Randall County, Texas

Randall County
Randall County
County
	The Randall County Courthouse in 2011
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Texas
	Texas's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 34°58′N 101°54′W / 34.97°N 101.9°W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1889
Named for	Horace Randal
Seat	Canyon
Largest city	Amarillo
Area
• Total	922 sq mi (2,390 km2)
• Land	912 sq mi (2,360 km2)
• Water	11 sq mi (30 km2) 1.2%
Population (2020)
• Total	140,753
• Density	150/sq mi (59/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	13th
Website	www.randallcounty.com

Randall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 140,753.^[1] Its county seat is Canyon.^[2] The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1889.^[3] It is named for Horace Randal, a Confederate brigadier general killed at the Battle of Jenkins Ferry. The reason the county name differs from his is because the bill creating the county misspelled Randal's name.

Randall County, alongside adjacent Potter County is part of the Amarillo Metropolitan Statistical Area.

At one time, the large JA Ranch, founded by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair, which reached into six counties, held acreage in Randall County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 922 square miles (2,390 km²), of which 912 square miles (2,360 km²) is land and 11 square miles (28 km²) (1.2%) is covered by water.^[4]

Palo Duro Canyon, the second-largest canyon in the United States, is located in Randall County.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Potter County (north)
Oldham County (northwest)
Armstrong County (east)
Carson County (northeast)
Swisher County (south)
Briscoe County (southeast)
Castro County (southwest)
Deaf Smith County (west)

National protected area

Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	3	—
1890	187	6,133.3%
1900	963	415.0%
1910	3,312	243.9%
1920	3,675	11.0%
1930	7,071	92.4%
1940	7,185	1.6%
1950	13,774	91.7%
1960	33,913	146.2%
1970	53,885	58.9%
1980	75,062	39.3%
1990	89,673	19.5%
2000	104,312	16.3%
2010	120,725	15.7%
2020	140,753	16.6%
U.S. Decennial Census^[5] 1850–2010^[6] 2010^[7] 2020^[8]

**Randall County, Texas - Demographic Profile**
(*NH = Non-Hispanic*)
Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010^[7]	Pop 2020^[8]	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	94,361	95,457	78.16%	67.82%
Black or African American alone (NH)	2,701	4,567	2.24%	3.24%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	586	794	0.49%	0.56%
Asian alone (NH)	1,625	2,604	1.35%	1.85%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	29	54	0.02%	0.04%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	93	412	0.08%	0.29%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)	1,555	5,282	1.29%	3.75%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	19,775	31,583	16.38%	22.44%
Total	120,725	140,753	100.00%	100.00%

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

As of the census^[9] of 2000, 104,312 people, 41,240 households, and 28,785 families resided in the county. The population density was 114 people per square mile (44 people/km²). The 43,261 housing units averaged 47 units per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.44% White, 1.50% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.71% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. About 10.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 41,240 households, 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.50% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were not families; 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49, and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county, the population was distributed as 26.10% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,712, and for a family was $52,420. Males had a median income of $36,333 versus $25,358 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,840. About 5.70% of families and 8.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.50% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Although once more Democratic-leaning, the county has become solidly Republican. The Republican candidate has carried the county in every presidential election since 1952, usually by overwhelming margins.^[10] In the last thirteen elections, no Republican candidate has received less than 61% of the county's vote,^[11] and since 2000, Randall has been the nation's most Republican "metropolitan" county outside of predominantly Mormon counties in Utah.^[12]

Randall County was one of the more than 200 counties in Texas to cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. McCain received 41,895 votes, which was 81% of the total, while Democrat Barack Obama received 9,461 votes, or 18% of the total, far below his national percentage.

United States presidential election results for Randall County, Texas^[13]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	50,796	78.54%	12,802	19.79%	1,076	1.66%
2016	43,462	80.03%	8,367	15.41%	2,476	4.56%
2012	41,447	83.40%	7,574	15.24%	675	1.36%
2008	41,948	80.93%	9,468	18.27%	416	0.80%
2004	40,520	83.40%	7,849	16.15%	218	0.45%
2000	33,921	81.17%	7,209	17.25%	660	1.58%
1996	28,266	71.33%	9,177	23.16%	2,184	5.51%
1992	24,971	61.60%	9,119	22.50%	6,447	15.90%
1988	27,986	76.33%	8,492	23.16%	188	0.51%
1984	30,249	83.08%	6,044	16.60%	116	0.32%
1980	23,136	73.72%	7,323	23.34%	923	2.94%
1976	17,115	64.53%	9,074	34.21%	335	1.26%
1972	18,557	83.13%	3,470	15.54%	296	1.33%
1968	11,400	61.32%	4,060	21.84%	3,132	16.85%
1964	7,843	56.50%	6,016	43.34%	22	0.16%
1960	6,958	67.76%	3,282	31.96%	29	0.28%
1956	4,609	62.28%	2,774	37.49%	17	0.23%
1952	4,305	69.28%	1,905	30.66%	4	0.06%
1948	722	26.05%	1,936	69.84%	114	4.11%
1944	409	19.34%	1,439	68.04%	267	12.62%
1940	382	17.67%	1,779	82.28%	1	0.05%
1936	142	7.87%	1,656	91.80%	6	0.33%
1932	231	14.10%	1,394	85.10%	13	0.79%
1928	733	52.66%	659	47.34%	0	0.00%
1924	154	18.22%	627	74.20%	64	7.57%
1920	183	33.21%	360	65.34%	8	1.45%
1916	63	14.93%	341	80.81%	18	4.27%
1912	21	6.34%	269	81.27%	41	12.39%