Hereford, Texas
Hereford sits on the flat, treeless High Plains of the Texas Panhandle, the seat of Deaf Smith County, about 43 miles southwest of Amarillo. The surrounding land is intensively farmed and given over to cattle feeding, and the town is long associated with the beef industry, taking its name from the Hereford breed of cattle. The area's groundwater and soils also support large-scale production of grain and other row crops.
Place essentials
Official Census snapshot- Census place type
- City
- July 2025 population
- 14,976
- Change from 2020 base
- +0.1%
- Land area
- 6.3 sq. mi.
- County footprint
- Deaf Smith County
Place type, county footprint, and land area use the Census Bureau's January 1, 2025 geography. Population uses Vintage 2025 estimates through July 1, 2025; change compares that estimate with the April 1, 2020 estimates base. Geography file | Population file
Property here runs through the appraisal district and tax office for Deaf Smith County. The homestead exemption, appraisal cap, protests, and any MUD, PID, or special districts all sit at the parcel level.
Official routes
Use the office for the parcel address; a mailing city is not always the governing city.
County context
What to know around Hereford
County lines carry much of the property, land, water, and outdoors context around Hereford.
Local History
A WWII prisoner-of-war camp once stood just outside Hereford
During World War II, a large military camp near Hereford held about 5,000 Italian prisoners of war; a restored chapel and state historical marker are the main physical reminders today.
Property Tax
Two offices handle your property taxes in Deaf Smith County
The appraisal district both sets your value and collects the tax in Deaf Smith County, so the assessor-collector you'd expect to pay never touches a property tax bill here.
County Origins
Deaf Smith County was cattle country first; the railroad built Hereford
The county is named for a Texas Revolution scout, started as open-range ranch land, and only got its permanent county seat after the railroad arrived in the late 1890s.
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