Lubbock is a city in northwestern Texas and the seat of Lubbock County, serving as the economic, educational, and health-care hub of the South Plains region. Its population was estimated at roughly 367,000 in 2024, making it one of the largest cities in Texas. The city's nickname, "Hub City," reflects its role as the regional center for a multicounty area that spans the territory north of the Permian Basin and south of the Texas Panhandle, a broad landscape of flat plains, cotton fields, and wide-open sky. The city's defining institution is Texas Tech University, which traces its roots to 1923, when the Texas Legislature designated Lubbock as the home of what was then Texas Technological College. Texas Tech has grown into a major public research university and is a principal driver of the city's economy, population, and culture. Lubbock's other economic cornerstone is agriculture: the surrounding area forms the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world, irrigated by water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer, and the university and the farm economy have long worked in tandem to shape the city. Lubbock is also celebrated as the birthplace of Buddy Holly, the pioneering rock-and-roll musician, and that legacy is woven through the city's cultural life. The Buddy Holly Center and the Silent Wings Museum anchor the city's cultural offerings, while the 1938 Cactus Theater and the revitalized Depot District are centers for live music and nightlife, and the First Friday Art Trail draws residents and visitors to the Lubbock Cultural District. For residents, Lubbock offers the energy and amenities of a university city — athletics, arts, health care, and education — combined with the friendliness, open space, and strong regional identity of West Texas.