Austin County is a rural, agricultural dominated

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,167. Its seat is Bellville. The county and region was settled primarily by German emigrants in the 1800s. Austin County is included in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area. Austin County and the state capital Austin were both named after Stephen F. Austin; the city Austin is in Travis County, approximately 110 miles to the northwest.

History

In 1836, the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

established Austin County, naming it for Stephen F. Austin, who facilitated Texas' Anglo-American colonization.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is covered by water.

Adjacent counties

* Washington County (north) *

Waller County Waller County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,794. Its county seat is Hempstead. The county was named for Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first mayor ...

(east) * Fort Bend County (southeast) * Wharton County (south) * Colorado County (southwest) * Fayette County (west)

Communities

Cities

* Bellville (county seat) * Brazos Country * Sealy * South Frydek * Wallis

Town

* Industry * San Felipe

Census-designated place

* New Ulm

Unincorporated communities

* Bleiblerville * Buckhorn * Burleigh * Cat Spring * Cochran * Frydek * Kenney *

Millheim Millheim is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 904 at the 2010 United Sta ...

* Nelsonville * New Wehdem * Peters * Post Oak Point * Raccoon Bend * Rockhouse * Shelby * Wehdem * Welcome

Ghost town

* Rexville

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 23,590 people, 8,747 households, and 6,481 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . The 10,205 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 80.22% White, 10.64% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.29% Asian, 6.99% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. About 16.13% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race, and 26.9% were of German, 8.0%

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, 6.4% English, and 5.0% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. Of the 8,747 households, 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.60% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.90% were not families; 22.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14. In the county, the population was distributed as 27.00% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the county was $38,615, and for a family was $46,342. Males had a median income of $32,455 versus $22,142 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $18,140. About 8.80% of families and 12.10% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.70% of those under age 18 and 14.40% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Austin County was one of the earliest counties in Texas to turn Republican. After

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, the only time a Democrat has carried this county is in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

. Every Republican presidential candidate since 2000 has carried more than 70% of the county vote.

United States Congress

Austin County is part of Texas's 10th congressional district, which as of 2019 is represented in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

by Michael McCaul.

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

District 18: Lois Kolkhorst ( R) – first elected in 2014

Texas House of Representatives

District 13: Ben Leman ( R) – first elected in 2018

Austin County Courthouse

County Judge: Tim Lapham ( R) Tax Assessor-Collector: Marcus A. Peña ( R) – first elected in 2012

Education

The following school districts serve Austin County: * Bellville Independent School District * Brazos Independent School District (partial) (Formerly Wallis-Orchard ISD) * Brenham Independent School District (partial) * Columbus Independent School District (partial) * Sealy Independent School District * Burton Independent School District (partial) Blinn Junior College District is the designated community college for most of the county. Areas in Brazos ISD are in Wharton County Junior College District.

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

* U.S. Highway 90 * State Highway 36 * State Highway 159 The TTC-69 component (recommended preferred) of the once-planned Trans-Texas Corridor went through Austin County.TxDoT, TTC Section C & S, Detailed Map 2, 2007-12-17