Lubbock County is a county in Texas, United States, on the flat cotton-farming plains of the South Plains region. It had a population of 310,639 at the 2020 census and covers 901 square miles (2,334 km2), centred near 33\u00b035\u2032N 101\u00b051\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Lubbock is the county seat, and its postal code is 79401. The county has five incorporated cities, two incorporated towns and more than a dozen unincorporated communities. Lubbock County sits in the Central time zone; its FIPS code is 48303.<\/p>\n
Lubbock County has roughly two dozen named places, from the city of Lubbock down to farm-road crossroads on the caprock. Cities and towns run their own governments; CDP marks a Census Bureau-defined place with no municipal government; Unincorp. marks a rural community or crossroads.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lubbock<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 257,141<\/td>\n | 79401<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Slaton<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 5,764<\/td>\n | 79364<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wolfforth<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 5,758<\/td>\n | 79382<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Shallowater<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 2,943<\/td>\n | 79363<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Idalou<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 2,238<\/td>\n | 79329<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| New Deal<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 879<\/td>\n | 79350<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ransom Canyon<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 1,178<\/td>\n | 79366<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Buffalo Springs<\/td>\n | Town<\/td>\n | 451<\/td>\n | 79366<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Reese Center<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 79416<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Abernathy<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 79311<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Acuff<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Becton<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Broadview<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Carlisle<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| West Carlisle<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Liberty<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Midway<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Posey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Roosevelt<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Slide<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Union<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Woodrow<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Abernathy straddles the Lubbock–Hale county line, with most of its townsite in Hale County; its post office ZIP still serves the small share of the community inside Lubbock County. Reese Center is the redeveloped former Reese Air Force Base, now a Census-designated place west of the city of Lubbock.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nThe smaller crossroads communities—Acuff, Becton, Broadview, Carlisle, Liberty, Midway, Posey, Roosevelt, Slide, Union and Woodrow—use the ZIP code of the nearest post office town rather than one of their own.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nLubbock County sits on the flat, high-plains tableland of the Llano Estacado, roughly 3,200 feet above sea level. The land is nearly level cropland broken by shallow playa lake basins that fill after heavy rain; the North and South Forks of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River rise in the county and drain it toward the southeast. Yellow House Canyon, cut by a tributary of the Brazos, is the county’s most notable relief feature, running through the eastern side of the city of Lubbock.<\/p>\n Lubbock County borders Hale County to the north, Floyd County to the northeast, Crosby County to the east, Garza County to the southeast, Lynn County to the south, Terry County to the southwest, Hockley County to the west and Lamb County to the northwest.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nLubbock County had 310,639 residents at the 2020 census, making it the most populous county on the South Plains. The city of Lubbock is by far the largest community, followed by Slaton and Wolfforth. Median household income in the county runs below the Texas median of $75,780, reflecting a large university-student population and a farm-labor workforce; overall density is roughly 345 people per square mile, concentrated almost entirely in and around the city of Lubbock.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nTexas Tech University and its affiliated health sciences center anchor the county’s economy, alongside two major hospital systems, Covenant Health and University Medical Center. Cotton is the signature crop of the surrounding farmland—Lubbock markets itself as the “Hub City” of the South Plains cotton region—supported by cottonseed processing, grain elevators, and a growing cluster of wind-energy operations on the caprock. The National Ranching Heritage Center and the annual National Cowboy Symposium draw visitors tied to the area’s ranching history.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nThe Texas Legislature created Lubbock County in 1876 out of the Bexar and Young territories, and it was organized in 1891. It is named for Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Confederate colonel and former Texas Ranger who helped organize the Texas Rangers’ Terry’s Texas Rangers regiment before dying in 1862; his brother, Francis Lubbock, served as Confederate governor of Texas. The city of Lubbock grew from the 1890 merger of two rival townsites, Old Lubbock and Monterey, and became a rail and agricultural hub after the arrival of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway in 1909, later developing into a major regional center for higher education and health care around Texas Tech, founded in 1923.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nInterstate-quality US 84 and US 87 (Interstate 27 south of the city) cross at Lubbock, with US 82 and Texas 114 running east–west through the county. Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport offers commercial service from the city.<\/p>\n
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