Living in Dallas-Fort Worth
Living in Dallas-Fort Worth
Living in Dallas-Fort Worth
Living in Dallas-Fort Worth
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If you are considering moving to Dallas-Fort Worth or already live here and are considering the purchase of a home, how do you go about choosing a city & neighborhood and residence to call home in a Metroplex like Dallas-Fort Worth with over 6.5 million people?
Where do you start? What are the important considerations in the decision making process, and which ones are going to be important to you? Once you decide the considerations that are important to you, where do you find information, insights, and education that are current, accurate, and relevant?
Choosing a county, city, and neighborhood, and purchasing a home where you and your family will live, work, and play are important life decisions and the decision-making process and ramifications are important to you, and to us. A home purchase is probably the single largest financial transaction of a lifetime, and whether we represent you or not on the transaction, we take it all very seriously.
In fact, we treat your purchase or sale as though it were our own, and you can bet we don’t take that lightly! That is why we put together our Living in Dallas-Fort Worth website and our LIVINGINDALLASFORTWORTH YouTube Channel and have as one of our top priorities to keep updating the process, the information, the insights, the education, and the real estate services we provide through them so that we can better serve you, our prospective homebuyers and home sellers!
Population
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The current metro area population of Dallas-Fort Worth in 2023 is 6,574,000, a 1.33% increase from 2022. The metro area population of Dallas-Fort Worth in 2022 was 6,488,000, a 1.42% increase from 2021. The metro area population of Dallas-Fort Worth in 2021 was 6,397,000, a 1.52% increase from 2020.
MSA
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The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA, in turn, comprises two Metropolitan Divisions (MDs): the Fort Worth-Arlington MD, which includes Hood, Johnson, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise counties, and the Dallas-Plano-Irving MD, which includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties.
A metropolitan statistical area (MSA), formerly known as a standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA), is the formal definition of a region that consists of a city and surrounding communities that are linked by social and economic factors, as established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Metropolitan statistical areas serve to group counties and cities into specific geographic areas for population censuses and compilations of related statistical data. Modern MSAs are configured to represent contiguous geographic areas with a relatively high density of human population.
Metropolitan statistical areas usually consist of a core city with a large population and its surrounding region, which may include several adjacent counties. The area defined by the MSA is typically marked by significant social and economic interaction. People living in outlying rural areas, for example, may commute considerable distances to work, shop, or attend social activities in the urban center.
As of March 6, 2020 (latest information), per the OMB BULLETIN NO. 20-1, there are 392 regions that meet the requirements to be designated as metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (384 in the United States and eight in Puerto Rico).
Cities/Towns/Communities
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In contrast to micropolitan statistical areas, which center on towns and smaller communities with populations between 10,000–50,000, MSAs must include a city with a population of at least 50,000.
There are 197 cities/towns in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex ranging in size from 31 people to over 1.2M people. There is definitely a place for everyone to call home in Dallas-Fort Worth! The USA.com link below offers a list by population of Dallas-Fort Worth cities/towns along with a map for your reference.
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Dallas-Fort Worth Demographics - USA.com
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Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington Metro Area City and City Map
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The USA.com link below also offers a comprehensive demographic view of Texas and its counties and cities/towns. To get the Dallas-Fort Worth detail, just select the counties and/or cities/towns you want to review.
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Texas Demographics – Counties & Cities/Towns
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The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Area (aka DFW metroplex, Dallas metroplex, DFW area, north Texas) encompasses thirteen North Texas counties:
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise.
Dallas-Fort Worth by the Numbers
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For 2016, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the DFW metroplex population to be 7,233,323, which is more than all but three other U.S. metro areas and 38 U.S. states. The Dallas County population was nearly 2.6 million and the population of Tarrant County was just over 2 million. The number of residents living in each of the other DFW metroplex counties was less than 1 million.
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The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is quite large, covering 9,286 square miles. Nearly 9,000 square miles of the Dallas-Fort Worth area is land, which is larger than the land areas of six U.S. states, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island, and about the same as the land area of the state of New Hampshire.
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While the largest cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are densely populated with greater than 3,500 residents per square mile, the population density for the area overall is less than 800 residents per square mile.
