County Maps US

Hays County, Texas

A county in Texas, ranked 19 of 254 by population.

CountyFIPS 48209

Within Texas
Hays County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks San Marcos, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
304,390
+60,406 (+24.8%) since 2020
Land area
676.9
square miles. A further 0.3% of the total area is water
Population density
450
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
San Marcos
Seat of county government.
Established
1848
177 years ago
Largest city
San Marcos city
Population 77,830 for the whole place, which extends beyond this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Hays County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Hays County, Texas from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 689 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Hays County ranks

Position among the 254 counties of Texas, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn TexasNationally
Population304,39019th of 254242nd of 3,144
Land area676.9 sq mi220th of 2541,386th of 3,144
Population density450 per sq mi17th of 254317th of 3,144
Median household income$89,09722nd of 254325th of 3,143

Full data for Hays County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population304,390Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020243,984Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?241,064Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area676.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area678.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?450 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$89,097American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$399,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age34.1American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households99,849American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units104,675American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+1,794
3,378 births, 1,584 deaths
Net migration
+8,318
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Hays County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Travis CountyTexas36 mi1,389,670
Comal CountyTexas28 mi209,166
Blanco CountyTexas23 mi13,581
Caldwell CountyTexas19 mi55,150
Guadalupe CountyTexas10 mi201,111

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 254 counties of Texas

Open the interactive Texas county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.