The largest county in Texas

There are two right answers. By land area it is Brewster County; by population it is Harris County. Which one you want depends on what you meant by largest.

Largest by land area

Brewster County

6,184 sq mi

2.4% of Texas's land

Largest by population

Harris County

5,045,026 people

15.9% of Texas's population

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. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

By land area

The ten largest counties of Texas by land area. Land area excludes inland and coastal water.
RankNameLand areaPopulation
1Brewster County6,184 sq mi9,458
2Pecos County4,764 sq mi14,560
3Hudspeth County4,571 sq mi3,433
4Presidio County3,855 sq mi5,433
5Culberson County3,812 sq mi2,267
6Webb County3,361 sq mi281,224
7Val Verde County3,145 sq mi47,835
8Crockett County2,807 sq mi2,769
9Reeves County2,635 sq mi12,138
10Terrell County2,358 sq mi702

By population

The ten most populous counties of Texas, from the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimates.
RankNamePopulationDensity
1Harris County5,045,0262,955 per sq mi
2Dallas County2,661,3973,048 per sq mi
3Tarrant County2,248,4662,598 per sq mi
4Bexar County2,160,0881,741 per sq mi
5Travis County1,389,6701,398 per sq mi
6Collin County1,297,1791,541 per sq mi
7Denton County1,069,3461,217 per sq mi
8Fort Bend County975,1911,131 per sq mi
9Hidalgo County921,549587 per sq mi
10El Paso County877,858866 per sq mi

And the smallest

Smallest by land area

Rockwall County

127.2 sq mi

Least populous

Loving County

52 people

More on Texas

Rebuilt from source data 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.