Jim Wells County, Texas#Micropolitan Statistical Area

{{Infobox U.S. county

| county = Jim Wells County

| state = Texas

| seal =

| founded = 1911

| seat wl = Alice

| largest city wl = Alice

| area_total_sq_mi = 868

| area_land_sq_mi = 865

| area_water_sq_mi = 3.4

| area percentage = 0.4

| census yr = 2020

| pop = 38891

| density_sq_mi = auto

| ex image = Jim wells courthouse.jpg

| ex image size = 250

| ex image cap = The Jim Wells County Courthouse in Alice

| web = www.co.jim-wells.tx.us|

| time zone = Central

| named for = James Babbage Wells Jr.

| district = 15th

}}

Jim Wells County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 38,891. Its county seat is Alice. The county was founded in 1911{{cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/TX_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Texas: Individual County Chronologies|work=Texas Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The Newberry Library|date=2008|access-date=May 24, 2015|archive-date=April 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170412140748/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/TX_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}} and is named for James B. Wells Jr. (1850–1923), for three decades a judge and Democratic Party political boss in South Texas.

Jim Wells County comprises the Alice, Texas micropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice combined statistical area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|868|sqmi|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|3.4|sqmi|abbr=on}} (0.4%) are covered by water.{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_48.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 2, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}

=Major highways=

25px U.S. Highway 281
25px Interstate 69C is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 281 in most places.
20px State Highway 44
20px State Highway 141
20px State Highway 359
20px Farm to Market Road 624
20px Farm to Market Road 665
20px Farm to Market Road 716
20px Farm to Market Road 2295

=Adjacent counties=

Live Oak County (north)
San Patricio County (northeast)
Nueces County (east)
Kleberg County (east)
Brooks County (south)
Duval County (west)

Demographics

{{US Census population

|1920= 6587

|1930= 13456

|1940= 20239

|1950= 27991

|1960= 34548

|1970= 33032

|1980= 36498

|1990= 37679

|2000= 39326

|2010= 40838

|2020= 38891

|estyear= 2024

|estimate= 38886

|estref= {{cite web

|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/jimwellscountytexas/PST045224|title=QuickFacts: Jim Wells County, Texas |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=June 15, 2025}}

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census by Decade|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=}}
1850–2010{{cite web|url=http://texasalmanac.com/sites/default/files/images/topics/ctypophistweb2010.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://texasalmanac.com/sites/default/files/images/topics/ctypophistweb2010.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=Texas Almanac: Population History of Counties from 1850–2010|publisher=Texas Almanac|access-date=May 2, 2015}} 2010{{Cite web|title=Jim Wells County, Texas|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US48249|website=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=February 23, 2021}} 2020

}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Jim Wells County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition
{{nobold|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.}}

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000{{Cite web|title=P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Jim Wells County, Texas |url=https://data.census.gov/table?g=0500000US48249&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|website=United States Census Bureau |access-date= }}

!Pop 2010{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jim Wells County, Texas|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US48249&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=United States Census Bureau}}

!{{partial|Pop 2020}}{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jim Wells County, Texas|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=0500000US48249&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=United States Census Bureau}}

!% 2000

!% 2010

!{{partial|% 2020}}

White alone (NH)

|9,001

|8,062

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6,963

|22.89%

|19.74%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17.90%

Black or African American alone (NH)

|166

|156

|style='background: #ffffe6; |180

|0.42%

|0.38%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.46%

Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|75

|97

|style='background: #ffffe6; |58

|0.19%

|0.24%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

Asian alone (NH)

|167

|134

|style='background: #ffffe6; |140

|0.42%

|0.33%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.36%

Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|13

|style='background: #ffffe6; |15

|0.03%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%

Other Race alone (NH)

|13

|28

|style='background: #ffffe6; |95

|0.03%

|0.07%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%

Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|119

|103

|style='background: #ffffe6; |605

|0.30%

|0.25%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.56%

Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|29,772

|32,254

|style='background: #ffffe6; |30,835

|75.71%

|78.98%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |79.29%

Total

|39,326

|40,838

|style='background: #ffffe6; |38,891

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

At the 2000 census,{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=May 14, 2011|title=U.S. Census website}} 39,326 people, 12,961 households and 10,096 families were residing in the county. The population density was {{convert|46|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people|people|abbr=on}}. The 14,819 housing units had an average density of {{convert|17|/mi2|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the county was 77.90% White, 0.60% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 118.83% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races. About 75.71% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.

