Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area

Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington
Dallas
Fort Worth
Arlington
Country	United States of America
State	Texas
Principal cities	- Dallas  - Fort Worth  - Arlington  - Plano  - Irving  - Carrollton  - Denton  - McKinney  - Richardson
Area
- Urban	3,644.2 km2 (1,407 sq mi)
- Metro	24,059 km2 (9,286 sq mi)
Elevation	295 - 417 m (606 - 3,288 ft)
Population (2009 est.)[1][2]
- Density	245/km2 (634/sq mi)
- Urban	6,381,950 (6th)
- MSA	6,599,850 (4th)
- CSA	6,729,800
	2009 estimates
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)

The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area informally refer to it as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the acronym DFW or simply The Metroplex (the term was originally invented to refer to Dallas/Fort Worth). It is the economic and cultural hub of the region commonly called North Texas or North Central Texas.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2009 estimate, the metropolitan area's population was 6,447,615.^[1] During the 12-month period from July 2008 to July 2009, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area gained 146,530 new residents, more than any other metropolitan area in the United States.^[3][4] The area's population has grown by nearly 1.3 million since the last census was administered in 2000.^[5] The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is the largest metropolitan area in Texas, the largest in the South and the fourth-largest in the United States. The metroplex also encompasses 9,286 square miles (24,100 km²) of total area: 8,991 sq mi (23,290 km²) is land, while 295 sq mi (760 km²) is water, making it larger in area than the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined or roughly the size of New Hampshire. It is also the sixth largest gross metropolitan product (GMP) in the United States^[6], and approximately tenth largest by GMP in the world.

Metroplex counties

US Government Designated

• Collin County
• Dallas County
• Delta County
• Denton County
• Ellis County
• Hunt County
• Johnson County
• Kaufman County
• Parker County
• Rockwall County
• Tarrant County
• Wise County

Metroplex cities, towns, and CDPs

D/FW Counties

Dallas is the 9th largest city in the United States.

Fort Worth is the 17th largest city in the United States.

Note: Cities and towns are categorized based on the latest population estimates from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (as of January 1, 2010).^[7] No population estimates are released for Census-designated places (CDPs), which are marked with an asterisk (*). These places are categorized based on their 2000 census population.

Places with more than 100,000 inhabitants

Places designated "principal cities" by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are italicized in bold.^[8]

• Places with 1,000,000+ inhabitants
  • Dallas

• Places with 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants
  • Fort Worth

• Places with 200,000 to 499,999 inhabitants
  • Arlington
  • Garland
  • Irving
  • Plano

• Places with 100,000 to 199,999 inhabitants
  • Carrollton
  • Denton
  • Frisco
  • Grand Prairie
  • McKinney
  • Mesquite
  • Richardson

Places with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

Unincorporated places

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States census^[9], there were 5,161,544 people, 1,881,056 households, and 1,301,993 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 69.25% White, 13.88% African American, 0.57% Native American, 3.78% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 10.01% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.65% of the population.

The median income for a household in the MSA was $48,062, and the median income for a family was $55,263. Males had a median income of $39,581 versus $27,446 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $21,839.

Combined Statistical Area

Components of the Dallas-Fort Worth Combined Statistical Area.      Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA     Sherman-Denison MSA     Athens μSA     Bonham μSA     Gainesville μSA     Granbury μSA     Mineral Wells μSA

The Dallas–Fort Worth Combined Statistical Area is made up of 19 counties in north central Texas. The statistical area includes two metropolitan areas and five micropolitan areas. As of the 2000 Census, the CSA had a population of 5,487,956 (though a July 1, 2007 estimate placed the population at 6,805,275).^[10] The CSA definition encompasses 14,628 sq mi (37,890 km²) of area, of which 14,126 sq mi (36,590 km²) is land and 502 sq mi (1,300 km²) is water.

Components

• Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
  • Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington (Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise counties)
  • Sherman-Denison (Grayson County)

• Micropolitan Statistical Areas (μSAs)
  • Athens (Henderson County)
  • Bonham (Fannin County)
  • Gainesville (Cooke County)
  • Granbury (Hood and Somervell counties)
  • Mineral Wells (Palo Pinto County)

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 5,487,956 people, 2,006,665 households, and 1,392,540 families residing within the CSA. The racial makeup of the CSA was 70.41% White, 13.34% African American, 0.59% Native American, 3.58% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 9.62% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.83% of the population.

