BYOB: Can You Name The Last Four Dry Counties in Texas?

In most Texas counties you can now legally buy alcohol in most Texas counties, but there are indeed a few holdouts. Four dry counties, in fact, are the last remaining vestiges of prohibition in The Lone Star State.

I've lived in a dry county, and it was just a pain in the butt, that's all. Rusk County isn't dry now but when I was there it was. I'll tell you this much, dry counties are great business for the local bootleggers. We were gladly paying $5 a beer so we didn't have to drive 30 mins.

Today I live in Smith County, which only began allowing beer sales about a decade ago. You still can't buy liquor here though.

Why do dry counties still exist in '23?

You guessed it, usually religion. "In some religious denominations, alcohol consumption is looked down upon. As a result, the local municipalities where these denominations have a strong presence have voted to keep these tight restrictions in place."

And although alcohol sales are prohibited in them, most dry counties do not ban the consumption of alcoholic beverages. They just want to make it a little harder for you to get.

The Last 4 Remaining Dry Counties in Texas

You may be surprised to learn that there are still four dry counties in Texas, unless of course you live in one of them. The counties that ban the sale of alcohol in Texas are:

1. Roberts, in the Texas Panhandle near Oklahoma
2. Borden County, southeast of Lubbock
3. Kent County, southeast of Lubbock
4. Throckmorton County, between Lubbock and Fort Worth.

How Many Dry Counties are in the U.S.?

Dry counties have fallen out of favor drastically over the years, but there are still a few holding on. According to these numbers, "the exact up-to-date number is hard to nail down, but by some accounts there are over 80 dry counties left in 9 different states in the United States... Arkansas is home to the most dry counties with over 30, followed by Kentucky."