Midland County, Texas

Midland County is a county in Texas, United States, about 20 miles east of Odessa on
Interstate 20. It had a population of 169,983 at the 2020 census, an estimated 187,855 by 2025,
and covers 902 square miles (2,340 km2) centred near 31°53′N 102°01′W.

Midland is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated city; its postal code is 79701.
The county holds 1 city and 5 unincorporated communities, and it runs on Central Time.
Its FIPS code is 48329.

Towns & Villages in Midland County

Midland County has 6 named places on record: 1 incorporated city and 5 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. Unincorp. covers rural settlements and
former townsites with no formal boundary today.

One name on this list is easy to mix up with a neighboring county. Odessa, Ector County’s
seat and the region’s second-largest city, extends a small annexed edge across the county
line into western Midland County — the reverse of Midland’s own city limits, which
stay entirely inside Midland County. Odessa’s population figures belong to Ector County,
not this page. Warfield and Cotton Flat no longer function as active communities: Warfield was a
Texas and Pacific Railway flag stop that had shrunk to about twenty residents by 1940 and today
survives only as a rail-switch name on maps, and Cotton Flat’s 1910s farm-subdivision
school and church closed decades ago when its district consolidated into Midland ISD.

ZIP Codes

• 79701 — Midland (standard delivery)
• 79703, 79705, 79706, 79707, 79712 — Midland (standard delivery)
• 79702, 79704, 79708, 79710, 79711 — Midland (PO box only)

All eleven ZIP codes assigned to Midland County serve Midland itself; Greenwood, Spraberry,
Germania, Cotton Flat and Warfield have no ZIP code of their own and are delivered under a
Midland code.

Geography

Midland County sits on the Southern High Plains of West Texas, in the heart of the Permian
Basin. Of its 902 square miles, 900 are land and 1.8 are water, about 0.2 percent — the
county has no natural lake or major river, and its scattered stock ponds and playas hold what
little surface water exists. Much of the county sits atop the Spraberry Trend, an oil field
ranked among the largest in the United States by remaining reserves, and Midland ranks first
among Texas counties for oil production.

Martin County lies to the north, Andrews County to the northwest, Ector County to the west,
Upton County to the south, Reagan County to the southeast and Glasscock County to the east.
Martin County, Andrews County, Ector County, Upton County, Reagan County and Glasscock County all border Midland
directly.

Demographics

Midland County had a population of 169,983 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 187,855 residents by 2025. Midland is by far the largest community, holding
about 78 percent of the county’s population on its own; Greenwood, an unincorporated area
northeast of the city with its own school district, has grown from roughly 2,000 residents in
2000 to an estimated 3,864 in the 2019–2023 American Community Survey. Midland’s
median household income was $90,448 in the 2020 American Community Survey, well above the
Texas statewide figure of $75,780 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 189
people per square mile of land, high for West Texas and a reflection of Midland-Odessa’s
status as the Permian Basin’s administrative center.

Economy & Local Life

Oil and gas extraction drives the county’s economy: Midland County ranks first among
Texas counties for crude oil production and second for natural gas, and the Spraberry Trend
oil field underlies much of its land. Midland Independent School District is the county’s
largest employer at 2,919 workers, followed by Midland Memorial Hospital at 1,670, Dawson
Geophysical at 1,244, Walmart at 950 and the City of Midland at 880. The Permian Basin
Petroleum Museum and the Museum of the Southwest, both in Midland, document the region’s
oil history and host visiting exhibits. The county’s best-known annual event is Summer
Mummers, a comic-melodrama fundraiser Midland Community Theatre stages each summer at the
Yucca Theatre downtown.

History

The Texas legislature organized Midland County in 1885 out of land detached from Tom Green
County. The site was first platted as Midway, for its position midway between Fort Worth and
El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railway, and the name shortened to Midland when the post
office opened. Herman Garrett is recorded as the county’s first permanent settler, arriving
during the open-range ranching era of the 1870s and 1880s before farming communities such as
Germania and Cotton Flat took hold in the following decades.

Oil transformed the county after 1945, with major production booms in 1947 and again from
1949 to 1952, as companies built their regional headquarters in Midland rather than in the
oilfields themselves — the origin of the city’s “Tall City” skyline.
Midland is also where future presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush spent parts of
their childhoods and early careers in the oil business.

Getting There

Interstate 20 crosses the county east–west through Midland, carrying most through
traffic between Odessa and Big Spring. State Highway 158, State Highway 349 and several farm-
to-market roads serve the county’s outlying communities.

• Odessa — about 20 miles west
• Big Spring — about 40 miles east
• Lubbock — about 120 miles north
• San Angelo — about 110 miles south

Midland International Air and Space Port, on the county’s west side near the Ector
County line, is the region’s commercial airport, with year-round service to major Texas
hubs. Alpine, roughly 150 miles south, has the nearest Amtrak station, served by the Sunset
Limited.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Midland County located?
It sits on the Southern High Plains of West Texas, in the Permian Basin, bordered by Martin,
Andrews, Ector, Upton, Reagan and Glasscock counties.

What is the population of Midland County?
169,983 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 187,855 by 2025.

How big is Midland County?
902 square miles (2,340 km2), of which 900 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Midland County?
Midland, organized as the seat when the county formed in 1885, is the county’s only
incorporated city.

How many towns are in Midland County?
One incorporated city, Midland, plus five unincorporated communities: Greenwood, Spraberry,
Germania, Cotton Flat and Warfield.

What ZIP codes does Midland County use?
All eleven of the county’s ZIP codes — 79701 through 79712, skipping 79709 —
serve Midland; the county’s unincorporated communities use a Midland code.

What is Midland County known for?
The Spraberry Trend oil field and its role as the administrative center of the Permian Basin
oil industry — Midland County ranks first among Texas counties for crude oil
production.

More counties in this state: Towns
and villages in Texas.