Tarrant County, Texas

Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census population of 2,110,640, making it the third-most populous county in Texas and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County, one of 26 counties created out of the Peters Colony, was established in 1849 and organized the next year. It is named after Edward H. Tarrant, a lawyer, politician, and militia leader.

The ancestral homelands of Native American tribes: Caddo, Tonkawa, Comanche, and Cherokee covered Tarrant County. The Native American tribes resisted settlement and fought to defend their land. The Battle of Village Creek is a well known battle that took place in Tarrant County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (4.3%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Denton County (north)
* Dallas County (east)
* Ellis County (southeast)
* Johnson County (south)
* Parker County (west)
* Wise County (northwest)

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

* Azle (partly in Parker County)
* Burleson (mostly in Johnson County)
* Crowley (small part in Johnson County)
* Fort Worth (small parts in Denton, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties)
* Grand Prairie (partly in Dallas County and a small part in Ellis County)
* Grapevine (small part in Dallas, and part of Grapevine Lake in Denton County)
* Haslet (small part in Denton County)
* Mansfield (small parts in Ellis and Johnson counties)
* Newark (mostly in Wise County)
* Reno (almost entirely in Parker County)
* Roanoke (almost entirely in Denton County)
* Southlake (small part in Denton County)

Cities

* Arlington
* Bedford
* Blue Mound
* Colleyville
* Dalworthington Gardens
* Euless
* Everman
* Forest Hill
* Haltom City
* Hurst
* Keller
* Kennedale
* Lake Worth
* North Richland Hills
* Pelican Bay
* Richland Hills
* River Oaks
* Saginaw
* Sansom Park
* Watauga
* Westworth Village
* White Settlement

Towns

* Benbrook
* Edgecliff Village
* Flower Mound (mostly in Denton County)
* Lakeside
* Pantego
* Trophy Club (mostly in Denton County)
* Westlake (small part in Denton County)
* Westover Hills

Census-designated places

* Briar (partly in Wise and Parker counties)
* Pecan Acres (small part in Wise County)
* Rendon

Historical census-designated places

* Eagle Mountain

Unincorporated communities

* Alliance (partly in Denton County)
* Avondale
* Boss
* Eagle Acres
* Lake Crest Estates
* Lake Forest
* Lake Shore Estates

Historical communities

* Birdville
* Bisbee
* Bransford
* Center Point
* Ederville
* Garden Acres
* Handley
* Johnsons Station

Ghost towns

* Birds
* Dido
* Minters Chapel

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Demographics

Since the 1850 United States census, Tarrant County has experienced population growth except for the 1870 census; in 1850, the county had a population of 664, growing to 1,170,103 at the 1990 census. By the 2020 census, the county's population grew to 2,110,640. Tarrant County is the second-most populous county in the Metroplex, behind Dallas County.

In 2000, the racial and ethnic makeup of the county was 71.2% White, 12.8% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 3.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 9.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races; 19.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2020, its racial and ethnic makeup was 42.87% non-Hispanic white, 29.42% Hispanic or Latino American of any race, 16.99% Black or African American, 6.05% Asian alone, 0.33% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 0.39% some other race, and 3.74% multiracial. Its increasing racial and ethnic diversity has reflected growing trends of diversification in Texas.

In 2000, there were 533,864 households, out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.22. As of the 2010 census, there were about 5.2 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.

In 2000, 28.1% of the county's population was under the age of 18, 10.0% was from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the county was $46,179, and the median income for a family was $54,068. Males had a median income of $38,486 versus $28,672 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,548. About 8.0% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over. According to the 2021 census estimates, the median income for a household in the county was $71,346.

American Community Survey 2023 Data

The United States Census Bureau estimated that in 2023, Tarrant County’s population was 2,182,947. It was also estimated that the county's population was 42.2% Non-Hispanic White, 30.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Non-Hispanic Black, 6.2% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, and 2.2% Multiracial.

