Lubbock 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 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 ...

. The 2020 census placed the population at 310,639. Its

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 ...

and largest city is Lubbock. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1891. It is named for Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Confederate colonel and Texas Ranger (some sources give his first name as Thompson). Lubbock County, along with Crosby County, and Lynn County, is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Lubbock MSA and Levelland Micropolitan Statistical Area, encompassing only Hockley County, form the larger Lubbock–Levelland Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.6%) are covered by water.

Major highways

Interstate 27 Interstate 27 (I-27) is an Interstate Highway, entirely in the US state of Texas, running north from Lubbock, Texas, Lubbock to Interstate 40 in Texas, I-40 in Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo. These two cities are the only control cities on I-27 ...

* U.S. Route 62/ U.S. Route 82 * US 84

U.S. Route 84 * US 87

U.S. Route 87 * Texas 114

State Highway 114 * Texas Loop 289

Loop 289

Adjacent counties

* Hale County (north) * Crosby County (east) * Lynn County (south) * Hockley County (west) * Lamb County (northwest) * Terry County (southwest) * Garza County (southeast) * Floyd County (northeast)

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, 242,628 people, 92,516 households, and 60,135 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 100,595 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 74.30% White, 7.67% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 1.31% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 14.15% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. About 27.45% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 92,516 households, 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.20% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.00% were not families. About 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10. In the county, the population was distributed as 25.70% under the age of 18, 16.30% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 19.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,198, and for a family was $41,067. Males had a median income of $29,961 versus $21,591 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 $17,323. About 12.00% of families and 17.80% 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 21.60% of those under age 18 and 10.70% of those age 65 or over.

Elected leadership

Politics

At the presidential level, Lubbock County votes predominantly Republican, having voted Democratic for president only once in the past 70 years, a trend which began with native son

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

heading the ticket in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, reversing a trend typical of the

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

. In the 2020 Presidential election,

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

's percentage (a best for a Democrat since 1976), was due to Biden winning precincts within the city highway loop in Lubbock. The heavy Republican lean of the county is mostly due to Republican landslide victories in precincts located outside the city highway loop in the county. In October 2023, Lubbock County Commissioners passed a "Sanctuary County for the Unborn" ordinance. The ordinance outlaws "the act of transporting another person along their roads for an abortion." The ordinance is of questionable constitutionality, given the right to interstate travel under the U.S. Constitution.

Communities

Cities

* Abernathy (mostly in Hale County) * Idalou * Lubbock (county seat) * Shallowater * Wolfforth

Towns

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

* Ransom Canyon * Slaton

Village

* Buffalo Springs

Unincorporated communities

* Acuff *

Becton Becton is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Charles Becton, attorney, former judge and president of the North Carolina Bar Association *Frank Becton (1873–1909), English professional footballer *Frederick J. Becton (1908–199 ...

Canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

* Estacado (partly in Crosby County) * Hurlwood *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Posey * Reese Center *

Reese Air Force Base Reese Air Force Base was a former U.S. Army Air Base located near Lubbock, Texas. It was closed in 1997 and converted into a research center. History Reese Air Force Base began as the Lubbock Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School in 1942. It ...

(Defunct) * Roosevelt * Slide * Woodrow

Ghost towns

* Broadview *

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

* Heckville * Kitalou * Midway * Reese Village * Union

Education

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

is in Lubbock.

References

External links

Lubbock County government's website
*
Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Lubbock County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties

Map of Fire Stations in Lubbock County
{{coord, 33.61, -101.82, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1891 establishments in Texas Majority-minority counties in Texas