Leander is a city in Williamson and Travis counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 26,521 at the 2010 census, and 62,608 at the 2019 census estimate. A suburb just north of Austin, and part of the metropolitan area, it is the fourth-fastest-growing city in the state of Texas.
History
Leander was established in 1882 on land sold by the Austin and Northwestern Railroad Co. to prospective citizens. The town was named in honor of Leander "Catfish" Brown, one of the railroad officials responsible for the completion of the line. In 1836, a company of Texas Rangers, including John J. Tumlinson Jr. established Tumlinson Fort, the first Anglo-American post in Williamson County. The post was located on Brushy Creek, four miles south of present-day Leander, and was established to protect settlers from Indian attacks. The company abandoned the post to fight in the Texas Revolution, and a few years later it was discovered, burned down by Indians. It was near Leander that the Leanderthal Lady, a skeleton dating back 10,000 to 13,000 years, was discovered; the site was one of the earliest intact burials found in the United States. In August and September 2011, destructive wildfires swept through two central Leander neighborhoods, burning a total of and destroying 26 homes.
Geography
Leander is located at the intersection of Ranch to Market Road 2243 and US Route 183 about 22 miles northwest of Austin. Georgetown lies 5 miles to the east on Route 2243. According to the City of Leander, the city has a total area of. None of the area is covered with water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,596 people, 2,522 households, and 2,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,016.2 people per square mile. There were 2,612 housing units at an average density of 349.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 86.22% White, 2.91% African American, 0.92% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 6.94% from other races, and 2.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.94% of the population. 51.7% of households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% were non-families. 14.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.33. In the city, the population was spread out, with 33.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 4.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $53,504, and the median income for a family was $55,051. 1986 homes had a pet in the household Males had a median income of $36,021 versus $27,413 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,263. About 2.5% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
Leanderthal Lady "Leanne" : Recovery of an early human burial, one of the oldest and most complete in North America. The individual—a young female—was somewhere between 18 and 25 years old at time of death. Archeologists nicknamed her Leanne, in reference to the nearby town of Leander, Texas.