The median income for a household in the CSA was $43,836, and the median income for a family was $50,898. Males had a median income of $37,002 versus $25,553 for females. The per capita income for the CSA was $20,460.

It's a common misconception that DFW suburbs have different incomes than the more dense urban areas, but in fact in 2008 47% of those in the area below the U.S. poverty line lived in suburbs.^[11]

Geography

The Metroplex overlooks mostly prairie land with a few rolling hills dotted by man-made lakes cut by streams, creeks and rivers surrounded by forest land. The Metroplex is situated in the Texas blackland prairies region, so named for its fertile black soil found especially in the rural areas of Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.

Many areas of Denton, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise counties are located in the Fort Worth Prairie^[12] region of North Texas, which has less fertile and more rocky soil than that of the Texas blackland prairie; most of the rural land on the Fort Worth Prairie is ranch land. A large onshore natural gas field, the Barnett Shale, lies underneath this area; Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties feature many natural gas wells. Continuing land use change results in scattered crop fields surrounded by residential or commercial development.

South of Dallas and Fort Worth is a line of rugged hills that goes north to south about 15 miles (24 km) that looks similar to the Texas Hill Country 200 miles (320 km) to the south.

Economy

Headquarters of AMR Corporation and American Airlines

The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth are the anchor cities of the Metroplex. Dallas and its suburbs have one of the highest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the United States. As such, one of the largest industries in the Metroplex is conducting business. The Metroplex also contains the largest Information Technology industry base in the state (often referred to as Silicon Prairie), owing to the large number of corporate IT projects and the presence of numerous electronics, computing and telecommunication firms such as Texas Instruments, HP Enterprise Services, Perot Systems, i2, AT&T, and Verizon in and around Dallas. On the other end of the business spectrum, and on the other side of the Metroplex, the Texas farming and ranching industry is based in Fort Worth. According to the Dallas Business Journal's 2006 Book of Lists, American Airlines is the largest employer in the Metroplex. Several major defense manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter Textron, and Raytheon, maintain significant operations in the Metroplex. ExxonMobil, the #1 corporation on the Fortune 500 listings, is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Transportation

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (IATA airport code: DFW), located between Dallas and Fort Worth, is the largest and busiest airport in the state of Texas. It is the third busiest airport in the world in terms of aircraft movements and the seventh busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, transporting 59,784,876 passengers in 2007.^[13] American Airlines (known as 'American'), based in Fort Worth, has its headquarters next to DFW Airport. American, formerly the largest airline in the world in terms of passengers transported and fleet size, is a predominant leader in domestic routes and operations.

Love Field Airport (IATA airport code: DAL) is located in Dallas. Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas, is headquartered next to Love Field.

Public transit options exist but are limited in scope, though significant expansion is planned and/or underway. Dallas County has bus service and light rail operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, (DART), extending as far north as Plano, and northeast to Garland, but there are still many suburbs without service. Denton County has bus service limited to Denton, Highland Village, and Lewisville (with commuter service to downtown Dallas) provided by the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA). The A-train, a diesel commuter rail line, is under construction by DCTA that will parallel I-35E to connect Denton, Highland Village, Lewisville, and Carrollton. Several smaller towns along this line, Corinth, Shady Shores, and Lake Dallas, voted to abstain from DCTA and will not have stations. There will be an across-the-platform transfer in Carrollton to the DART Green Line electrified light rail extension also under construction. The target opening date for both systems is December 2010. Tarrant County has bus service operated by the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (known as 'The T'), available only in Fort Worth. The diesel commuter train that serves Fort Worth and its eastern suburbs is operated as the Trinity Railway Express; it connects downtown Fort Worth to downtown Dallas, where it links to the DART light rail system. A station near its midpoint, Centerport, serves DFW Airport via a free airport shuttle bus. The TRE is jointly owned by FWTA and DART. AMTRAK serves Dallas and Fort Worth once daily in each direction on a route from Chicago to San Antonio, with connections at San Antonio to New Orleans, Houston, El Paso, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area has hundreds of lane-miles of freeways and interstates. The Metroplex has the second largest number of freeway-miles per capita in the nation, behind only the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Like most major metropolitan areas in Texas, most interstates and freeways have access roads where most of the businesses are located; these access roads have slip ramps that merge onto the freeways and interstates. North-south Interstates include I-35 and I-45. East-west routes include I-30 and I-20. I-35 splits into I-35E and I-35W from Denton to Hillsboro: I-35W goes through Fort Worth while I-35E goes through Dallas. I-30 connects Dallas and Fort Worth, and I-45 connects Dallas to Houston. HOV lanes currently exist along I-35E, I-30, I-635, US 67, and US 75. I-20 bypasses both Dallas and Fort Worth to the south while its loop, I-820, loops around Fort Worth. I-635 splits to the north of I-20 and loops around east and north Dallas, ending at SH 121 north of DFW Airport. I-35E, Loop 12, and Spur 408 ultimately connect to I-20 southwest of Dallas, completing the west bypass loop around Dallas. A large number of construction projects are planned or are already underway in the region to alleviate congestion. Due largely to funding issues, many of the new projects involve building new tollways or adding tolled express lanes to existing highways.

