Jackson County area

Jackson County, Texas covers 856.9 square miles: 829.4 square miles of land and 27.4 square miles of water. Its county seat is Edna. An estimated 15,393 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 482392026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area829.4 mi²
Water area27.4 mi²
Population (2025)15,393
People per mi²19

County outline

Generalized outline of Jackson 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 Jackson County is located

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

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 96.8% of Jackson County’s measured area and water for 3.2%. Its combined area converts to 2,219.3 square kilometers or approximately 548,398 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land829.4432,148.248530,843.5
Water27.42971.04117,554.6
Total856.8722,219.288548,398.1

How Jackson County compares

By original Census land area, Jackson County ranks #192 of 254 in Texas and #1016 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.913 times the Texas county-equivalent median of 908.7 square miles. It accounts for 0.3% of the combined county land area in the state.

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

Population and density of Jackson County

The Census Bureau estimates that 15,393 people lived in Jackson County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,136 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #138 of 254 in Texas. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 14,991, the population has grown by 402 (+2.7%), compared with +8.8% for Texas as a whole.

With 829.4 square miles of land, that is 19 people per square mile (7.2 per km²), placing Jackson County #2,366 nationally for density and #141 in Texas. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Texas median is 22. Put another way, there are about 34 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate14,99715,12515,15615,19915,35715,393
Change—+128+31+43+158+36

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 Jackson County

3 incorporated places lie at least partly in Jackson County. Together they are home to 8,307 people (54%); the other 7,086 (46%) live outside any incorporated place, in unincorporated communities and rural areas.

The largest is Edna city, with 6,088 residents in the county. Among places with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Ganado city grew fastest since then (+1.9%).

Incorporated placePopulation 2025Since 2020Land mi²
Edna cityCounty seat6,088+1.4%4.134
Ganado city2,009+1.9%1.165
La Ward city210+14.8%0.812

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

Metropolitan area

Jackson 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

10 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Jackson County; 7 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.

77455774657795777961779627796977970779717797977991

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 Jackson County

Jackson County shares a land border with 6 county equivalents. It has more land than 1 of them. The largest neighbor is Matagorda County (1,093.1 mi²) and the smallest is Calhoun County (506.9 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Jackson County forms a block of 6,327.7 mi² of land, of which it holds 13.1%.

Map of Jackson County and the 6 county equivalents that border it Victoria County, Texas: 882.1 mi² landWharton County, Texas: 1,086.1 mi² landLavaca County, Texas: 969.7 mi² landMatagorda County, Texas: 1,093.1 mi² landCalhoun County, Texas: 506.9 mi² landColorado County, Texas: 960.3 mi² land
Jackson 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. JacksonCompare
Matagorda County1,093.11.3× largerCompare
Wharton County1,086.11.3× largerCompare
Lavaca County969.71.2× largerCompare
Colorado County960.31.2× largerCompare
Victoria County882.11.1× largerCompare
Calhoun County506.91.6× smallerCompare

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

Jackson County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.2 times as much. Texas’s county land could hold about 315 areas the size of Jackson County.

Land area: Jackson County and the closest-sized states
Jackson County829.4 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 28.8 miles (46.3 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 Jackson County?

Jackson County has more land than 2,206 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Jackson County829.4 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 Jackson County at #1,078 nationally by total area, 62 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 3.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 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 Jackson County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#1015Washington County, New York831.2Compare
#1016Jackson County, Texas829.4This county
#1017Johnson County, Missouri829.3Compare

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 28.959802, -96.589080. 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: 2,148,246,701 m²; AWATER: 71,039,572 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 Jackson County?

Jackson County, Texas has 829.4 square miles (2,148.2 km²) of land and 27.4 square miles of water, for a total area of 856.9 square miles. It ranks #1016 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Jackson County the largest county in Texas?

No. Jackson County ranks #192 of 254 in Texas by land area. The largest is Brewster County, with 6,183.8 square miles of land.

What counties border Jackson County?

Jackson County shares a land border with Victoria County, Wharton County, Lavaca County, Matagorda County, Calhoun County, and Colorado County.

What is the population of Jackson County?

The Census Bureau estimates Jackson County had 15,393 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,136 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 19 people per square mile of land.

What is the county seat of Jackson County?

The county seat of Jackson County is Edna.

What cities and towns are in Jackson County?

Jackson County has 3 incorporated places. The most populous are Edna city, Ganado city, and La Ward city; 7,086 residents live outside any incorporated place.

Is Jackson County part of a metropolitan area?

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

How many ZIP codes are in Jackson County?

10 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Jackson County, and 7 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

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

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.2 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Jackson County?

The land measurement converts to approximately 530,844 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 548,398 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