Lubbock ( ) The pronunciation has been newsworthy: is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 257,141 at the 2020 census (estimated at 273,071 in 2025), Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwestern part of the state, in the Great Plains region, an area known historically and geographically as the Llano Estacado, and ecologically is part of the southern end of the High Plains, lying at the economic center of the Lubbock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 367,109 in 2024.
Lubbock's nickname, "Hub City", derives from it being the economic, educational, and healthcare hub of the multicounty region, located north of the Permian Basin and south of the Texas Panhandle, commonly called the South Plains. The area is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world and is heavily dependent on water from the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation. Lubbock is home to Texas Tech University, the sixth-largest college by enrollment in the state.
History
In 1867, the land that would become Lubbock was the heart of Comancheria, the shifting domain controlled by the Comanche.
Lubbock County was founded in 1876. It was named after Thomas Saltus Lubbock, former Texas Ranger and brother of Francis Lubbock, governor of Texas during the Civil War. As early as 1884, a U.S. post office existed in Yellow House Canyon. A small town, known as Old Lubbock, Lubbock, or North Town, was established about three miles to the east. In 1890, the original Lubbock merged with Monterey, another small town south of the canyon. The new town adopted the Lubbock name. The merger included moving the original Lubbock's Nicolett Hotel across the canyon on rollers to the new townsite. Lubbock became the county seat in 1891,Paul H. Carlson, "The Nicolett Hotel and the Founding of Lubbock", West Texas Historical Review, Vol. 90 (2014), pp. 8–9, 11. and was incorporated on March 16, 1909. In the same year, the first railroad train arrived.
Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) was founded in Lubbock in 1923. A separate university, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, opened as Texas Tech University School of Medicine in 1969. Both universities are now overseen by the Texas Tech University System, after it was established in 1996 and based in Lubbock. Lubbock Christian University, founded in 1957, affiliated with the Churches of Christ, has its main campus in the city. South Plains College and Wayland Baptist University operate branch campuses in Lubbock.
At one time, Lubbock was home to Reese Air Force Base, located west of the city. It was established in August 1941, during the defense build-up prior to World War II (1941–1945), by the United States Department of War and the U.S. Army as Lubbock Army Airfield. It served the old U.S. Army Air Forces, and later the U.S. Air Force (USAF), after reorganization and establishment in 1947. The USAF base's primary mission throughout its existence was pilot training. The base was closed 30 September 1997, after being selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1995, and is now a research and business park called Reese Technology Center.
The city is home to the Lubbock Lake Landmark, part of the Museum of Texas Tech University. The landmark is an archaeological and natural-history preserve at the northern edge of the city. It shows evidence of almost 12,000 years of human occupation in the region. The National Ranching Heritage Center, also part of the Museum of Texas Tech University, houses historic ranch-related structures from the region.
During World War II, airmen cadets from the Royal Air Force, flying from their training base at Terrell, Texas, routinely flew to Lubbock on training flights. The town served as a stand-in for the British for Cork, Ireland, which was the same distance from London, England, as Lubbock is from Terrell.
In August 1951, a V-shaped formation of lights was seen over the city. The "Lubbock Lights" series of sightings received national publicity and is regarded as one of the first great "UFO" cases. The sightings were considered credible because they were witnessed by several respected science professors at Texas Technological College and were photographed by a Texas Tech student. The photographs were reprinted nationwide in newspapers and in Life. Project Blue Book, the USAF's official investigation of the UFO mystery, concluded the photographs were not a hoax and showed genuine objects, but dismissed the UFOs as being either "night-flying moths" or a type of bird called a plover reflected in the nighttime glow of Lubbock's new street lights.
In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Lubbock's population as 128,691 and area as .
On May 11, 1970, the Lubbock Tornado struck the city. Twenty-six people died, and damage was estimated at $125 million. The Metro Tower (NTS Building), then known as the Great Plains Life Building, at in height, is believed to have been the tallest building ever to survive a direct hit from an F5 tornado.
During the late 1970s to mid-1980s, Texas Instruments was a major Lubbock employer, manufacturing consumer electronics – including early calculators, digital watches, and TI-99 series home computers. In the early 1980s, shipping up to 5,000 computers a day from the Lubbock factory, TI briefly dominated the U.S. home computer market."Death of a Computer," April 1984, Texas Monthly, retrieved September 20, 2023
In August, 1988, tens of thousands of people came to Lubbock, drawn by an apparition of Mary.
On August 12, 2008, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce announced they would lead the effort to get enough signatures to have a vote on allowing county-wide packaged alcohol sales. The petition effort was successful and the question was put to the voters. On May 9, 2009, Proposition 1, which expanded the sale of packaged alcohol in Lubbock County, passed by a margin of nearly two to one, with 64.5% in favor. Proposition 2, which legalized the sale of mixed drinks in restaurants county-wide, passed with 69.5% in favor. On September 23, 2009, The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission issued permits to more than 80 stores in Lubbock. Prior to May 9, 2009, Lubbock County allowed "package" sales of alcohol (sales of bottled liquor from liquor stores), but not "by the drink" sales, except at private establishments such as country clubs. Inside the city limits, the situation was reversed, with restaurants and bars able to serve alcohol, but liquor stores forbidden.
