Wharton County, Texas

Wharton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 41,280. Its county seat is Wharton. The county was named for brothers William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton.

The El Campo, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Wharton County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,094 square miles (2,830 km²), of which 1,086 square miles (2,810 km²) is land and 8.2 square miles (21 km²) (0.8%) is water.

The county is about 130 miles (210 km) southeast of Austin.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 41,188 people, 14,799 households, and 10,744 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 16,606 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 69.01% White, 14.95% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 13.65% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 31.29% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.8% were of Czech, 11.0% German and 7.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 73.8% spoke English, 24.0% Spanish and 2.0% Czech as their first language.