Houston County (/ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 163,633 at the 2020 census.[1] Its county seat is Perry; the city of Warner Robins is substantially larger in both area and population.[2]
The county was created on May 15, 1821, along with 4 other counties in the state, and later reduced in size with the formation of Bibb, Crawford, Pulaski, Macon, and Peach counties.[3] It was named after Georgia governor John Houstoun, with the spelling being a common 19th-century variation that later evolved to "Houston".[4] The pronunciation, however, remains to this day "howston."[5] The geographic center of the county was given the name Wattsville, which was later changed to Perry.[5]
Houston County is included in the Warner Robins, GA metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Macon-Warner Robins-Fort Valley combined statistical area. Flat Creek Public Fishing Area is in Houston County, south west of Perry.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 380 square miles (980 km2), of which 376 square miles (970 km2) is land and 4.4 square miles (11 km2) (1.2%) is water.[6] The county is located in the upper Atlantic coastal plain region of the state.
The vast majority of Houston County is located in the Lower Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The very northern edge of the county, north of Centerville and Warner Robins, is located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin. The very southwestern corner of Houston County, well west of Interstate 75, is located in the Middle Flint River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).[7]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 163,633 people, 58,417 households, and 39,810 families residing in the county.
Houston County Schools operates public schools.[19]
Houston County voted for conservative Democrats for most of the twentieth century, and gradually switched to voting for conservative Republicans closer to the century's end and into the twenty-first. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, while she did not carry Houston County, Stacey Abrams improved on Democratic margins in the county, improving five percent compared to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run and by four percent compared to Barack Obama's 2008 run. Houston was one of five counties not carried by Abrams which improved their Democratic margins.[20] In 2020, Joe Biden improved Democratic margins to their best since Jimmy Carter carried it in 1980. He also became the first non-Georgian Democrat to win 40 percent of the county's vote since 1960.
Interstate 75
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 129
U.S. Route 341
State Route 7
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State Route 11
State Route 11 Business
State Route 11 Connector
State Route 26
State Route 49
State Route 96
State Route 127
State Route 224
State Route 247
State Route 247 Connector
State Route 247 Spur
State Route 329
State Route 401 (unsigned designation for I-75)32°28′N 83°40′W / 32.46°N 83.67°W / 32.46; -83.67
