Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of 2000 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 3,400,578 (though a 2007 estimate placed the population at 4,011,475), making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, the largest city in Texas.
Harris County is named for John Richardson Harris, an early settler of the area.
History
The county was founded on December 22, 1836 as Harrisburg County . The name was changed to Harris County in December 1839.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,778 square miles (4,604 km²), of which, 1,729 square miles (4,478 km²) of it is land and 49 square miles (127 km²) of it (2.75%) is water. Its land area is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
Major highways
See List of Highways in Harris County for more roadways in Harris County.
Adjacent counties
- Montgomery County (north)
- Liberty County (northeast)
- Chambers County (east)
- Galveston County (southeast)
- Brazoria County (south)
- Fort Bend County (southwest)
- Waller County (northwest)
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,400,578 people, 1,205,516 households, and 834,217 families residing in the county, making it the largest county by population in Texas. The population density was 1,967 people per square mile (759/km²). There were 1,298,130 housing units at an average density of 751 per square mile (290/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 58.73% White, 18.49% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 5.14% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 14.18% from other races, and 2.96% from two or more races. 32.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 7.2% were of German, 6.2% American and 5.3% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 63.8% spoke English, 28.8% Spanish and 1.6% Vietnamese as their first language.
In 2006 Harris County had 3,886,207 residents. This represented 14.3% growth since 2000.
2005 saw Harris County with 37.5% of its population Latino. This represented an increase of over 120,000 in the number of Latinos in the county. 5.5% of the population was Asian. South Asians especially Indian Americans making up one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in Harris County, with 35,971 counted in the 2000 Census;.. African Americans constituted 18.4% of the county's population, representing a slight decline in percentage. It however meant the total number of African-Americans in the county had risen..
In 2000 There were 1,205,516 households out of which 37.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.60% were married couples living together, 13.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.38.
In the county, the population was spread out with 29.00% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 33.40% from 25 to 44, 19.80% from 45 to 64, and 7.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,598, and the median income for a family was $49,004. Males had a median income of $37,361 versus $28,941 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,435. About 12.10% of families and 14.97% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.60% of those under age 18 and 12.20% of those age 65 or over.
According to Children At Risk, a local non-profit research organization, 20.8% of the Harris County children live in poverty, 6.5 per 1,000 die before age 1, and 38% drop out of high school.
Harris County along with other Texas Counties has one of the nation's highest property tax rates. In 2007, the county was ranked in the top 25 at #22nd in the nation for property taxes as percentage of the homes value on owner occupied housing, the list only includes counties with a population over 65,000 for accuracy link title.
Economy
See also: Economy of HoustonVarious companies are headquartered in incorporated and unincorporated areas throughout Harris County.
Academy Sports and Outdoors, a sporting goods retailer, has its corporate offices and product distribution center in unincorporated western Harris County. Hewlett-Packard operates its United States region office in a complex northwest unincorporated Harris County; the complex formerly belonged to Compaq prior to Compaq's merger with HP. Internet America, an internet service provider, is headquartered in northwest unincorporated Harris County.
General Electric operates an aeroderivative division facility on Jacintoport in unincorporated Harris County.
In 2008 KBR announced that it will open a new office facility in an unincorporated area in western Harris County. In December KBR said that it would not continue with the plans due to a weakened economy.
In 2009 20% of the office space in northwest Harris County was vacant. As of that year, more office space is being built; in 2010 northwest Harris will have twice the amount of office space that it had in 2009. The vacancy rate in the area near Farm to Market Road 1960 and Texas State Highway 249 in north Harris County was 53% in 2009.
As Houston mostly resides in Harris County, much of the county's economy is related to Houston. See Economy of Houston.
Diplomatic missions
Various consulates are located in the county; one, the Consulate-General of Pakistan in Houston, which opened in June 2004, is at 11850 Jones Road in an unincorporated section of the county. The other consulates are in areas of Houston.
Government and politics
United States Congress
List above took effect January 4, 2007.
Texas Legislature
Texas Senate
Texas House of Representatives
Harris County elected officials
Communities
Cities
Unincorporated areas
Census-designated places
Other areas
Education
Primary and secondary schools
The Harris County Department of Education, a county division overseeing education by local school districts, is headquartered in the Ronald W. Reagan Building in the Northside district in Houston. It has an Adult Education Center in the Northside and an office in the North Post Oak Building in Spring Branch.
Several school districts serve Harris County communities.
Colleges and universities
Several colleges and universities exist in Harris County. Community college systems serving portions of the county include Houston Community College, Lone Star College System, and San Jacinto College.
Public libraries
Harris County operates its own public library system, the Harris County Public Library.
In addition, Houston has the Houston Public Library, a city-controlled public library system.
The cities of Baytown, Bellaire, Deer Park, and Pasadena have their own city-controlled libraries.
Emergency services
Police services
Incorporated areas operate their own police departments.
Harris County operates the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which serves unincorporated areas and supplements police forces of incorporated areas.
Harris County also has a constable for each of its eight precincts and hundreds of deputies assigned to each. They mainly serve in a patrol function, established to maintain peace in the county as well as providing security to county buildings such as court houses and district attorney's offices.
Fire services
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Harris County OEM and TxDoT Road Gauge Map
Welcome to the Harris County/TxDOT Roadway Weather Station Network
Harris County Commissioner Precincts Park Map
Search Harris County |
The Official Harris County, Texas Website
Harris County GIS: Interactive Map Solutions. These ArcIMS map services are interactive web-based maps that facilitate the display of Harris County ...
Harris County Maps in Digital Adobe Illustrator Vector Format - Map ...
Digital city maps of the US and international available in Adobe Illustrator Vector Format from Map Resources.
HARRIS COUNTY MAP - Harris County Judge Ed Emmett
Harris County Map, Interactive web-based maps of Harris County display data in conjunction with other geospatial data layers. Please click on the link below to access an ...
File:Map of Texas highlighting Harris County.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Map_of_Texas_highlighting_Harris_County.svg (SVG file, nominally 12,473 × 11,855 pixels, file size: 304 KB)
HARRIS COUNTY GEORGIA 1895
Map of Harris County, Georgia, from 1895.
File:Map of Georgia highlighting Harris County.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Map_of_Georgia_highlighting_Harris_County.svg (SVG file, nominally 4,437 × 5,142 pixels, file size: 432 KB)
Harris County USGS Mulberry Grove Quad, Georgia, Topographic Map
Harris County on the USGS Mulberry Grove Quad, Georgia, topographic Map (topo map).
