Editorial policy

This page explains how Texas County Map decides what to publish, where our information comes from, how pages are put together and reviewed, and what happens when we get something wrong. We publish it so readers can judge for themselves how much to trust what they read here.

Our standards

• Accuracy first. Every number on the site — population, area, coordinates, founding year — must trace back to a named public source.
• Usefulness. Pages should answer the questions people actually have about a county or map, in plain English, without padding.
• Transparency. We tell readers where data comes from and how pages are produced.
• Independence. No one pays to influence our content.

Sources we rely on

Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line and cartographic boundary files. Population: the decennial census and official Census Bureau estimates. Land and water area: the Census Gazetteer. History: the Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, and county government websites. Where sources disagree, we use the official federal or state figure and note the difference when it matters.

How pages are produced

Texas has 254 counties, so we are open about using automation where it makes sense. Data fields on county pages — figures, neighboring counties, regions, coordinates and rankings — are generated from the datasets above using scripts maintained by our editor, which keeps those figures consistent across hundreds of pages and lets us apply corrections everywhere at once. The page structure, the explanatory writing, the long-form guides and the decisions about what each page covers are written and edited by people. Writing tools may assist with drafting, but nothing is published without human review and fact-checking against the sources listed above.

Review and updates

Guides are reviewed at least once a year and whenever major source data changes, such as a new census release. Each page shows when it was last reviewed. Significant changes to methods are documented on our methodology page.

Corrections

If you spot a factual error, email editorial@texascountymap.net or use the contact form. Please include the page address and, if possible, a source. Verified corrections are normally applied within one business day. Because many figures are shared across pages, we fix errors at the source so every page using that figure is corrected together.

Advertising and independence

Texas County Map is self-funded and may show advertising served by Google AdSense. Ads are visually separated from content and labeled where appropriate. Advertisers have no say in what we publish, and no county, agency or business pays for placement or favorable coverage. We do not publish sponsored content.

Accountability

Colton Boudreau is responsible for all content on this site. Texas County Map is an independent publication based in Austin, Texas, and is not affiliated with the State of Texas or any county government.