Tahoka is located due south of Lubbock toward Lamesa on US 87 in Lynn County, of which it is the county seat.
Cotton production developed into the dominant economic activity around the city during the 1940s, so Tahoka developed a commercial economy based on service to the cotton farmer, including a comparatively large cotton-ginning industry. Its agricultural economy remained relatively stable, though the city suffered somewhat during the agricultural depression of the 1980s. In 1990 the population of Tahoka was 2,868.