Houston County
Also known as Houston County, Georgia, Houston County, GA
county in Georgia, United States
Key facts
- Country
- United States
- State
- Georgia
- Founded
- May 15, 1821 ; 205 years ago ( 1821-05-15 )
- Named after
- John Houstoun
- Seat
- Perry
- Largest city
- Warner Robins
- Total
- 380 sq mi (980 km )
- Land
- 376 sq mi (970 km )
- Water
- 4.4 sq mi (11 km ) 1.2%
- Estimate 2025
- 178,214
- Density
- 373/sq mi (144/km )
- Time zone
- UTC−5 ( Eastern )
- Summer dst
~6 min read
Article
Houston County (/ˈhaʊstən/ HOW-stən) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 163,633 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Perry; the city of Warner Robins is substantially larger in both area and population.
The county was created on May 15, 1821, along with four other counties in the state, and later reduced in size with the formation of Bibb, Crawford, Pulaski, Macon, and Peach counties. It was named after Georgia governor John Houstoun, with the spelling being a common 19th-century variation that later evolved to "Houston". The pronunciation, however, remains to this day "howston." The geographic center of the county was given the name Wattsville, which was later changed to Perry.