Lubbock
is the 11th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 258,862 in 2019, the city is also the 83rd-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically and geographically as the Llano Estacado, and ecologically is part of the southern end of the High Plains, lying at the economic center of the Lubbock metropolitan area, which has an estimated population of 327,424 in 2020.
Lubbock's nickname, "Hub City", derives from it being the economic, educational, and health-care hub of the multicounty region, north of the Permian Basin and south of the Texas Panhandle, commonly called the South Plains. The area is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world and is heavily dependent on water from the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation. CNNMoney.com selected Lubbock as the 12th-best place to start a small business. CNN mentioned the city's traditional business atmosphere: low rent for commercial space, central location, and cooperative city government. Lubbock is home to Texas Tech University, the sixth-largest college by enrollment in the state.