Government, courts, and politics

Government

Tarrant County, like all Texas counties, is governed by a Commissioners Court. The court consists of the county judge, who is elected county-wide and presides over the full court, and four commissioners, who are elected in each of the county's four precincts.

In May 2025, when there were two Democrats and two Republicans on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, County Judge Tim O'Hare declared that the ongoing process of redistricting Tarrant County precincts was "purely 100% about partisan politics", as he detailed that "my plan and what I campaigned on openly and publicly, dating as far back as May 2021", is to "pass a map that guarantees, or comes as close as you can to guarantee, three Republican commissioners" in Tarrant County out of four, as O'Hare thought that "Tarrant County would be better served if we have strong Republican leadership".

County Judge and Commissioners

County Officials

Constables

County services

The JPS Health Network (Tarrant County Hospital District) operates the John Peter Smith Hospital and health centers.

Countywide law enforcement is provided by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office and Tarrant County Constable's Office. All cities in the county provide their own police services, with three exceptions: Westlake contracts service from the Keller Police Department, and Haslet and Edgecliff Village contract service from the Sheriff's Office. DFW Airport, the Tarrant County Hospital District, and the Tarrant Regional Water District also provide their own police forces.

Since the disbandment of the North Tarrant County Fire Department, no countywide firefighting services exist. All municipalities provide their own fire departments. Most cities also operate their own ambulances, with two notable exceptions: Fort Worth and 14 other Tarrant County cities are served by the Metropolitan Area EMS Authority (MAEMSA), a governmental administrative agency established under an interlocal operating agreement and operating as MedStar Mobile Health, while the city of Arlington contracts paramedic apparatus from private entity American Medical Response.

Fire and EMS protection in unincorporated portions of Tarrant County is governed by the Tarrant County Emergency Services District #1, which administers contracts with 17 fire departments (including 10 with EMS response) and has mutual aid agreements with eight additional fire departments.

CareFlite air ambulance services operate from Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.

As of 2021, Tarrant County was the largest county by population in the United States with no public defender.

Courts

Justices of the Peace

County criminal courts

County civil courts

County probate courts

Criminal district courts

Civil district courts

Family district courts

Juvenile district court

Politics

Since the 1950s, Tarrant County has been very conservative for an urban county, and is one of the most populous Republican-leaning counties in the nation. However, it elected Democrat Jim Wright to 17 terms (1955–1989) as U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House (1987–1989), and Wright was succeeded by fellow Democrat Pete Geren (1989–1997). The county has become more competitive since the 2010s, and has voted to the left of Texas as a whole.

Beginning in 2016, the Democratic Party rebounded to represent a larger portion of the political profile and made huge gains in Tarrant County, concentrated in several areas throughout the county: eastern Euless, Grand Prairie and eastern and southern Arlington, northern and western areas of Mansfield, large portions of Fort Worth, particularly the area surrounding the Stockyards and Meacham Airport, southern and eastern Fort Worth, especially in dense metro areas and along I-35W, and Forest Hill.

Republicans are dominant in many of the rural areas of the county, downtown and western Fort Worth and north of Loop 820, and almost all suburban areas including Benbrook, rural Mansfield areas and western Arlington, Haltom City, Mid-Cities (Hurst, Euless, and Bedford), and the northern suburbs. Tarrant County has consistently voted Republican in gubernatorial elections since 1994.

The county has leaned Republican in United States Senate races since Democrat Lloyd Bentsen's 1988 victory, but in 2018 and 2024 Democratic U.S. Senate candidates carried Tarrant, though both lost statewide to incumbent Ted Cruz.

Joe Biden carried the county with 49.3% (to Donald Trump's 49.1%) in the 2020 presidential election, the first win for a Democratic presidential ticket in Tarrant County since Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and the closest such race in the county since at least 1912. Biden's margin over Trump was 1,826 votes; the next closest margin was in 1976, when Republican Gerald Ford carried Tarrant by 2,146 votes over Democrat Jimmy Carter. Many other suburban Texas counties, including Tarrant's immediate neighbors Denton and Collin, as well as those around Houston and Austin, showed similar trends between 2016 and 2020. However, in the 2024 election Tarrant County moved back in the Republican column, supporting Trump over Kamala Harris, 51.8% to 46.7%. This was still to the left of the state as a whole, which voted for Trump 56.1% to 42.4% in 2024.

