Starr County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,920. Its county seat is Rio Grande City. The county was created in 1848. It is named for

James Harper Starr James Harper Starr (December 18, 1809 – July 25, 1890) served as a commissioner of the Texas General Land Office and later Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas and also as director of the postal service of the Trans-Mississippi D ...

, who served as Secretary of the Treasury of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

. Starr County comprises the Rio Grande City, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes other small cities, which itself is part of the larger Rio Grande Valley region. It is directly northeast of the Mexican border. The county population is almost entirely Hispanic. With 97.7% of its population identifying as such, it is the county with the highest proportion of Hispanics in the continental United States.

History

From 2000 to 2010, the population of Starr County increased from 53,597 to 60,968.Grinberg, Emmanuella.
Impoverished border town grows from shacks into community
." '' CNN''. July 8, 2011. Retrieved on July 9, 2011.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.5%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while US ...

Adjacent counties and municipalities

* Jim Hogg County (north) * Brooks County (northeast) * Hidalgo County (east) *

Zapata County Zapata County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 13,889. Its county seat is Zapata, Texas, Zapata. The county is named for Colonel Jose Ant ...

(northwest) *

Camargo Municipality, Tamaulipas Camargo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the US border, across from Rio Grande City, Texas. It has an official population of 14,933 inhabitants (2010 census) and an international bridge. The municipal seat ...

, Mexico (south) * Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Mexico (northwest) *

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas Gustavo Díaz Ordaz is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Towns and villages The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:

, Tamaulipas, Mexico (south) *

Mier Municipality Mier Municipality is one of the municipalities of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The seat is at Ciudad Mier. According to the 2010 census, the entire population of the municipality resides in the municipal seat, as both have an official count of 4,762 i ...

, Tamaulipas, Mexico (south) *

Miguel Alemán Municipality Miguel Alemán Municipality is a municipality located in Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 ...

, Tamaulipas, Mexico (south)

National protected area

Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of southern Texas. It is along the northern banks and reaches of the Lower Rio Grande, north of the Mexico—Unit ...

(part)

Demographics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 65,920 people, 16,281 households, and 12,836 families residing in the county. As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 60,968 people living in the county. 0.4% were

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Black or African American, 3.0% of some other race and 0.5% of two or more races. 95.7% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). According to the Census Bureau, Starr County had the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any county in the United States, and the lowest percentage of non-Hispanic white residents. As of the census of 2000, there were 53,597 people, 14,410 households, and 12,666 families living in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 17,589 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.92% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.28%

, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 9.91% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. There were 14,410 households, out of which 54.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.50% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 17.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.10% were non-families. 11.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.69 and the average family size was 4.01. In the county, the population was spread out, with 37.40% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 16.30% from 45 to 64, and 8.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $16,504, and the median income for a family was $17,556. Males had a median income of $17,398 versus $13,533 for females. The per capita income for the county was $7,069, which is the third-lowest in the United States. About 47.40% of families and 50.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 59.40% of those under age 18 and 43.30% of those age 65 or over. As of 2009 the median household income was $22,418.

Politics

Law enforcement

In the 1970s and into the 1980s, federal law enforcement officials concentrated their anti-drug smuggling efforts on Starr County. On May 1, 2009, the former sheriff of Starr County, Reymundo Guerra, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, pleaded guilty in federal court to a

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

conspiracy charge. In April 2016, Starr County

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Salvador Zarate Jr., faced up to twenty years

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

and a $10,000 fine on two counts of

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

for accepting a $500 bribe in exchange for reducing bond on two persons arrested on narcotics charges in an incident on Christmas Eve 2014. He was found not guilty of possession of a controlled substance. Zarate is expected to appeal any sentence rendered.

Presidential elections

Starr County has long been a strongly

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

county but has suffered from low voter turnout with only approximately twenty percent of its 53,000 residents voting. No Republican has won the county for president since incumbent Benjamin Harrison in 1892 – as of 2020 Starr has the longest streak of voting for Democrats in the entire country. Its streak is currently almost triple the length of Minnesota's Democratic streak, which began in 1976, as of 2020. In 1988, the county gave Michael Dukakis his highest vote share in the nation. In 2008, Illinois Senator

Barack H. Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

won Starr County with 8,233 votes (84 percent). In the most recent election, Donald Trump came within five points of winning the county, receiving 8,224 votes (47 percent) to Joe Biden's 9,099 (52 percent). This was a major shift from Hillary Clinton's 60-point margin of victory four years earlier, and represented the strongest pro-Trump swing of any county in the nation.

Education

Residents of eastern Starr County are zoned to schools in the

Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District Rio Grande City Grulla Independent School District (RGCGISD), formerly Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District, is a public school district based in Rio Grande City, Texas, Rio Grande City, Texas (United States, USA). In 2009, t ...

. Residents of western Starr County are zoned to schools in the Roma Independent School District. Residents of northeastern Starr County are zoned to schools in the

San Isidro Independent School District The San Isidro Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of San Isidro, Texas, United States. In addition to San Isidro, the district also serves several other unincorporated communities in rural northeaster ...

. The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville ( la, Dioecesis Brownsvillensis, es, Diócesis de Brownsville) is a Latin Church suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, in Texas, USA. The ...

operates area Catholic schools
Immaculate Conception School
located in Rio Grande City and founded in 1884, is the only Catholic school in Starr County and provides a faith-based pre-K through eighth-grade education to approximately 250 students each year. All of the county is in the service area of South Texas College.

