A military road known as the "Corn Trail" came through in 1850 to supply area forts and encourage settlement. The town of "Cora" became the county seat in 1857, but two years later was renamed "Comanche". Near the modern courthouse is the preserved log structure known as the "Old Cora Courthouse", one of the oldest standing wooden courthouses in Texas.
The Comanche County Historical Museum in Comanche features a blacksmith shop, filling station, and doctor's office. A replica saloon depicts the site where gunfighter John Wesley Hardin killed a deputy in 1874.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.6 km²), all of it land.
There were 1,656 households out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,773, and the median income for a family was $32,097. Males had a median income of $26,646 versus $16,958 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,155. About 17.0% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.7% of those under age 18 and 19.7% of those age 65 or over.