Wilson resides in Austin with his wife, the former Kristen Kincaid, whom he married in Tyler in 1992. They attend the non-denominational Hill Country Bible Church in Austin, pastored by the Reverend Tim Hawks. Wilson has apparently recovered from two bouts of [[cancer]]. He said that fighting the disease taught him never to give up on the implementation of his goals.
In 2014, Wilson became general manager of the Lower Colorado River Authority/ After Hurricane Harvey, he worked beginning in 2018 on an interim basis to provide housing assistance for flood survivors meeting the guidelines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Land Commissioner [[George P. Bush]], welcoming Wilson's assistance to his office, noted that Hurricane Harvey "devastated more than 41,000 square miles of Texas resulting in damage to homes in more than 40 counties. Thus far (spring 2018), more than 2,500 survivors have been housed in temporary units … and the PREPS (Partial Repair and Essential Power for Sheltering) program has provided basic repairs to more than 10,000 homes through the Texas Rebuilds effort." Wilson worked on completing the short-term housing issue and encouraged local communities to develop plans for more than $5 billion in long-term housing recovery funds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glo.texas.gov/the-glo/news/press-releases/2018/march/lcra-phil-wilson-to-join-glo-effor-to-complete-harvey-short-term-housing-mission.html|title=LCRA's Phil Wilson to join GLO's effort to complete Harvey short-term housing mission|publisher=Texas General Land Office|date=March 21, 2018|accessdate=November 17, 2019}}</ref>
In addition to Roger Williams and Wilson, previous secretaries of state under Governor Perry were Democrat Henry Roberto Cuellar of [[Laredo]] and Republicans Gwyn Shea and Geoff Connor.