Welcome to Odessa ...
The city of Odessa is located in Big Bend Country (West Texas).
Odessa is primarily located in Ector County<1> and is the County Seat for Ector County. A portion of Odessa extends into Midland County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Odessa, you might consider that their post office opened in 1885.
When the people of Odessa refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Odessan<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Odessa has a population of 123,391 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Odessa is 2,950 feet [899 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Odessa is about ½ mile above sea level.
Time Zone: Odessa lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Odessa: 432
The ZIP codes for Odessa: 79760-79766, 79768-79769<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Odessa had an population of 123,391 people. This is an increase of 23.47% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 35.68% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Odessa had a population of 99,940 people (which is 72.91% of the total population of Ector County). This makes Odessa the county's most populous community.
The population of Odessa represents 0.4% of the total population of Texas (which has 25,145,561 people), making it the state's 30th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 99,940 people, the population of Odessa increased 9.89% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 90,943 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Odessa.
Communities Also Named Odessa ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 20 communities that are also named Odessa - they are located in California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Washington and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Odessa.
Websites for Odessa ...
Official Website: www.odessa-tx.gov/
Junior League: jlodessa.org/
Communities near Odessa ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Odessa.
- Midland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midland
- Midland is located in Midland County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 147,069 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Midland <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Midland
- From Odessa to Midland
- Goldsmith
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goldsmith have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goldsmith
- Goldsmith is located in Ector County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 277 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goldsmith <6>
- West Odessa
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Odessa have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Odessa
- West Odessa is located in Ector County
- Gardendale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gardendale
- Gardendale is located in Ector County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gardendale <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gardendale
- From Odessa to Gardendale
- Scharbauer City
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scharbauer City have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scharbauer City
- Scharbauer City is located in Ector County
- Penwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Penwell have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penwell
- Penwell is located in Ector County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penwell <6>
- Judkins
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judkins
- Judkins is located in Ector County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Judkins
- From Odessa to Judkins
- Notrees
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Notrees have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Notrees
- Notrees is located in Ector County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Notrees <6>
- Coyote Corner
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coyote Corner. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coyote Corner
- Coyote Corner is located in Andrews County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Coyote Corner
- From Odessa to Coyote Corner
- Crane
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
- Crane is located in Crane County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,649 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crane <6>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Crane
- From Odessa to Crane
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 Odessa. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Odessa.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Odessa. 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 Odessa.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Odessa. Our list includes 16 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Odessa.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Odessa ...
Looking for more information about Odessa? 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 Odessa, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Odessa.
Adding Odessa to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Odessa 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 Odessa was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
X2X - From that list, the Odessa post office opened in 1885.
We also found Odessa in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Odessa.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Odessa: www.odessa-tx.gov/
The official website for Ector County: www.co.ector.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Texas' counties, including Ector, 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 Odessa 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 Odessa 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 Odessa. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Odessa - 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 Odessa). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Odessa or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Odessa includes: 79760, 79761, 79762, 79763, 79764, 79765, 79768 & 79769. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |