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Ham radio operators in Texas: new licenses by county

53,491 licensed amateur radio operators; 2,054 new in the past 12 months. Updated weekly from FCC data.

At a glance · Data as of

New hams · last 30 days
96
New hams · last 12 months
2,054
▲ 23% vs prior 12 mo
Active licensed hams
53,491
Upgrades · 12 mo
892
Vanity callsigns · 12 mo
560
Address updates · 12 mo
653
Often a move into the area
Expiring · next 6 mo
2,872

About ham radio in Texas

Texas added 2,054 new amateur radio operators in the past 12 months, up 23% from the year before. Texas ranks #2 of 52 states and territories for new licenses. Harris County leads the state with 198 new hams. Among larger counties, El Paso County is growing fastest. Technicians make up 49% of the state’s licensees, close to the U.S. average of 48%.

New hams by month

New hams per month in Texas, October 2025 to September 2026 2,065 in total. Highest: 307 in June 2026. Lowest: 11 in October 2025. Up 23% from the prior 12 months. Oct 2025: 11 new hams 11 Oct 2025 Nov 2025: 120 new hams 120 Nov Dec 2025: 148 new hams 148 Dec Jan 2026: 130 new hams 130 Jan 2026 Feb 2026: 241 new hams 241 Feb Mar 2026: 302 new hams 302 Mar Apr 2026: 173 new hams 173 Apr May 2026: 287 new hams 287 May Jun 2026: 307 new hams 307 Jun Jul 2026: 150 new hams 150 Jul Aug 2026: 90 new hams 90 Aug Sep 2026: 106 new hams 106 Sep
Complete calendar months only, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026. The current month is left out until it ends.
Show data table
New hams per month in Texas
MonthNew hams
Oct 202511
Nov 2025120
Dec 2025148
Jan 2026130
Feb 2026241
Mar 2026302
Apr 2026173
May 2026287
Jun 2026307
Jul 2026150
Aug 202690
Sep 2026106
Total2,065

License classes

Active licensees in Texas by license class, compared with U.S.
ClassHamsShareU.S.
Technician 26,01149%48%
General 13,37525%25%
Amateur Extra 11,48022%21%
Advanced 1,7763%3%
Novice / Other 8492%2%

Bar = Texas share · Tick = U.S. share

In the past 12 months, 398 operators upgraded to General and 435 to Amateur Extra.

How Texas compares

#2 of 52 states and territories for new hams in the past 12 months

Rates per 1,000 active licensees
Per 1,000 active hamsTexasU.S.
New hams, past 12 months38.432.3
Upgrades, past 12 months16.714.7
Expiring, next 6 months53.757.3

2,054 new hams in Texas this past year. Get next month’s list free.

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Top 10 Texas counties for new hams

Scroll sideways for more columns →

#CountyNew hams 12 moChange vs prior yearActive hamsNew per 1,000
1Harris County198▲ 33%5,17238.3
2Travis County135▲ 26%2,62951.4
3Bexar County124▲ 59%2,40451.6
4Tarrant County122▼ 2%4,35028.0
5Collin County94▼ 33%3,45127.2
6Denton County84▼ 19%2,50333.6
7Dallas County80▼ 4%3,11525.7
8Williamson County73▲ 49%1,83939.7
9El Paso County55▲ 96%74074.3
10Montgomery County50▼ 6%1,52232.9

All Texas counties

84 counties with their own page. Numbers are new hams in the past 12 months.

Smaller Texas counties

These 170 counties have too few licensees or too little recent activity for a page of their own, so their numbers are listed here.

Show all 170 smaller counties
CountyActive hamsNew hams · 12 mo
Andrews County120
Aransas County742
Archer County340
Armstrong County60
Atascosa County681
Austin County841
Bailey County30
Bandera County1701
Baylor County80
Bee County281
Blanco County573
Borden County00
Bosque County621
Briscoe County80
Brooks County20
Brown County1062
Burleson County525
Calhoun County380
Callahan County623
Camp County422
Carson County130
Castro County20
Chambers County862
Childress County191
Clay County582
Cochran County30
Coke County101
Coleman County171
Collingsworth County60
Colorado County491
Comanche County271
Concho County70
Cottle County30
Crane County71
Crockett County10
Crosby County111
Culberson County50
Dallam County151
Dawson County140
Deaf Smith County40
Delta County150
DeWitt County431
Dickens County80
Dimmit County40
Donley County20
Duval County30
Eastland County630
Edwards County70
Falls County281
Fayette County681
Fisher County50
Floyd County61
Foard County41
Franklin County160
Freestone County520
Frio County80
Gaines County181
Garza County30
Glasscock County00
Goliad County161
Gonzales County352
Gray County282
Hale County371
Hall County90
Hamilton County240
Hansford County220
Hardeman County140
Hartley County51
Haskell County100
Hemphill County80
Hockley County492
Hopkins County882
Houston County790
Howard County622
Hudspeth County70
Hutchinson County260
Irion County80
Jack County260
Jackson County281
Jasper County760
Jim Hogg County20
Jim Wells County290
Jones County441
Karnes County210
Kenedy County00
Kent County10
Kimble County151
King County00
Kinney County230
Kleberg County273
Knox County170
La Salle County20
Lamb County202
Lampasas County892
Lavaca County440
Lee County550
Leon County811
Limestone County700
Lipscomb County81
Live Oak County190
Llano County934
Loving County00
Lynn County50
Madison County233
Marion County231
Martin County110
Mason County190
Matagorda County784
Maverick County170
McCulloch County341
McMullen County10
Menard County60
Milam County772
Mills County441
Mitchell County140
Montague County1032
Moore County160
Morris County371
Motley County70
Newton County241
Nolan County352
Ochiltree County230
Oldham County10
Palo Pinto County863
Panola County421
Parmer County90
Pecos County330
Presidio County80
Rains County591
Reagan County00
Real County140
Red River County430
Reeves County30
Refugio County130
Roberts County40
Robertson County381
Runnels County160
Sabine County361
San Augustine County131
San Patricio County1260
San Saba County254
Schleicher County20
Scurry County322
Shackelford County70
Shelby County353
Sherman County20
Somervell County302
Starr County151
Stephens County140
Sterling County10
Stonewall County40
Sutton County60
Swisher County130
Terrell County41
Terry County182
Throckmorton County50
Titus County552
Trinity County430
Upton County20
Uvalde County390
Val Verde County381
Ward County71
Wharton County501
Wheeler County140
Wilbarger County262
Willacy County110
Winkler County80
Yoakum County10
Zapata County40
Zavala County20

Neighboring states

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Figures may be reused with credit to Ham Recruiter (CC BY 4.0).

Questions about hams in Texas

How many ham radio operators are in Texas?

53,491 active amateur radio licensees are on file for Texas as of Oct 1, 2026.

How many new hams were licensed in Texas last year?

2,054 people in Texas received their first FCC amateur radio license in the 12 months ending Oct 1, 2026.

Which Texas counties have the most new hams?

In the past 12 months: Harris County (198), Travis County (135) and Bexar County (124).

Where does this data come from?

From the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) public amateur license database, which we download every Monday. Addresses are matched to counties with the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder. This page shows totals only.

Can I see the names or call signs on this page?

No. Public pages show totals only. Verified Ham Recruiter users can search and export lists for outreach; see how licensee information is handled.

About this data

Data as of . Source: FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) weekly amateur license database; county from U.S. Census Bureau geocoding. Aggregates only, no individual licensee data is shown. Aggregate figures © Ham Recruiter, CC BY 4.0.

How we count

  • New ham: an active licensee whose first license was granted in the period.
  • Address updates: a change of FCC mailing address, often a move into the area.
  • Counts use each licensee’s current FCC address. Someone licensed here who later moved is counted where they live now.
  • Each license keeps only its most recent event of each type, so two upgrades in one year count once.
  • PO-box-only addresses often can’t be matched to a county, so rural counties are slightly undercounted.

99% of Texas licensees could be matched to a county.