After news broke about Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas hiring for a Lubbock location, Senator Charles Perry started a petition to keep Planned Parenthood out of Lubbock. On September 9, 2020, Senator Perry held a press conference with Representative Dustin Burrows and Representative John Frullo in support of Lubbock becoming a "sanctuary city for the unborn" through the passage of an ordinance, written by anti-abortion activist Mark Lee Dickson, which would outlaw abortion within the city limits. On November 17, 2020, the Lubbock City Council voted 7–0 against the ordinance outlawing abortion, leading the "sanctuary city for the unborn" initiating committee to file for the ordinance to be placed on the May ballot. Planned Parenthood began offering abortion services on April 15, 2021, with early voting taking place on April 19, 2021. On May 1, 2021, the citizens of Lubbock voted on the ordinance with 62% in favor and 38% against, becoming the largest "sanctuary city for the unborn" in the nation. Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the ordinance from going into effect, but lost their case after the ordinance went into effect on June 1, 2021, and a federal judge dismissed the case. Planned Parenthood later appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but in January 2022 withdrew their appeal.
Geography Lubbock is considered to be the center of the Llano Estacado portion of the South Plains, with Midland on the southern edge, and Amarillo denoting the northern boundary. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2022, the city has a total area of , of which (99.08%) are land and , or (0.92%), is covered by water. The population density was .
Skyline
The tallest buildings in Lubbock are listed below.
Rank Name Heightft / m Floors (Stories) Year Completed 1 NTS Tower 274/84 20 1955 2 Wells Fargo Building 209/64 15 1968 3 TTU Media and Communication Building 208/63 12 1969 4 Overton Hotel 165/50 15 2009 5 TTU Architecture Building 158/48 10 1971 6 Citizens Tower 153/46.5 11 1963 7 Park Tower 150/46 15 1968 – Caprock Hilton Hotel (demolished) 144/44 12 1929 8 Lubbock County Office Building 143/44 12 1940 9 Pioneer Hotel 136/41.5 11 1926 10 = TTU Chitwood Hall 134/41 12 1967 10 = TTU Coleman Hall 134/41 12 1967 10 = TTU Weymouth Hall 134/41 121967 13 Lubbock National Bank Building 134/41 10 1979 14 Covenant Medical Center 114/34.5 10 1994 15 Mahon Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse 107/33 8 1971 16 Victory Tower 96/29 8 1999
Climate Lubbock has a cool semi-arid climate (Köppen classification BSk). On average, Lubbock receives of rain and of snow per year.
In 2013, Lubbock was named the "Toughest Weather City" in America according to the Weather Channel.
Summers are hot, with 92 afternoons on average of + highs and 13.3 afternoons of + highs, with lows of + on 30 mornings. Lubbock is the 10th-windiest city in the US with an average wind speed of . The highest recorded temperature was on June 27, 1994.
Winter afternoons in Lubbock are typically sunny and mild, but mornings are cold, with temperatures usually dipping below freezing, and as the city is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7, lows reaching occur on 1.5 mornings and 4.5 afternoons occur where the temperature fails to rise above freezing. The lowest recorded temperature was on February 8, 1933.
Lubbock can experience severe thunderstorms during the spring, and occasionally the summer. The risk of tornadoes and very large hail exists during the spring in particular, as Lubbock sits on the far southwestern edge of Tornado Alley.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)122,330127,915122,33761.30%55.72%47.58%Black or African American alone (NH)16,90718,74424,5998.47%8.16%9.57%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)6198451,2250.31%0.37%0.48%Asian alone (NH)3,0045,4719,2361.51%2.38%3.59%Pacific Islander alone (NH)411471560.02%0.06%0.06%Some Other Race alone (NH)1332418110.07%0.10%0.32%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)1,7442,5857,2320.87%1.13%2.81%Hispanic or Latino (any race)54,78673,62591,54527.45%32.07%35.60%Total199,564229,573257,141100.00%100.00%100.00%
In 2019, Lubbock had a racial and ethnic makeup of 50.1% non-Hispanic whites, 7.1% Blacks and African Americans, 0.3% American Indians and Alaska Natives, 2.6% Asians, <0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.1% some other race, and 2.4% two or more races. The Hispanic and Latino American population (of any race) was an estimated 37.4% of the total population. The diversifying population reflected state- and nationwide trends among traditional minority populations.
Population According to Move.org in 2016, Lubbock and its metropolitan area was the 6th best for residents aged 20 and older. The Lubbock area was also first in Texas for Millennial home-ownership, and 14th in the U.S. in 2020. The median value of owner-occupied housing units were $152,800 and the gross rent for Lubbock was $976. Lubbockites had a median household income of $52,254 in 2019, and a mean income of $72,144.