Travis County, Texas

Travis County is a county in Texas, United States, in the state’s Hill Country region about 80 miles north of San Antonio. It had a population of 1,290,188 at the 2020 census, an estimated 1,389,670 by 2025, and covers 1,023 square miles (2,650 km2) centred near 30°20′N 97°47′W.

Austin is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 78701. The county holds 18 incorporated cities, towns and villages and 9 census-designated places across dozens of unincorporated communities, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 48453.

Towns & Villages in Travis County

Travis County has 18 incorporated cities, towns and villages on record, all wholly or mostly within its borders, plus 9 census-designated places (CDPs) that the Census Bureau tracks but that have no city government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Austin’s figures above are citywide; small parts of the city also extend into Hays and Williamson counties. Mustang Ridge is the same kind of case in miniature — its 944 residents include households in neighboring Caldwell and Bastrop counties as well. Three more cities reach into Travis County only at the edge and are not listed above: Cedar Park and Round Rock, both centered in Williamson County, and Elgin, centered in Bastrop County, each carry no real population inside the Travis County line.

Nine more places are census-designated: statistical areas the Census Bureau tracks but that have no mayor, council or city budget of their own.

Beyond these, 22 unincorporated communities dot the county with no census population of their own, from lake communities like Marshall Ford and Round Mountain to farm crossroads like Cele, Dessau and New Sweden. Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas sits in one of them, Del Valle, in the county’s southeast corner near the airport. Five more places — Daffan, Decker, Maha, Manda and New Katy — survive only as names on old maps; each was a post office or rail stop that never grew into a town.

ZIP Codes

Austin alone carries dozens of ZIP codes across its 320 square miles, so the list below covers the county’s outlying cities and communities plus Austin’s central downtown code.

• 78701 — Austin (downtown and the Travis County Courthouse; the city itself carries dozens more codes)
• 78660 — Pflugerville
• 78734 — Lakeway and Hudson Bend
• 78738 — Bee Cave and The Hills
• 78645 — Lago Vista, Jonestown and Point Venture
• 78653 — Manor
• 78621 — Webberville
• 78746 — West Lake Hills, Rollingwood and Lost Creek
• 78669 — Briarcliff
• 78610 — Mustang Ridge and Creedmoor
• 78641 — Volente
• 78748 — San Leanna
• 78735 — Sunset Valley and Barton Creek
• 78728 — Wells Branch
• 78725 — Hornsby Bend
• 78617 — Garfield and Del Valle
• 78652 — Manchaca
• 78732 — Steiner Ranch
• 78739 — Shady Hollow

The county’s smaller unincorporated communities — Carl, Cele, McNeil, Nameless and the rest — have no ZIP of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town or Austin postal station.

Geography

Travis County straddles the Balcones Fault, the line separating the Edwards Plateau’s limestone hills to the west from the Blackland Prairie’s flatter farmland to the east. Of the county’s 1,023 square miles, 990 are land and 33 are water, about 3.2 percent — most of it the Colorado River’s chain of reservoirs. Lake Travis, Lake Austin and Lady Bird Lake, all Colorado River impoundments, run through the county’s western and central sections.

Williamson County lies to the north, Bastrop County to the southeast, Caldwell County to the south, Hays County to the southwest, Blanco County to the west and Burnet County to the northwest. Williamson County, Bastrop County, Caldwell County, Hays County, Blanco County and Burnet County all border Travis directly.

Demographics

Travis County had a population of 1,290,188 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the county near 1,389,670 residents. Austin and Pflugerville are by far the two largest communities, together holding most of the county’s population. The county’s median household income was $68,350 in 2017 (American Community Survey), the most recent county-level figure on record, compared with Texas’s 2023 statewide median of $75,780. Population density works out to roughly 1,303 people per square mile of land, among the highest in Texas outside its other major metro cores, reflecting Austin’s position at the center of the county.

Economy & Local Life

Texas state government is one of Travis County’s largest employers, with agency offices concentrated downtown near the Capitol in Austin. The University of Texas at Austin, founded in 1883 and enrolling 53,864 students as of fall 2024, is the county’s largest single institution outside government. Ascension Seton and St. David’s HealthCare both run multi-hospital systems headquartered in the county. Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, which began Model Y production in April 2022, sits in the Del Valle area of southeast Travis County near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The county’s biggest annual event is South by Southwest each March, a film, music and technology festival that fills downtown Austin’s venues and draws visitors well beyond the county’s own population.

History

The Congress of the Republic of Texas established Austin as the new capital in 1839, on the site of the settlement of Waterloo, and created Travis County in 1840 to administer it. Lawmakers named the county after William Barret Travis, commander of the Texian forces at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The University of Texas opened in Austin in 1883, cementing the county’s role as a seat of both government and higher education decades before the technology-sector growth of the 1980s and 1990s reshaped its economy.

Getting There

Interstate 35 runs north–south through the county, splitting Austin down the middle and continuing toward Round Rock, Georgetown and San Antonio. State Highway 130, a toll road, bypasses Austin along the county’s eastern edge and meets US 71 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Several other US and state highways radiate out from Austin toward every neighboring county.

• San Antonio — about 80 miles south
• Georgetown — about 30 miles north
• San Marcos — about 30 miles south
• Bastrop — about 30 miles east

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, about 5 miles southeast of downtown Austin, is the county’s own commercial airport. Amtrak’s Texas Eagle stops at Austin’s downtown station, running between Chicago and San Antonio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Travis County located?
It sits in Central Texas along the Balcones Fault, about 80 miles north of San Antonio, bordered by Williamson, Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Blanco and Burnet counties.

What is the population of Travis County?
1,290,188 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 1,389,670.

How big is Travis County?
1,023 square miles (2,650 km2), of which 990 square miles are land and 33 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Travis County?
Austin, the capital of Texas, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Travis County?
18 incorporated cities, towns and villages, plus 9 census-designated places and 22 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Travis County use?
78701 for downtown Austin, plus 78660, 78734, 78738, 78645, 78653, 78746, 78669, 78610, 78641, 78748, 78735, 78728, 78725, 78617, 78652, 78732 and 78739 for its other cities and communities — Austin itself carries dozens more.

What is Travis County known for?
The University of Texas at Austin, the Texas Capitol and state government offices, and Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas near Del Valle.

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