Howard County, Texas
County seat: Big Spring · Population 30,504 (2025) · 901 sq mi
Howard County is the 95th most populous of Texas's 254 counties, with 30,504 people (2025 estimate). Its county seat is Big Spring. It is part of the West Texas region, one of the 12 Texas Comptroller economic regions. The map shows its 3 cities and towns and the 6 neighboring counties.
Howard County facts
- County seat
- Big Spring
- Population (2025 estimate)
- 30,504 −12.5% since 2020
- Land area
- 901 sq mi 141st largest of 254
- Water area
- 3 sq mi
- Population density
- 34 per sq mi
- Established
- 1876
- Named after
- Volney Howard American politician (1809–1889)
- Largest city
- Big Spring 22,290
- Median household income
- $69,649
- Cities and towns
- 3 plus 1 CDPs
- ZIP codes
- 6
- Time zone
- Central
- FIPS code
- 48227
Cities and towns in Howard County
Howard County has 3 incorporated cities, towns and villages. Populations count the people living inside Howard County; cities that cross a county line also list the other counties.
| Name | Type | Population 2025 | Also in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Spring (county seat) | City | 22,290 | |
| Coahoma | Town | 938 | |
| Forsan | City | 207 |
Unincorporated communities (CDPs)
Census-designated places are communities without their own city government; the county provides their services.
| Community | Population | Also in |
|---|---|---|
| Sand Springs | 682 |
ZIP codes in Howard County
6 ZIP codes reach into Howard County. ZIP codes ignore county lines, so some also cover a neighboring county.
- 79511 also Borden County
- 79713 also Martin, Dawson and Borden counties
- 79720 also Glasscock, Borden and Martin counties
- 79721
- 79733
- 79748 also Martin County
Population of Howard County, 2020–2025
Howard County shrank by 4,356 people (−12.5%) between April 2020 and July 2025: 278 more deaths than births and a net loss of 4,467 people from migration.
| Year (July 1) | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 34,811 |
| 2021 | 34,387 |
| 2022 | 30,764 |
| 2023 | 30,702 |
| 2024 | 30,568 |
| 2025 | 30,504 |
Neighboring counties
- Martin County west · 5,284 people
- Mitchell County east · 8,947 people
- Borden County north · 567 people
- Glasscock County south · 1,128 people
- Sterling County southeast · 1,349 people
- Dawson County northwest · 11,776 people
Printable Howard County map
The PDF is a vector file with real text: it prints sharp on Letter paper and you can search it for a town. The PNG is 2400 pixels wide for slides and documents. Both are free to use with a credit to WhichCounty.
- PDF (Letter) (129 KB)
- PNG (2400 px) (60 KB)
Paste this code to embed the map on your site:
Sources
- Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Cartographic Boundary Files (1:500,000).
- Population: Census Bureau county and city estimates, Vintage 2025. CDP populations: American Community Survey 2020–2024.
- Places and ZIP codes: Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer and 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area relationship files.
- County seat, founding year and name origin: Wikidata (CC0), checked against state sources.
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