LAVACA County, TX

Lavaca County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 20,337. Its county seat is Hallettsville. The county was created in 1846. It is named for the Lavaca River which curves its way South East through Moulton and Hallettsville before reaching the coast at Matagorda Bay.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.08%) is 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, there were 19,210 people, 7,669 households, and 5,391 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 9,657 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.86% White, 6.79% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 4.84% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. 11.36% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.0% were of Czech, 24.1% German, 9.1% American and 5.1% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 86.3% spoke English, 7.7% Spanish, 4.6% Czech and 1.2% German as their first language.

In terms of ancestry in 2016, 32.8% were of German, 30.7% were of Czech, 10.8% were of Irish, 5.4% were of English, 3.4% were of American, 2.2% were of French.

There were 7,669 households, out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.70% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.20% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 23.50% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 21.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 93.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,132, and the median income for a family was $36,760. Males had a median income of $26,988 versus $17,537 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,398. About 10.20% of families and 13.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.20% of those under age 18 and 18.40% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The following school public school districts are located in Lavaca County.

Communities

Cities

Town

Unincorporated communities

Politics

Lavaca County, Texas is a very conservative County and has been getting more conservative since 1992. The last Democrat to win the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Donald Trump carried it substantially in the 2020 presidential election. His margin was over seventy percentage points against Joe Biden.