Gaines County

Gaines County, Texas

Gaines County, Texas

Gaines County Courthouse in Seminole, the seat of Gaines County, Texas. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith.

Gaines County, on the southern High Plains of West Texas, is bordered on the west by New Mexico, on the south by Andrews County, on the east by Dawson County, and on the north by Yoakum and Terry counties. Its center point is at 32°45' north latitude and 102°57' west longitude, about eighty miles southwest of Lubbock. The county was named for James Gaines, a merchant who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Gaines County covers 1,489 square miles of rolling land that drains to scattered playas and draws. Sandy loam and sandy soils lie over the county's red-clay subsoil and support a growth of mesquite, shinnery, and catclaw. Cedar Lake (called Laguna Salinas by the Spanish), in northeastern Gaines County, is the largest salt lake on the Texas plains. The county's elevation ranges from 3,000 to 3,600 feet above sea level, and its annual average rainfall is 15.83 inches. The average minimum temperature in January is 16° F; the average maximum in July is 94°. The county has a 210-day growing season. The agricultural components of the local economy earn about $92 million annually from cotton (Gaines County ranks second among cotton-producing counties in Texas), sorghums, vegetables, peanuts, sunflowers, peaches, pecans, cattle, sheep, and hogs. Irrigated land amounts to about 400,000 acres. Gaines County is also one of the state's leading oil counties; it produced 42,810,261 barrels in 1990.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Adopt a Town

The Texas Almanac's Land Rush program lets you adopt the town, county, or lake of your choice and share your message with the world. 100% of the proceeds benefit education in Texas.

County Map of Texas

Gaines County

Highlighted:
  • Gaines County

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Gaines County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

2935 ft – 3695 ft

Proud to call Texas home?

Put your name on the town, county, or lake of your choice.


Search Places »

Gaines County by the Numbers

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Population Counts

Gaines County
Pop. Year Source
21,492 2019 United States Census Bureau

Civilian Labor Counts

Gaines County
People Year Source
9,416 2019 Texas Workforce Commission

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Per Capita Income (USD) Year Source
$36,009 2019 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Property Values

Gaines County
USD ($) Year Source
3,931,885,655 2019 State Property Tax Board

Retail Sales

Gaines County
USD ($) Year Source
305,335,950 2019 State Comptroller of Public Accounts

Wages

Gaines County
USD ($) Year Source
95,128,618 2019 Texas Workforce Commission

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Unemployment Percentage Year Source
6.7 2019 Texas Workforce Commission

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Rainfall (inches) Year Source
18.4 2019 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Min. (January Average, °F) Max. (July Average, °F) Year Source
27.7 93.4 2019 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

This is some placeholder text that we should either remove or replace with a brief summary about this particular metric. For example, "We update population counts once per year..."

Land Area

Gaines County
Area (square miles) Year Source
1,502.4 2019 United States Census Bureau

Total Area

Gaines County
Area (square miles) Year Source
1,502.9 2019 United States Census Bureau