Idalou is a city in Lubbock County, Texas, United States. It is located northeast of Lubbock near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 400 and US 62/US 82/SH 114. The population was 2,250 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Idalou began as a settlement around a depot on the South Plains and Santa Fe Railway in the early 1910s, and within a few years had a one-room schoolhouse and several businesses. The first post office was opened in 1917, and in 1919, a two-story brick school was built after the original school burned down. Incorporated in 1925 with 538 residents, the town grew to 2,348 residents by 1980 and has remained above 2,000 residents in the years since.
Idalou has a post office, library, city park and pool, EMS station, fire department, co-op cotton gin, grocery store, and many other businesses. The town serves as an agricultural center for cotton farming in northeast Lubbock County, with many of the residents employed in farming and farming-related occupations. Due to its close proximity to Lubbock, many residents work in the nearby city.
The town was named for Ida and Lou Bassett, sisters of Julian M. Bassett, vice president of the Crosby-Bassett Livestock Company, during the 1910s.
Idalou is located at (33.661938, –101.684234).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,193 people, 736 households, and 466 families residing in the city.
As of the census of 2000, 2,157 people, 796 households, and 593 families resided in the city. The population density was . The 851 housing units averaged 868.6 per square mile (335.3/km^2). The racial makeup of the city was 70.00% White, 0.60% African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 26.94% from other races, and 1.48% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 42.98% of the population.
Of the 796 households, 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.
