{"id":7970,"date":"2023-09-16T19:26:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T19:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=7970"},"modified":"2026-08-15T06:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T06:36:39","slug":"gray-county-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/gray-county-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray County, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Gray County is a county in Texas, United States, in the eastern Texas Panhandle. It had a population of 21,227 at the 2020 census and covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2) centred near 35&deg;25&prime;N 100&deg;49&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Pampa is the county seat, and its postal code is 79065. The county has one city, two towns, one census-designated place and several unincorporated communities. Gray County is in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Gray County<\/h2>\n<p>Gray County has one incorporated city (Pampa, the seat), two incorporated towns (Lefors and McLean), one census-designated place (Alanreed) and a handful of unincorporated communities left from the county&#8217;s early ranching and oil-boom years. CDP = census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no separate municipal government.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Pampa<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79065<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lefors<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79054<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>McLean<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79057<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Alanreed<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>79002<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hoover<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Back<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bowers City<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kingsmill<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Laketon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Boydston<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wesco<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>The old page also listed &ldquo;Mesilla Park,&rdquo; a place name that actually belongs to Do&ntilde;a Ana County, New Mexico, not Gray County &mdash; it has been dropped as an out-of-state error. Duplicate entries for Alanreed, Lefors and Pampa, and unverifiable stub names (&ldquo;Denworth,&rdquo; &ldquo;Heaton,&rdquo; &ldquo;Kingsmill Camp&rdquo;), are also omitted; see the notes for this page for detail.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>79065 &mdash; Pampa (standard delivery; covers most of the county&#8217;s population)<\/li>\n<li>79066 &mdash; Pampa (PO Box)<\/li>\n<li>79057 &mdash; McLean<\/li>\n<li>79054 &mdash; Lefors (PO Box)<\/li>\n<li>79002 &mdash; Alanreed (PO Box)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Smaller unincorporated communities such as Hoover, Bowers City, Kingsmill, Laketon, Boydston and Wesco have no ZIP code of their own and use a neighboring town&#8217;s mailing address, usually Pampa&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Gray County sits on the High Plains of the eastern Texas Panhandle, a mostly flat to gently rolling landscape of shortgrass prairie broken by the McClellan Creek and Red Deer Creek drainages, both tributaries of the Red River system. Of the county&#8217;s 929 square miles, 926 square miles are land and 3.4 square miles are water.<\/p>\n<p>Gray County borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/roberts-county-texas\/\">Roberts County<\/a> to the north, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/hemphill-county\/\">Hemphill County<\/a> to the northeast, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wheeler-county-texas\/\">Wheeler County<\/a> to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/collingsworth-county\/\">Collingsworth County<\/a> to the southeast, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/donley-county\/\">Donley County<\/a> to the south, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/armstrong-county-texas\/\">Armstrong County<\/a> to the southwest, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/carson-county\/\">Carson County<\/a> to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Gray County had a population of 21,227 at the 2020 census, spread across a land area of 926 square miles for a density of roughly 23 people per square mile. Pampa is by far the largest community, followed by McLean. Gray County&#8217;s median household income runs below the Texas median of $75,780 &mdash; a legacy of the county&#8217;s dependence on oil-and-gas employment, which swings with commodity prices.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Gray County&#8217;s economy has rested on oil, gas and petrochemicals since the 1920s, alongside cattle ranching and dryland farming of wheat, sorghum and hay. Pampa is home to a Cabot Corporation carbon-black plant, one of the county&#8217;s largest industrial employers, along with Pampa Regional Medical Center and the Gray County school districts. Livestock sales make up the bulk of the county&#8217;s agricultural income, well ahead of crop sales.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Gray County was created from the Bexar Territory in 1876 and formally organized in 1902. It is named for Peter W. Gray, a Texas lawyer, legislator and Confederate soldier. The county&#8217;s population swelled during the 1920s oil boom that followed major discoveries including the 1926 Worley-McReynolds well, and it peaked at 31,535 residents in 1960 before the long decline typical of Panhandle oil counties set in.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstate 40 crosses the southern part of Gray County, and U.S. Route 60 runs through Pampa on its way across the Panhandle; Texas Highways 70, 152 and 273 connect the county&#8217;s smaller towns. The nearest commercial airport is Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport, about 55 miles west of Pampa.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amarillo &mdash; about 55 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Clarendon &mdash; about 25 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Shamrock &mdash; about 35 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Canadian &mdash; about 45 miles northeast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Gray County, Texas?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in the eastern Texas Panhandle, centred near 35&deg;25&prime;N 100&deg;49&prime;W, about 55 miles east of Amarillo.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Gray County?<\/strong><br \/>\nGray County had a population of 21,227 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Gray County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2), of which 926 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Gray County?<\/strong><br \/>\nPampa is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Gray County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county has one city (Pampa), two incorporated towns (Lefors and McLean), one census-designated place (Alanreed) and several unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Gray County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county&#8217;s ZIP codes are 79065 and 79066 (Pampa), 79057 (McLean), 79054 (Lefors) and 79002 (Alanreed).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is Gray County named that?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is named for Peter W. Gray, a 19th-century Texas lawyer and legislator who also served the Confederacy during the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/texas\/\">Towns and villages in Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gray County is a county in Texas, United States, in the eastern Texas Panhandle. It had a population of 21,227 at the 2020 census and covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2) centred near 35&deg;25&prime;N 100&deg;49&prime;W. Pampa is the county seat, and its postal code is 79065. The county has one city, two towns, one census-designated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Gray County, Texas","_seopress_titles_desc":"Gray County, Texas: population, ZIP codes, Pampa and Lefors, geography, economy, history and bordering counties in the Panhandle.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-7970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-texas","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7970"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10025,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7970\/revisions\/10025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}