JOHNSON County, TX

Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 179,927. Its county seat is Cleburne. Johnson County is named for Middleton Johnson, a Texas Ranger, soldier, and politician.

Johnson County is included in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area.

History

The first settler of Johnson County was Henry Briden, who built a log cabin on the Nolan River in 1849. His log cabin still exists, and can be seen along State Highway 174 in Rio Vista, Texas. The first county seat was Wardville, now located under the waters of Lake Pat Cleburne. In 1856, Buchanan became the county seat. Johnson County was divided in 1866, with the western half becoming Hood County. Camp Henderson became the new county seat and was renamed Cleburne in honor of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (1.3%) are covered by water.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

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.

2000 Census

As of the census of 2000, 126,811 people, 43,636 households, and 34,428 families resided in the county. The population density was 174 people per square mile (67/km²). The 46,269 housing units averaged 63 per square mile (24/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.01% White, 2.50% African American, 0.64% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 4.52% from other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. About 12.12% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 43,636 households, 39.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.70% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.10% were not families. About 17.30% of the households were made up of individuals, and 6.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.20. As of the 2010 census, about 3.6 same-sex couples occurred per 1,000 households in the county.

In the county, the age distribution was 28.80% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 22.30% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,621, and for a family was $49,963. Males had a median income of $36,718 versus $25,149 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,400. About 6.90% of families and 8.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.60% of those under age 18 and 10.90% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Southwestern Adventist University, a private liberal arts university in Keene, is currently the only four-year institution of higher learning in Johnson County. Southwestern is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has existed since 1893. Hill College a college in Hillsboro, a town in neighboring Hill County also provides tertiary education, with a campus in Cleburne since 1971.

Media

Johnson County is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth television media market in north-central Texas. Local news media outlets are: KDFW-TV, KXAS-TV, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, KFWD-TV, and KDTX-TV. KCLE is the local radio station, which offers local news in addition to its country-music format. The local newspapers are the Cleburne Times-Review, Burleson Star and Joshua Star.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

Cities

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Politics