According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 622 square miles (1,610 km2), of which 18 square miles (47 km2) (2.9%) are covered by water.[5]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 35,805. The median age was 42.4 years. 21.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.3 males age 18 and over.[10]
48.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 51.4% lived in rural areas.[12]
There were 13,906 households in the county, of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.5% were married-couple households, 17.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[10]
There were 16,838 housing units, of which 17.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 71.8% were owner-occupied and 28.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.9%.[10]
Washington County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition 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 may be of any race.
As of thecensus[13] of 2000, 30,373 people, 11,322 households, and 7,936 families were residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 50 people per square mile (19 people/km2). There were 13,241 housing units at an average density of 22 units per square mile (8.5 units/km2). Theracial makeup of the county was 74.68% White, 18.66% African American, 0.27% Native American, 1.21% Asian, 4.02% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. About 8.71% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino of any race; 33.6% identified as ofGerman, 6.1%American, 5.7%English, 5.3%Irish, and 5.0%Polish ancestry according toCensus 2000. Around 88.1% spokeEnglish, 8.6%Spanish, and 1.2%German as their first language.
Of the 11,322 households, 31.6% had children under 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were not families. About 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county, the age distribution was 24.7% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,760, and for a family was $43,982. Males had a median income of $31,698 versus $21,346 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $17,384. About 9.8% of families and 12.9% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 14.8% of those under 18 and 14.5% of those 65 or over.
As part of a San Jacinto Day speech in 1900, Hon. Harry Haynes said, "This grand old county, the birthplace and cradle of Texas liberty, is in a sense a vast town cemetery. Tiger Point, Union Hill, Long Point, Sandtown, Old Gay Hill, Mt. Vernon, Turkey Creek, Mt. Gilead, Rock Island, Jacksonville, Mustang, all by the inexorable decrees of new conditions and changes wrought in the course of human events have been blotted from the face of this beautiful earth."[14]
Since the 1940s, Washington County has been powerfully Republican, with the only Democratic presidential candidate to carry it sinceFranklin D. Roosevelt’s 1936 landslide being Hill Country nativeLyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Since 1980, no Democrat has gained more than 40 percent of the county’s vote.
United States presidential election results for Washington County, Texas[24]
The GOP was competitive in the county during theThird Party System and to a smaller extent during the “System of 1896” era, as the county then had a sizeable freedman population, but the county became typically “Solid South” Democratic for a brief period once that freedman populationwas completely disfranchised. Following theNew Deal, the almost entirely White electorate of Washington County – which was being gradually stripped of its freedman population bythe Great Migration – was one of the first to turn against FDR, being one of just 7 Texas counties to vote forWendell Wilkie in 1940. Washington was one of 11 Texas counties to vote in 1920 for American Party candidateJames E. Ferguson, and the solitary county to give a majority to the conservative “Texas Regulars”, which were a predecessor to the numerous “Dixiecrat” movements of the following two decades, in the 1944 election.
Blinn College is the designated community college for all of the county.[27] Additionally, Washington County is the sole taxation zone for Blinn College, meaning it is the only place with in-district tuition.[28]
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