Largest area private-sector employers

Media

The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have their own newspapers, The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, respectively. Historically, the two papers were restricted in readership to their own counties; Tarrant County households would never read the Morning News and vice versa. As the two cities' suburbs have grown together in recent years, it is now common to find locations where both of the newspapers are sold. This pattern has been repeated in other print media, radio, and television, but since the 1970s all of the television stations and most of the FM radio stations have chosen to transmit from Cedar Hill so as to serve the entire market, and are programmed likewise. A recent phenomenon seen most clearly in the DFW market has been the rise of "80-90 move-ins", whereby stations have been moved from distant markets, in some cases as far away as Oklahoma, and relicensed to anonymous small towns in the Metroplex to serve as additional DFW stations. According to RadioTime, the market has 38 AM stations, 58 FM stations (many of them class Cs), and 18 full-power television stations. Dallas-Fort Worth is the 5th largest television market in the United States, behind only New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Two Metroplex AM radio stations, 820 WBAP and 1080 KRLD, are clear-channel 50,000-watt stations with coverage of much of the North American continent and beyond during nighttime hours.

See Also:

• Category:Radio stations in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex
• Category:Television stations in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex

Sports

The Metroplex is one of just thirteen American metropolitan areas that has a team in each of the four major professional sports leagues. Major professional sports first came to the area in 1960, when the Dallas Cowboys began competing in the National Football League and the Dallas Texans began competing in the American Football League (the Texans would later relocate to Kansas City and become the Chiefs). In 1972, Major League Baseball's Washington Senators moved to Arlington to become the Texas Rangers. The National Basketball Association expanded into North Texas in 1980 when the Dallas Mavericks were added to the league. The fourth piece was added in 1993 when the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League became the Dallas Stars. The area is also home to many other minor-league professional teams, four colleges that compete in NCAA Division I athletics, and has played host to many premiere sports events on both an annual and one-time basis.

Major professional sports teams

^- Indicates year team relocated to the area

Other professional teams

^- Indicates year team relocated to the area

Division I college athletics

Sports events hosted

See also

• Census-designated place
• Dallas/Fort Worth Area Tourism Council
• Geology of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
• Places of worship near Dallas, Texas
• Texaplex
• United States metropolitan area

Notes

External links

Official sites

• North Texas Commission
• DFW International Airport
• Greater Dallas Chamber
• Visit Dallas Fort Worth
• Metroplex Business Directory

Additional information

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram - major Fort Worth newspaper
• The Dallas Morning News - major Dallas newspaper
• Metroplex Daily
• Dallas Fort Worth Travel Guide
• Downtown Fort Worth news and information
• TourTexas.com: DFW travel and entertainment information guide
• Dallas-Fort Worth Metro photoblog
• DFW Town Guide

Transportation

• DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) - Dallas Area Bus and Rail Service
• The "T" (Fort Worth Transportation Authority) - Fort Worth Bus Service
• TRE (Trinity Railway Express) - Rail Service
• DCTA (Denton County Transportation Authority) - Denton/Highland Village/Lewisville Bus Service

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