeries / Poultries – 9

Social Infrastructure

1. Hospital/s – 2
2. RHUs/ Birthing Stations – 5
3. Dental / Medical / Optical Clinics – 20
4. Park/s – 2
5. Schools
   • Day Care Center – 55
   • Primary – (Public – 15 / Private – 3)
   • Elementary – (Public – 30 / Private -11)
   • Secondary – (Public – 5 / Private – 2)
   • Tertiary (NEUST-MGT / La Fortuna College / REH Montessori Colleges / SET)

Physical Infrastructure

1. Transportation
   • Bus (Passers-by) – 12 (bus companies) / Manila – Aparri
   • Mini-Bus – 1 (company)
   • Jeepney – 1 (association)
   • Tricycles – 427
2. Power Supply – NEECO II (Area 1)
3. Water System – (Talavera Water Dist. / Poblacion Area, Bacal Dist., Southern Talavera, Eastren Talavera)
4. Communication
   • Cellular Network – (SMART (3 Towers) / GLOBE (6 Tower) / SUN (1 Tower))
   • Landline – (DIGITEL / GLOBE /SMART / PLDT)
5. Postal Services – 2

Talavera is a first class town, and in the nodal center of three (3) economically contributing towns, i.e. Sto. Domingo, Aliaga and Llanera and having linked to three key cities (Science City of Munoz, Cabanatuan City and San Jose City) of Nueva Ecija. The municipality is strategically situated, being at the crossroad of Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, Pangasinan, Aurora and the provinces of Regions I and II and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). Its proximity to Metro Manila is a locational advantage.

The municipality’s strength lies on its vast fertile agricultural lands suited for the production of various crops. It has big potentials for agricultural development. The climate is excellent for agricultural production. It has one of the biggest irrigation systems in the province. It has enough quality quarry for construction materials. It has surplus production of agricultural product for agro-processing potential (Milk and Dairy products and Organic Fertilizer) the municipality can lead towards agricultural modernization and agro-industrialization.

About 92 percent of the total land area of Talavera is arable, or suitable for cultivation. The most important subsistence crops are rice, water melon, onion, tomato, and ampalaya. Rice paddies occupy about half of the arable land of Talavera. Livestock on farms include carabao (water buffalo), cattle, chickens, goats, and hogs. Many farmers are tenants, who rent the land and pay the landowner a share of the crop. Other farmworkers include seasonal migrant laborers.

The municipality is rich in water resources because of its’ being traversed by the Talavera River, apart from the presence of several creeks being utilized for irrigation and fishing. However, flood caused by overflowing bodies of water often occurs especially during rainy season.

Talavera had a population of 117,722 in 2013. The estimated population in 2014 was 119,664. The population is growing by about 1.65 percent (NSO 2010) a year. However, the distribution of the population is uneven; some areas are virtually uninhabited, while others are densely populated. The percentage of the population living in rural areas has steadily declined in recent decades.

The literacy rate is 99 percent of the adult population, with little variation between males and females but the level of highest educational attainment of the people is rather low because of the big number of school age population that had not proceed schooling at the secondary and tertiary level.

In 2013, the primary occupations in rural areas are inline with various services and employed as government and private employee, domestic helpers (local, abroad and mostly in their own family household chores) and own and operate SME. Secondary occupations are inline with agriculture and employed as tenant farmers and landless agricultural workers. Income in urban areas is generally higher than in rural areas, but, greater number of household earned less than the poverty threshold of Php. 8,254 for family member of 5. Some migrants live as squatters in poblacion area in makeshift housing. They tend to work as vendors, street hawkers, and unskilled laborers.

In 2013 the labor force of Talavera numbered 668,705 people. Agriculture and fishing employed 18.45 % of the labor force; manufacturing and construction, 14.22 %; and services, 67.33 percent. 9,531 or 14.07 % of the total labor force graduated from Tertiary School, and 8,658 or 12.78 % entered College but stop their schooling. 33.71% High School Graduates, 29.17% Elementary Graduates and the unemployment rate was 14.19% in 2012.

Employment opportunities associated with the modern economy, mostly services and manufacturing, are concentrated in urban center. The shortage of employment opportunities has resulted in large-scale migrations of Filipino workers, both sophisticated professionals and unskilled workers, to countries such as the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Increased communication and education had brought Talavera’s Economy and urban culture closer to a common outlook, however, and the trend toward scientific agriculture and a market economy had brought major changes in the agricultural base municipality (Talavera). Scientific farming on a commercialized basis, land reform programs, and increased access to education were all bringing change. In spite of migration to cities, Talavera continued to grow in population, from about 62,070 in 1980 to 117,722 in 2013. Rural living conditions also improved significantly, so that by the early 2010s most houses, except in the most remote areas, were built of strong material and equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing.

Talavera’s economy is mainly dependent on different kind of services while agriculture seen to be its second major source of income as revealed in table below. Majority or 67.52 percent of its active labor force are engaged in different kind of services as the main source of their income. On the other hand, 18.23 percent are engaged in agriculture while 14.26 percent in the industrial and other activities.

The commercial area of the municipality is found in the existing urban area (poblacion area) which is already congested.

Because of this, there are encroachments in the adjoining barangay of Calipahan and in emerging commercial area in Barangays Bacal III, Tabacao, San Ricardo, San Pascual and La Torre, which is quite far from the existing urban area. This area is fast growing because of its strategic location and for being traversed by the Maharlika High Way.

The municipality has no existing industrial establishments except for some light-industries which are insignificant to promote industrialization at the moment. There are abundance of non-metallic minerals like gravel and sand. Although there are twenty one (21) potential sources of gravel and sand, only twelve (12) sites so far, have been utilized for quarrying operation, such as those in Barangays Sicsican Matanda, Basang Hamog, Tabacao, Bulac, Lomboy, Campos, Valle, Calipahan, Burnay, La Torre, San Pascual and those in Barangay Pantoc Bulac.

The infrastructure in Talavera is inadequate for the economic development sought by the government. Some large-scale improvements were made in the past to the municipality’s schools, health centers, roads, and irrigation. However, government investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth and modern technologies. Roads remain unpaved in most rural areas. Resources for infrastructure-development projects are often limited because of the municipality’s dependency on IRA.

The municipality has a centralized water system (Level III) operated by the Talavera Water District. The system supplies potable water to thirty-three (33) barangays (table 17), which are enumerated in the table:

Talavera is very fortunate to host Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative II (NEECO II).

The power supply in the municipality comes from the Luzon Grid of the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) supplying not only Talavera but also the nearby municipalities of Muñoz, Llanera, Sto. Domingo, Guimba, Lupao, Carranglan, Quezon and Licab. The NEECO II is responsible for the distribution of power supply to the consumers, wherein, there are still households in sitios and puroks in the farthest area which are not yet energized and do not enjoy the convenience brought by electricity.

Based on the new boundaries and areas, the existing land use of the whole municipality was determined in accordance with its land suitability and capability using as reference, the aerial topographic map (1990) provided by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) supplemented by actual site survey. The existing land use data as obtained is presented in the table below.