Ellis County is a

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 ...

located in the U.S. state of

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 2020, its population was estimated to be 192,455. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Waxahachie. The county was founded in 1849 and organized the next year. It is named for Richard Ellis, president of the convention that produced the Texas Declaration of Independence. Ellis County is included in the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

– Fort Worth– Arlington metropolitan statistical area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (1.7%) are covered by water. Lake Waxahachie is located about five miles south of Waxahachie in Ellis County, Texas. Owned and operated by Ellis County Water Control and Improvement District Number One on behalf of the city of Waxahachie, the lake was formed by impounding the Waxahachie Creek in 1956. The water covers about 650 acres and has a maximum depth around 50. The former community of South Prong was located beside the creek before the lake was created. There has been a country club and a two-acre public park with boat ramp since the lake was completed. The lake is a recreational resource for the entire county.

Major highways

* Interstate 35E *

Interstate 45 Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. While most primary Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, ...

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...

U.S. 77 *

U.S. 287 * Texas 34

State Highway 34 * Texas 342

State Highway 342

Adjacent counties

* Dallas County (north) * Kaufman County (northeast) * Henderson County (east) * Navarro County (south) * Hill County (southwest) * Johnson County (west) * Tarrant County (northwest)

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

* Cedar Hill (mostly in Dallas County) * Ferris (small part in Dallas County) * Glenn Heights (mostly in Dallas County) * Grand Prairie (mostly in Dallas and Tarrant Counties) * Mansfield (mostly in Tarrant County and a small part in Johnson County) *

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

(mostly in Johnson County) * Ovilla (small part in Dallas County)

Cities

* Bardwell * Ennis * Maypearl *

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

* Oak Leaf * Pecan Hill * Red Oak * Waxahachie (county seat)

Towns

* Alma * Garrett *

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

* Milford * Palmer

Census-designated place

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Unincorporated communities

* Auburn * Avalon * Crisp * Forreston * Ike *

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

* Rankin * Rockett * Telico * Trumbull

Demographics

According to 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, 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 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 39,071 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 80.63% White, 8.64% African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 7.92% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. About 18.42% of the population was Hispanic or Latinos of any race. By 2020, its population increased to 192,455. The racial makeup in 2020 was 55.34% non-Hispanic white, 12.33% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.79% Asian American, 0.41% some other race, 3.62% multiracial, and 27.04% Hispanic or Latino of any race. A Williams Institute analysis of 2010 census data found about 3.2 same-sex couples per 1,000 households were in the county. American Community Survey 2023 Racial Data The United States Census Bureau estimated that in 2023, Ellis County’s population was 222,829. It was also estimated that the county was 28.4% Hispanic or Latino, 51.9% NH White, 16.5% NH Black, 1.0% NH Asian, 0.4% NH Native, 0.1% NH Pacific Islander, and 1.7% NH Multiracial.

Politics

Ellis is a staunchly Republican county in presidential elections. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the county was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, and since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Republican presidential candidates have won with more than 60% of the vote. The county's Republican lean has lessened a bit due to population growth in the DFW metroplex in recent years, but it still remains strongly Republican.

Law enforcement

The Ellis County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services to the county. The current

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

is Brad Norman. The agency also operates the Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie.

Line of duty deaths

As of 2025, 6 officers of the Ellis County Sheriff's Office have been killed in the line of duty.

Media

Ellis County is part of the

/ Fort Worth television media market in North Texas. Stations in the market are KDFW-TV, KXAS-TV, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, KFWD-TV, and KDTX-TV. The county is home to one local radio station KBEC 1390 AM and 99.1 FM. The station has been in continuous operation since 1955 and is the oldest Family owned radio station in Texas. A weekly newspaper, the ''Ellis County Press'', is based in Ferris and published Thursdays. The '' Waxahachie Daily Light'' and ''Waxahachie Sun'' are published biweekly; other weekly newspapers are ''The Ennis News'' and ''Midlothian Mirror''.

Education

Notable people

* Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde * J. D. Grey, clergyman, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Ennis, 1931–1934; later president of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

* Ernest Tubb, country singer and songwriter * Lecil Travis Martin, known more commonly as Boxcar Willie, country singer and songwriter

References

External links

Ellis County government's website
*
''Memorial and biographical history of Ellis county, Texas ...''
published 1892, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

''The Texas spirit of '17: a pictorial and biographical record of the gallant and courageous men from Ellis County who served in the Great War''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
{{authority control Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex 1850 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1850