Ellis County, Texas


Ellis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 149,610. The county seat is Waxahachie. The county was founded in 1849 and organized the next year. It is named for Richard Ellis, president of the convention that produced the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Ellis County is included in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Major highways

As of the census of 2000, there were 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile. There were 39,071 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 80.63% White, 8.64% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 7.90% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. 18.42% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 37,020 households out of which 42.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.80% were married couples living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.90% were non-families. 16.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.31.
A Williams Institute analysis of 2010 census data found there were about 3.2 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.
In the county, the population was spread out with 30.20% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 9.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.40 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,350, and the median income for a family was $55,358. Males had a median income of $37,613 versus $26,612 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,212. About 6.80% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.10% of those under age 18 and 10.40% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Ellis is a staunchly Republican county in presidential elections. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976, and since 2000, Republican presidential candidates have won with more than two-thirds of the vote.

Media

Ellis County is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth television media market in North Texas. Stations in the market are KDFW-TV, KXAS-TV, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, KFWD-TV, and KDTX-TV.
A weekly newspaper, the Ellis County Press, is based in Ferris and published Thursdays. The Waxahachie Daily Light and Waxahachie Sun are published biweekly; other weekly newspapers are The Ennis News and Midlothian Mirror.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)