From the 1893 beginning of U.S. House District 12, there have been two Republicans in 127 years elected to the U.S. House for the western half of Tarrant County; from the 1875 inception of U.S. House District 6, there have been three Republicans in 145 years elected to the U.S. House for the eastern portion of Tarrant County, including former congressman and senator Phil Gramm's election as both a Democrat and a Republican after he switched parties in 1983 to run for re-election. The first Republican elected to the State Senate from Tarrant County since Reconstruction was Betty Andujar in 1972.

State Board of Education members

Texas State Representatives

Texas State Senators

United States House of Representatives

United States Senate

Education

Colleges and universities

Under the Texas Education Code, Tarrant County is the entire official service area of Tarrant County College (formerly Tarrant County Junior College).

Universities in Tarrant County include:
* University of Texas at Arlington
* Texas Christian University (Fort Worth)
* Texas A&M University School of Law (Fort Worth)
* Texas Wesleyan University (Fort Worth)
* Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth)

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools in Texas are organized into independent school districts and charter schools. Tarrant County is also home to dozens of private high schools and nearly 100 lower-level private schools.

Independent school districts

Those serving the county include:

* Arlington Independent School District
* Birdville Independent School District
* Carroll Independent School District
* Castleberry Independent School District
* Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District
* Everman Independent School District
* Fort Worth Independent School District
* Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (most)
* Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District
* Keller Independent School District
* Kennedale Independent School District
* Lake Worth Independent School District
* White Settlement Independent School District
* Aledo Independent School District (partial)
* Azle Independent School District (partial)
* Burleson Independent School District (partial)
* Crowley Independent School District (partial)
* Godley Independent School District (partial)
* Lewisville Independent School District (partial)
* Mansfield Independent School District (partial)
* Northwest Independent School District (partial)

Masonic Home Independent School District formerly served a part of the county. In 2005 it merged into FWISD.

Charter schools

* Arlington Classics Academy
* Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts
* IDEA Public Schools
* Harmony Public Schools
* Newman International Academy
* Texas School of the Arts
* Treetops School International
* Uplift Education (partial)
* Westlake Academy
* Great Hearts

Private schools

* Colleyville Covenant Christian Academy
* Fort Worth Christian School
* Fort Worth Country Day School
* Lake Country Christian School
* Nolan Catholic High School
* The Oakridge School
* Southwest Christian School
* Temple Christian School
* Trinity Valley School

Transportation

Major highways

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Airports

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is partially in the cities of Grapevine and Euless in Tarrant County and Irving in Dallas County.

Fort Worth Alliance Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located north of the central business district of Fort Worth on Interstate-35W. Billed as the world's first purely industrial airport, it was developed in a joint venture between the City of Fort Worth, the Federal Aviation Administration and Hillwood Development Company, a real estate development company owned by H. Ross Perot Jr. Alliance Airport has 9600' and 8200' runways.

Fort Worth Meacham International Airport is located at the intersection of Interstate 820 and U.S. Business Highway 287 in northwest Fort Worth, 5 miles from the downtown business district. Meacham International Airport has two parallel runways.

Fort Worth Spinks Airport is located 14 miles south of the downtown business district. The airport is located at the intersection of Interstate-35W and HWY 1187 and serves as a reliever airport for Fort Worth Meacham International Airport and Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport.

See also

* List of museums in North Texas
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Tarrant County, Texas
* Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Tarrant County

References

External links

Tarrant County official website

Tarrant County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
from The University of Texas at Austin

Tarrant County profile from The County Information Project

{{Coord, 32.77, -97.29, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
1850 establishments in Texas
Populated places established in 1850
Majority-minority counties in Texas