Little Elm, Texas
Little Elm is a fast-growing suburban city in Denton County, situated on the shores of Lewisville Lake about 6 miles north of Frisco and 13 miles east of Denton. Once a small lakeside farming community, it has expanded rapidly as part of the northern Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with the reservoir giving the town an extensive shoreline and a focus on lakefront recreation. Its growth has been among the more dramatic in the region in recent decades.
Place essentials
Official Census snapshot- Census place type
- City
- July 2025 population
- 62,727
- Change from 2020 base
- +36.2%
- Land area
- 18.5 sq. mi.
- County footprint
- Denton 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 Denton 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.
Local character
Start with Little Elm itself
A few landmarks, stories, and everyday places that help give Little Elm its shape.
Then zoom out to Denton County
County Origins
Denton County was created in 1846 and named for a preacher killed in a raid
The Texas legislature carved Denton County out of Fannin County in 1846 and named it for John Bunyan Denton, a preacher-lawyer who died in an 1841 raid.
Property Tax Basics
Two offices handle your property taxes in Denton County
The Denton Central Appraisal District sets your property value; the county Tax Assessor-Collector sends the bill.
County Seat History
The county seat moved three times before settling in Denton in the 1850s
Denton County's county seat shifted from Pinckneyville to Alton to a temporary site and finally to Denton, which was founded in 1857 on donated land.
Nearby
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