Merkel, Texas

Updated on Dec 06, 2023

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Country United States County Taylor FIPS code 48-47796 Elevation 570 m Zip code 79536 Local time Sunday 5:38 AM		State Texas Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6) GNIS feature ID 1374885 Area 5.1 km² Population 2,592 (2013) Area code 325

Weather 17°C, Wind S at 16 km/h, 87% Humidity

Merkel is a town in Taylor County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,590 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Map of Merkel, TX 79536, USA

Geography

Merkel is located 17 miles west of Abilene near the Interstate Highway 20.

The town has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.1 km²), all of it land.

History

Around 1870, when the Texas and Pacific Railway was built, the town was founded as Windmill Town. In 1881 it was renamed to Merkel in honor of the first settler in this area, S. M. Merkel from Germany. In 1882 the first mercantile store and in 1883 the first post office opened.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,637 people 1,012 households, and 719 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,342.0 people per square mile (519.5/km²). There were 1,202 housing units at an average density of 611.7 per square mile (236.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 89.42% White, 1.14% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.33% from other races, and 2.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.22% of the population.

There were 1,012 households out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 still living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the town, the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $29,083, and the median income for a family was $34,250. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $16,620 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,292. About 9.9% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 14.0% of those age 65 or over.