Colorado County area

Colorado County, Texas covers 973.7 square miles: 960.3 square miles of land and 13.4 square miles of water. Its county seat is Columbus. An estimated 21,439 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 480892026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area960.3 mi²
Water area13.4 mi²
Population (2025)21,439
People per mi²22

County outline

Generalized outline of Colorado County, Texas
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Colorado County is located

Colorado County highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 98.6% of Colorado County’s measured area and water for 1.4%. Its combined area converts to 2,521.8 square kilometers or approximately 623,158 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land960.2912,487.142614,586.2
Water13.39434.698,572.2
Total973.6852,521.833623,158.4

How Colorado County compares

By original Census land area, Colorado County ranks #82 of 254 in Texas and #730 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 1.057 times the Texas county-equivalent median of 908.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.4% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Texas ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Colorado County

The Census Bureau estimates that 21,439 people lived in Colorado County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #1,811 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #115 of 254 in Texas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 20,637, the population has grown by 802 (+3.9%), compared with +8.8% for Texas as a whole.

With 960.3 square miles of land, that is 22 people per square mile (8.6 per km²), placing Colorado County #2,233 nationally for density and #127 in Texas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Texas median is 22. Put another way, there are about 29 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate20,64120,71720,89521,22621,44721,439
Change—+76+178+331+221−8

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Colorado County

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Colorado County. Together they are home to 9,564 people (44.6%); the other 11,875 (55.4%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Columbus city, with 3,821 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Weimar city grew fastest since then (+6.4%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Columbus cityCounty seat3,821+3.6%3.006
Eagle Lake city3,546+3.2%2.931
Weimar city2,197+6.4%2.312

Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each place inside Colorado County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer, for the whole place even where it extends into other counties. How communities are listed.

Metropolitan area

Colorado County is not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area in the Office of Management and Budget’s July 2023 delineation; 1,306 other county equivalents are also outside one. These areas are built around an urban core of at least 10,000 people plus the counties tied to it by commuting, so counties outside them are generally rural.

ZIP codes

18 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Colorado County; 12 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

774127743477435774427745577460774707747477475779647893378934789357894078943789507895178962

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Colorado County

Colorado County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents. It has more land than 3 of them. The largest neighbor is Wharton County (1,086.1 mi²) and the smallest is Austin County (646.5 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Colorado County forms a block of 5,442 mi² of land, of which it holds 17.6%.

Map of Colorado County and the 5 county equivalents that border it Wharton County, Texas: 1,086.1 mi² landAustin County, Texas: 646.5 mi² landLavaca County, Texas: 969.7 mi² landFayette County, Texas: 949.9 mi² landJackson County, Texas: 829.4 mi² land
Colorado County (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. ColoradoCompare
Wharton County1,086.11.1× largerCompare
Lavaca County969.7about the sameCompare
Fayette County949.9about the sameCompare
Jackson County829.41.2× smallerCompare
Austin County646.51.5× smallerCompare

How big is Colorado County compared with U.S. states?

Colorado County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.1 times as much. Texas’s county land could hold about 272 areas the size of Colorado County.

Land area: Colorado County and the closest-sized states
Colorado County960.3 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 31 miles (49.9 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Colorado County?

Colorado County has more land than 2,492 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Colorado County960.3 mi²
Texas median908.7 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Colorado County at #814 nationally by total area, 84 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.

Its water share is 1.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.2 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Colorado County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#729Sanilac County, Michigan962.6Compare
#730Colorado County, Texas960.3This county
#731Mason County, Washington959.6Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 29.596168, -96.508795. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 2,487,142,725 m²; AWATER: 34,691,166 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Colorado County?

Colorado County, Texas has 960.3 square miles (2,487.1 km²) of land and 13.4 square miles of water, for a total area of 973.7 square miles. It ranks #730 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Colorado County the largest county in Texas?

No. Colorado County ranks #82 of 254 in Texas by land area. The largest is Brewster County, with 6,183.8 square miles of land.

What counties border Colorado County?

Colorado County shares a land border with Wharton County, Austin County, Lavaca County, Fayette County, and Jackson County.

What is the population of Colorado County?

The Census Bureau estimates Colorado County had 21,439 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #1,811 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 22 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Colorado County?

The county seat of Colorado County is Columbus.

What cities and towns are in Colorado County?

Colorado County has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are Columbus city, Eagle Lake city, and Weimar city; 11,875 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Colorado County part of a metropolitan area?

No. Colorado County is outside every metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area in the July 2023 OMB delineation.

How many ZIP codes are in Colorado County?

18 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Colorado County, and 12 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Colorado County compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.1 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Colorado County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 614,586 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 623,158 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

Download the complete CSV or JSON dataset