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Weather
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We are very fortunate here to have great weather. Our abundant sunshine, about 235 sunny days a year, is especially enjoyable. The warmest months are July and August, with average high temperatures of 95 degrees and average lows of 74 degrees. The coolest month is January, where average temperatures range from 35 to 55 degrees. On an annual basis, the average temperature is 66 degrees.
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We do, however have our crazy weather days where the temperature can vary by as much as 40+ degrees with the same day. Doesn’t happen too often, but it does happen. After all, it is Texas!
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The Dallas Fort Worth area experiences an average of 79 rainy days annually and 39 days with the temperature below freezing. Average annual precipitation is about 33 inches.
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While it is downright hot in the summer, temperatures otherwise are generally mild, and the relative humidity is pretty much low year-round. Not surprisingly, sporting and other outdoor recreational activities are popular in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A list of just some of the places to go and things to do in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is provided elsewhere on our website if you are interested in checking them out at Dallas-Fort Worth Entertainment.
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Schools
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What about schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex? Well, U.S. News & World Report’s provides a comprehensive view of Texas schools
U.S. News & World Report’s Dallas-Fort Worth School’s.
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They report that Texas had 1,074 school districts supporting 1,992 high schools in the 2020-21 academic year.
They report that Dallas-Fort Worth encompasses 355 public elementary, middle, and high schools. Dallas-Fort Worth also has 401 private schools. 256 high schools are recognized on:
U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools rankings.
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Dallas-Fort Worth is also home to 18 colleges and/or universities, four of which earned places on:
U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges rankings.
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Destination DFW provides a list of Dallas-Fort Worth’s Independent School Districts via - Dallas-Fort Worth Independent School Districts.
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LivinginDallas-FortWorth provides sources for evaluating Dallas-Fort Worth schools on each individual city page, including the Texas Education Agency that provides Information about Texas public school districts, as well as charter and online schools, including contact information, accountability data, financial data, demographic data, employment information and waivers.
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Shopping, Entertainment
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Dallas-Fort Worth is a shopper's paradise, sports adventure, and entertainment and outdoors activities bonanza.
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Choosing where to live in an area always includes consideration for schools whether you have children or not as someday when considering resale value, schools matter. The links provided on the city pages provide insight into the pros and cons of the associated ISD's and their Elementary, Middle School, and High School choices.
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Living in Dallas-Fort Worth provides Pros and Cons for our various lists of 10 important considerations that you can review if you thinking about Living in Dallas-Fort Worth! Check them out on the Home page and additionally via the site menu, Pros and Cons. We strive to keep our information and insights current and relevant. Let us know if you have comments and/or suggestions.
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When choosing a city and a neighborhood you want all the information and insights at your fingertips. That is why Living in Dallas-Fort Worth has compiled a comprehensive list of sources and made them available here and on the profiles of the cities/towns we profile. Doing so, provides you the information and insights you need in one place versus having to do multiple Internet searches to find them.
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Lakes and Reservoirs
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The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is home to over 60 lakes and reservoirs and many more within 100 miles of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Check out Dallasrelo.com for details.
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Traffic and Road Conditions
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For interactive traffic maps and conditions, check out Spectrum Local News, Dallas - Local Conditions.com, Fort Worth - Local Conditions.com, Dallas TXDOT, and Fort Worth TXDOT
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Moving To & Within Dallas-Fort Worth!
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If you are planning a move to Dallas-Fort Worth or just moving within Dallas-Fort Worth you will want to check out our 10 Steps to Moving to Dallas-Fort Worth.
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Bottom Line
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Check out NeighborhoodWired for detail insights and information on Dallas-Fort Worth counties and cities.
Check out our Pros and Cons for Living in Dallas-Fort Worth for the top 10 Pros and top 10 Cons of living in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Check out our Resources for insights and information about moving to and living in Dallas-Fort Worth.
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There is a wealth of information and insights on our site and through the links to sources to help you decide to make Dallas-Fort Worth your home, and where with the area to live, work, and play!
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If you still have questions or want to discuss your journey, contact us! We love Dallas-Fort Worth and would be honored to assist you!
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