[3] Both the county and its seat are named for J. Dickens, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.

About 32.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

[13] [14] Following redistricting after the 2020 census, effective January 1, 2023, Dickens County is in Texas House of Representatives District 83, represented by Republican Dustin Burrows, an attorney from Lubbock.

In the Texas Senate, Dickens County is presently in District 28, represented by Republican Charles Perry.

Like much of West Texas, Dickens now leans heavily Republican, giving less than 15% of the vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016, though it did support her husband, Bill Clinton, in both 1992 and 1996, in the former election supporting him by double digits over Texas resident George H.W.

However, the county historically leaned heavily Democratic, having previously even voted against Ronald Reagan in both his 1980 and 1984 landslides, and against native son Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.