Communities

As of 2011 Starr County has about 55 colonias. By 2011 many families were moving to the colonias. Between the 2000 and 2010 census Starr County went through many changes. Four CDPs were deleted, one gained area, twelve lost area and ninety-two new CDPs were created. Only eleven remained unchanged.

Cities

* Escobares * La Grulla * Rio Grande City (county seat) *

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

Unincorporated communities

* La Gloria * La Reforma * Santa Catarina * Santa Elena

Former communities

* Viboras

Census-designated places

* Airport Heights * Alto Bonito Heights * Amada Acres *

Anacua ''Ehretia anacua'' is medium-sized tree found in eastern Mexico and southern Texas in the United States. It is a member of the borage family, Boraginaceae. One of its common names, anacua, is derived from the Mexican Spanish word ''anacahui ...

* B and E *

Barrera Barrera is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian surname, meaning "barrier". . The name has many variant spellings of the name which include: Barrios, de Barrios, Barrio, de Barrio, Barro, Barros, de Barros, Barroso, Barrera, de Barrera, de la Barre ...

* Benjamin Perez * Buena Vista * Camargito *

Campo Verde Campo Verde is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso in the Central-West Region of Brazil. The municipality contains 13% of the Rio da Casca Ecological Station, a strictly protected conservation unit created in 1994. History The region b ...

* Casa Blanca *

Casas Casas may refer to: People *Casas (surname) Places Argentina * Casas, locality in Santa Fe Province Mexico * Casas Municipality, Tamaulipas * Casas Grandes, prehistoric archaeological site in Chihuahua * Casas Grandes, Chihuahua * Casas G ...

* Chaparrito * Chapeno * Delmita * East Alto Bonito * East Lopez * El Brazil * El Castillo * El Cenizo *

El Chaparral The El Chaparral port of entry or border crossing (''Puerto Fronterizo El Chaparral'') is as of 2012 the main vehicle crossing point from San Diego into Tijuana, Mexico, replacing the former entry point known as Puerta México which stood immediate ...

* El Mesquite * El Quiote * El Rancho Vela * El Refugio *

El Socio ''The Partner'' or ''The Associate'' (Spanish:''El socio'') is a 1928 novel by the Chilean writer and politician Jenaro Prieto.Bizzarro p.609 Adaptations The story, about a financially struggling man who invents a fictitious business partner na ...

* Elias-Fela Solis * Escobar I (former) * Eugenio Saenz * Evergreen * Falcon Heights * Falcon Village * Falconaire * Fernando Salinas * Flor del Rio * Fronton * Fronton Ranchettes * Garceno * Garciasville * Garza-Salinas II * Guadalupe-Guerra * Gutierrez * H. Cuellar Estates * Hilltop *

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índio, ...

* Jardin de San Julian * JF Villarreal * La Carla * La Casita * La Chuparosa * La Escondida * La Esperanza * La Loma de Falcon * La Minita * La Paloma Ranchettes *

La Puerta La Puerta is a village in Catamarca Province, Argentina. It is the head of the Ambato Department Ambato is a department of Catamarca Province in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Arge ...

* La Rosita * La Victoria * Lago Vista * Las Lomas * Loma Linda East * Loma Linda West *

Loma Vista ''Loma Vista'' is the major-label debut studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribut ...

* Longoria * Los Alvarez * Los Arrieros * Los Barreras * Los Ebanos * Manuel Garcia * Manuel Garcia II * Martinez * Mesquite * Mi Ranchito Estate *

Miguel Barrera Miguel Angel Barrera Estrada (born 15 November 1978 in San Jose de Canalete) is a former Colombian strawweight boxer, who once held the International Boxing Federation version of the Minimumweight world title. Pro career Known as "El Hurac ...

* Mikes * Moraida * Narciso Pena * Netos *

Nina Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology *No income, ...

* North Escobares * Northridge * Old Escobares (former) * Olivia Lopez de Gutierrez * Olmito and Olmito * Pablo Pena * Palo Blanco * Pena * Quesada * Rafael Pena * Ramirez-Perez *

Ramos Ramos is a surname of Spanish and Portuguese origin that means "bouquets" or "branches". Notable people with the surname include: * Adrián Ramos (born 1986), Colombian footballer * Aldrech Ramos (born 1988), Filipino basketball player * Aleja ...

* Ranchitos del Norte * Rancho Viejo * Regino Ramirez * Rivera (former) * Rivereno * Roma Creek * Salineño * Salineño North * Sammy Martinez *

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

* San Isidro *

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

* Sandoval * Santa Anna * Santa Cruz *

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

* Santel *

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

* Tierra Dorada * Valle Hermoso * Valle Vista * Victoria Vera * Villarreal * West Alto Bonito * Zarate

Economy

Starr is especially known for oilseeds and

dry bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...

s, one of the highest-producing counties in the state.

References

External links

Starr County Government

Starr County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the University of Texas
Starr County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
{{coord, 26.57, -98.73, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 Lower Rio Grande Valley 1848 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1848 Majority-minority counties in Texas Hispanic and Latino American culture in Texas