Of the 12,961 households, 40.2% had children under 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were not families. About 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.99, and the average family size was 3.45.

Age distribution was 31.4% under 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.20 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 91.40 males.

The median household income was $28,843, and the median family income was $32,616. Males had a median income of $30,266 versus $17,190 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,252. About 20.1% of families and 24.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.8% of those under age 18 and 21.3% of those aged 65 or over.

Government and politics

File:Jim Wells Texas.jpg, longtime Democratic political boss and namesake of Jim Wells County.]]

Located in South Texas, Jim Wells County is part of the oldest Democratic stronghold in the entire United States, a region that has consistently voted for Democrats since the days of Woodrow Wilson. The Jim Wells County Democratic Party has maintained its influence in the county despite massive demographic changes due to civil rights, the collapse of Jim Crow and poll taxes, and mass immigration from Mexico.Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’]; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 The only Republicans to win the county in presidential elections since its creation are Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Richard Nixon in his 1972 landslide and Donald Trump in 2020 and 2024. Since 2004, Jim Wells County has become slightly less Democratic than it was during the late twentieth century. Despite this shift, the Democratic nominee won at least 53.77 percent of the county's vote in every presidential election from 1976 through 2016. In 2020, the county ended its streak of Democratic victories when it was won by Donald Trump by a 10% margin.{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2020&fips=48249&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=2020 Presidential General Election Results – Texas: Jim Wells County|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=January 17, 2020}}

In the 2018 gubernatorial election, Republican Greg Abbott won 52.04% of the vote in Jim Wells County, becoming the first member of his party to win the county in a race for a state office.{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2018&fips=48249&f=0&off=5&elect=0|title=2018 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Jim Wells County, TX|last=Leip|first=David|website=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}} In the same election, Democrat Beto O'Rourke won the county in the Senate contest with 53.85% of the vote.{{Cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2018&fips=48249&f=0&off=3&elect=0&class=1|title=2018 Senatorial General Election Results - Jim Wells County, TX|last=Leip|first=David|website=Deve Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}}

{{PresHead|place=Jim Wells County, Texas|source={{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=February 21, 2021}}}}

{{U.S. SenHead|place=Jim Wells County, Texas|Seat=1|source={{cite news |title=2024 Senate Election (Official Returns) |website=Commonwealth of Texas by county |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=December 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-senate-results}}}}

=1948 U.S. Senate election=

Jim Wells County is known as the home of the "Box 13 scandal", the infamous ballot box that gave Lyndon Baines Johnson an 87-vote edge out of 988,295 cast over popular former governor Coke Stevenson in the Democratic primary election. It was later demonstrated that 200 votes, for Johnson, were "stuffed" into the ballot box after the polls closed.{{cite book |last=Caro|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Caro |year=1991|isbn=067973371X|title=The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent}} Johnson went on to win the election.

Communities

=Cities=

Alice (county seat)
Orange Grove
Premont
San Diego (mostly in Duval County)

=Village=

Pernitas Point (mostly in Live Oak County)

=Census-designated places=

=Former census-designated places=

=Unincorporated communities=

Education

School districts in the county include:{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st48_tx/schooldistrict_maps/c48249_jim_wells/DC20SD_C48249.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st48_tx/schooldistrict_maps/c48249_jim_wells/DC20SD_C48249.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Jim Wells County, TX|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=June 28, 2022}} - [https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st48_tx/schooldistrict_maps/c48249_jim_wells/DC20SD_C48249_SD2MS.txt Text list]

Coastal Bend College (formerly Bee County College) is the designated community college for the county.[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm Texas Education Code Sec. 130.167. BEE COUNTY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.] The legislation calls it "Bee County College".