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Demographics of Navarro County
Affluence Level in Navarro County
A middle-class area roughly in line with national averages across income, home values, education, and employment.
People of Navarro County
Navarro County, Texas, is a predominantly rural and small-town community of 53,735 residents, characterized by a population that is roughly half non-Hispanic white (50.8%) and a substantial Hispanic minority (31.3%), with a significant Black community (10.6%) and a small but growing foreign-born population (8.4%). Its identity is rooted in a blend of Deep South agricultural heritage and modern North Texas economic influence, with a lower-than-average college attainment rate (17.1%) reflecting a workforce historically tied to farming, manufacturing, and energy. The county’s people are concentrated in the county seat of Corsicana, along with smaller towns like Kerens, Blooming Grove, and Rice, and they maintain a distinctly conservative, family-oriented culture shaped by waves of Anglo-American settlement, post-Civil War emancipation, and 20th-century Hispanic migration.
Settlement & growth (pre-1960)
Before Anglo-American colonization, the area that is now Navarro County was inhabited by the Wichita and Comanche peoples, who used the Trinity River bottomlands for hunting and seasonal camps. Spanish and French explorers passed through in the 17th and 18th centuries, but no permanent European settlements were established until after Texas independence. The region was part of the vast Robertson’s Colony land grant, and the first Anglo settlers—primarily from the Upper South (Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas) and the Deep South (Alabama, Mississippi)—arrived in the 1830s and 1840s, drawn by cheap, fertile land for cotton cultivation. These early settlers were overwhelmingly Scots-Irish and English in ancestry, and they brought with them a slave-based plantation economy.
Navarro County was formally organized in 1846, and Corsicana was established as the county seat the same year. The population grew steadily through the antebellum period, with cotton as the economic backbone. After the Civil War and emancipation, the county’s Black population—which had been enslaved—remained in the area as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, concentrating in rural communities and in the southern and eastern parts of Corsicana. The 1870s and 1880s saw the arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, which spurred the founding of new towns like Kerens (1880) and Rice (1881), both named after railroad officials. These rail towns attracted a small number of German and Czech immigrant farmers, though their numbers were never as large as in Central Texas counties.
The discovery of the Corsicana Oil Field in 1894—the first major oil strike west of the Mississippi—transformed the county’s economy and population. The oil boom drew thousands of workers from across Texas and the South, including Okies and Arkansans during the 1930s Dust Bowl era. Corsicana’s population surged from 9,313 in 1900 to 15,000 by 1920, and the town became a refining and supply hub. The oil industry also attracted a small number of Italian and Lebanese immigrants, who established grocery stores and restaurants. By 1950, the county’s population had reached 31,160, with a racial composition that was roughly 70% white, 25% Black, and 5% Hispanic (mostly Mexican-American laborers who had come to work on railroads and in cotton fields since the 1910s).
Modern era (post-1965)
The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had a modest direct impact on Navarro County compared to major urban centers, but it did contribute to a gradual increase in the Hispanic population. Mexican-American families, many with roots in South Texas and northern Mexico, moved into Corsicana and the surrounding agricultural areas for work in poultry processing, construction, and the oil fields. By 2020, the Hispanic share had risen to 31.3%, making it the county’s largest minority group. This community is concentrated in Corsicana’s south side and in the small town of Blooming Grove, where a significant number of Hispanic families work in the local poultry plant.
The Black population, which peaked at around 28% in the 1920s, has declined to 10.6% due to out-migration to Dallas and Houston for better economic opportunities. The remaining Black community is concentrated in Corsicana’s historic east side and in the rural community of Pursley. The Asian population (East/Southeast Asian) remains very small at 0.7%, with a handful of families in Corsicana, mostly in professional roles at the hospital or at Navarro College. The Indian subcontinent population is negligible at 0.1%, consisting of a few physicians and engineers. The foreign-born share (8.4%) is almost entirely Hispanic, with a small number of Asian and European immigrants.
Domestic migration since 1965 has been dominated by Rust Belt retirees and Dallas-Fort Worth suburban spillover. The completion of Interstate 45 in the 1970s connected Corsicana to the Dallas metro area, and the county has seen steady growth of white retirees from the Midwest and Northeast, drawn by lower housing costs and a slower pace of life. This group tends to settle in lakefront communities on Richland Chambers Reservoir and Lake Navarro Mills, as well as in the newer subdivisions on Corsicana’s north side. The county’s population grew by 8.5% between 2010 and 2020, driven largely by this domestic in-migration.
The future
Navarro County is projected to become more Hispanic and slightly more diverse over the next 10-20 years, driven by natural increase among the existing Hispanic population and continued migration from South Texas and Mexico. The non-Hispanic white share is expected to decline to around 45% by 2040, while the Hispanic share could approach 40%. The Black population is likely to remain stable or decline slightly, as younger Black residents continue to leave for urban job markets. The Asian and Indian populations will remain very small, likely under 2% combined, unless a major employer relocates to the county.
New residential development is concentrating in Corsicana’s northern and western edges, along the Highway 31 and Highway 22 corridors, where master-planned subdivisions are attracting commuters who work in Dallas (45 minutes north) and in the Ellis County industrial corridor. The small towns of Kerens and Rice are seeing modest growth from retirees and remote workers, while the more rural communities like Blooming Grove and Pursley are likely to remain stable or shrink. The county’s cultural identity is evolving from a historically biracial (white-Black) Southern community to a tri-ethnic (white-Hispanic-Black) one, with Spanish increasingly heard in public spaces and Hispanic-owned businesses growing in Corsicana’s downtown.
For someone moving in now, Navarro County offers a low-cost, family-oriented environment with a conservative political culture and a strong sense of local identity. The population is becoming more diverse but remains overwhelmingly native-born and English-dominant, with a growing Hispanic community that is integrating into the economic and social fabric. The county is not a destination for international immigrants in significant numbers, but it is a steady recipient of domestic migrants seeking affordable housing and a slower pace of life within commuting distance of Dallas. The future is one of gradual demographic change, with the county retaining its rural-small-town character while slowly becoming more Hispanic and more connected to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-09-04T19:56:25.000Z
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