Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. The population was 26,144 at the 2020 census. Big Spring was established as the county seat of Howard County in 1882; it is the largest community in the county. The city took its name from the single, large spring that issued into a small gorge between the base of Scenic Mountain and a neighboring hill in the southwestern part of the city limits.