Welcome to Abilene ...
The city of Abilene is located in the Texas Panhandle.
Abilene is primarily located in Taylor County<1> and is the County Seat for Taylor County. A portion of Abilene extends into Jones County.
The community of Abilene was established in 1881 and was incorporated in 1881.
When the people of Abilene refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Abilenian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Abilene has a population of 123,498 people<3> (see below for details).
Abilene is 1,710 feet [521 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Abilene lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Abilene lies within the (325) area code.
The ZIP codes for Abilene: 79601-79608, 79697-79699<5>
Websites for Abilene ...
Official Website: www.abilenetx.com/
Junior League: jrleague.abilene.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Abilene had an population of 123,498 people. This is an increase of 5.5% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.53% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Abilene had a population of 117,063 people (or 88.8% of the total population of Taylor County). This makes Abilene the county's most populous community.
The population of Abilene represents 0.47% of the total population of Texas (which has 25,145,561 people), making it the state's 25th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 117,063 people, the population of Abilene has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 115,930 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Abilene.
Communities Also Named Abilene ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 6 communities that are also named Abilene - they are located in Alberta, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kansas and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Abilene.
Communities near Abilene ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Abilene.
- Clyde
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clyde have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
- Clyde is located in Callahan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,881 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clyde <7>
- Merkel
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merkel
- Merkel is located in Taylor County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,629 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Merkel <7>
- Tye
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tye have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tye
- Tye is located in Taylor County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,341 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tye <7>
- Tuscola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tuscola have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tuscola
- Tuscola is located in Taylor County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 735 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tuscola <7>
- Hawley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hawley have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
- Hawley is located in Jones County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 625 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hawley <7>
- Buffalo Gap
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
- Buffalo Gap is located in Taylor County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people
- Hamby
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamby
- Hamby is located in Taylor County
- Potosi
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast) - Eula
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eula
- Eula is located in Callahan County
- Fort Phantom Hill ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Phantom Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Phantom Hill
- Fort Phantom Hill is located in Jones County
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Abilene. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Abilene.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Abilene. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Abilene.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Abilene. Our list includes 35 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Abilene.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Abilene ...
Looking for more information about Abilene? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Abilene, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Abilene.
Adding Abilene to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Abilene in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Abilene was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Abilene post office opened in 1881.
We also found Abilene mentioned on a train schedule titled .
For more details, see References and Mentions for Abilene.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Abilene: www.abilenetx.com/
The official website for Taylor County: www.taylorcountytexas.org/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Texas' counties, including Taylor, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Abilene refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Abilene may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Abilene. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Abilene - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Abilene). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Abilene or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Abilene includes: 79601, 79602, 79603, 79604, 79605, 79606, 79607, 79697, 79698 & 79699. |
| <6> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |