County Maps US

Howard County, Texas

A county in Texas, ranked 95 of 254 by population.

CountyFIPS 48227

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

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Population
30,504
-4,307 (-12.4%) since 2020
Land area
900.8
square miles. A further 0.4% of the total area is water
Population density
33.9
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Big Spring
Seat of county government.
Established
1882
143 years ago
Largest city
Big Spring city
Population 22,290.

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 Howard 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 Howard 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 800 by 797 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 Howard 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
Population30,50495th of 2541,431st of 3,144
Land area900.8 sq mi141st of 254848th of 3,144
Population density33.9 per sq mi100th of 2541,818th of 3,144
Median household income$69,64988th of 2541,223rd of 3,143

Full data for Howard County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population30,504Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202034,811Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?34,860Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area900.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area904.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?33.9 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$69,649American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$155,600American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age36.7American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households12,191American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units14,048American 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
-7
403 births, 410 deaths
Net migration
-59
More people moved out than moved in.

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

The 6 areas bordering Howard 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
Martin CountyTexas30 mi5,284
Mitchell CountyTexas30 mi8,947
Borden CountyTexas30 mi567
Glasscock CountyTexas25 mi1,128
Sterling CountyTexas4.7 mi1,349
Dawson CountyTexasa single point11,776

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.