Place profile
Also known as: TX, State of Texas
Texas covers 676,660.2 km² (261,260 sq mi) of land and had a population of 31.7 million in 2025, about 46.9 people per km² (121 per sq mi). In more familiar terms, it is about 1.68 times the size of California.
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Calculated from the population and area above; their reference dates may differ.
The closest rung on the US reference ladder (Census Bureau land area); see the sources below.
The inverse of population density, from the same area and population figures.
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The State of Texas: 676,660.16 km² of land and 31,709,821 residents. Area is the Census Bureau’s land area (ALAND) for the state in the 2025 Gazetteer, which excludes inland and coastal water — another 19,008 km², so the land-plus-water total is 695,668 km². Population is the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 resident estimate for 1 July 2025, not a census count. The outline is Natural Earth’s admin-1 polygon for Texas, which measures about 1.4% larger than the official land area because its coastline encloses some bays. Most of Texas keeps Central Time (UTC−6, UTC−5 in summer); El Paso and Hudspeth counties in the far west use Mountain Time, one hour behind.
Average administrative density does not describe population distribution in every neighborhood. Compare population definitions and reference dates alongside the numbers.
Place guide
Texas has 676,660.16 km² of land and an estimated 31,709,821 residents on 1 July 2025, about 47 people per km². It is the second-largest US state by area after Alaska and the second most populous after California — and the size English speakers most often use to say how big somewhere else is.
Against Texas’s land, Taiwan is about 5.3%, South Korea about 15% and Japan about 56%. Put the other way, Texas holds about 18.7 Taiwans, 6.7 South Koreas or 1.8 Japans. Each of those pairs has its own page with the outlines drawn to one scale.
The area is the Census Bureau’s land area for the state in its 2025 Gazetteer. It excludes 19,008 km² of inland and coastal water; with water, Texas covers 695,668 km². The population is the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 estimate, not a census count — the last full count was on 1 April 2020.
Most people live in four metropolitan areas — Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin — so the state average of about 47 per km² describes almost no one’s surroundings. The outline is Natural Earth’s, about 1.4% larger than the official land area because its coastline encloses parts of the bays along the Gulf.
Questions people ask
Texas covers 676,660.2 km², or 261,260 sq mi (reference date 2025-01-01). In US terms: ≈ 1.68 × California.
31.7 million — 31,709,821 as of 2025-07-01. The scope of that count is set out under “Scope and definitions” on this page.
About 46.9 people per km² (121 per sq mi), derived from the area and population above, whose reference dates may differ. An administrative average does not describe how crowded any particular neighbourhood is.
The State of Texas: 676,660.16 km² of land and 31,709,821 residents. Area is the Census Bureau’s land area (ALAND) for the state in the 2025 Gazetteer, which excludes inland and coastal water — another 19,008 km², so the land-plus-water total is 695,668 km². Population is the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 resident estimate for 1 July 2025, not a census count. The outline is Natural Earth’s admin-1 polygon for Texas, which measures about 1.4% larger than the official land area because its coastline encloses some bays. Most of Texas keeps Central Time (UTC−6, UTC−5 in summer); El Paso and Hudspeth counties in the far west use Mountain Time, one hour behind.
Also written or known as TX, State of Texas. Every one of those names refers to the place measured on this page.
Outline source: Natural Earth · Public domain
Read the methodology and data notes