Is The Center Of Texas Really Located In Central Texas?

We often refer to the Killeen-Temple, Texas area and Bell County as Central Texas, but is it really? Yes. Maybe not geographically or topographically, but for the people who live here, not only are we in Central Texas, but this area is the center of our universe.

That is not just locally, but also regionally for many of us. The number 1 reason my family made Bell County our home was its proximity to, well, Texas.

We love being 3 hours from Houston or a beach. On a good day, we're within 2 and 1/2 hours to almost anywhere Dallas and Fort Worth, or San Antonio. You can always count on entering the Austin metro in no more than an hour.

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Did you know the heart of the United States of America based on the 2020 census is coincidentally located near the town of Hartville, Missouri? According to this Wikipedia article,

"The Census Bureau determined that the <a title="Mean center of the United States population" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_center_of_the_United_States_population">mean center of the United States population</a> as of the <a title="2020 United States census" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_census">2020 census</a> is located 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Hartville."

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So, where is the exact center of Texas? It really is in Bell County. Well, at least according to population it is. We can discuss how deep in Texas the geographical heart is another time.

According to this article with KXAN, the middle of Texas is a small, unincorporated area of Bell County called Sparks. It's about 2/3rds of the way from Temple to Holland on Texas State Highway 95, which begins in Southeast Temple and terminates in Yoakum.