Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex


The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern U.S., encompassing 11 counties. Its historically dominant core cities are Dallas and Fort Worth. It is the economic and cultural hub of North Texas. Residents of the area also refer to it as DFW or the Metroplex. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area's population was 7,637,387 according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and the tenth-largest in the Americas. In 2016, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex had the highest annual population growth in the United States. In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area's population had increased to 8,344,032.
The metropolitan region's economy, also referred to as Silicon Prairie, is primarily based on banking, commerce, insurance, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, medical research, transportation, manufacturing, and logistics. As of 2022, Dallas–Fort Worth is home to 23 Fortune 500 companies, the fourth-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States behind New York City, Chicago, and Houston. In 2016, the metropolitan economy surpassed that of Houston, the second-largest metro area in Texas, to become the fourth-largest in the U.S. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex boasted a GDP of just over $620.6 billion in 2020. If the Metroplex were a sovereign state, it would have the twentieth largest economy in the world as of 2019. In 2015, the conurbated metropolitan area would rank the ninth-largest economy if it were a U.S. state. In 2020, Dallas–Fort Worth was recognized as the 36th best metropolitan area for STEM professionals in the U.S.
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex comprises the highest concentration of colleges and universities in Texas. The UT Southwestern Medical Center is home to six Nobel Laureates and was ranked No. 1 in the world among healthcare institutions in biomedical sciences. The Metroplex is also the second most popular metropolis for megachurches in Texas, ranked the largest Christian metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., and has one of the largest LGBT communities in Texas since 2005.

Etymology

A portmanteau of metropolis and complex, the term metroplex is credited to Harve Chapman, an executive vice president with Dallas-based Tracy-Locke, one of three advertising agencies that worked with the North Texas Commission on strategies to market the region. The NTC copyrighted the term "Southwest Metroplex" in 1972 as a replacement for the previously ubiquitous "North Texas", which studies had shown lacked identifiability outside the state. In fact, only 38 percent of a survey group identified Dallas and Fort Worth as part of "North Texas", with the Texas Panhandle also a perceived correct answer, being the northernmost region of Texas.

Geography

The United States Census Bureau determined the Metroplex encompasses of total area; is land, and is covered by water. The conurbated metropolitan area is larger in area than the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined, and larger than New Jersey. If the metropolitan area were a sovereign state, it would rank the 162nd largest state by total area after Lebanon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget combines the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area and seven micropolitan statistical areas to form the Dallas–Fort Worth TX–OK combined statistical area.
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex overlooks mostly prairie land with a few rolling hills dotted by human-made lakes cut by streams, creeks and rivers surrounded by forested land. The Dallas–Fort Worth 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 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/Fort Worth is a line of rugged hills that goes north to south about that looks similar to the Texas Hill Country to the south.

Metropolitan divisions and counties

The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area is formed by a combination of two separate metropolitan statistical divisions. The Dallas–Plano–Irving MDA and Fort Worth–Arlington–Grapevine MDA come together to form one full metropolitan area or conurbation.

Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division

  • Collin
  • Dallas
  • Denton
  • Ellis
  • Hunt
  • Kaufman
  • Rockwall

    Fort Worth–Arlington–Grapevine metropolitan division

  • Johnson
  • Parker
  • Tarrant
  • Wise

    Climate

Dallas–Fort Worth has a humid subtropical climate.
It is also continental, characterized by a relatively wide annual temperature range for the latitude. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is located at the lower end of Tornado Alley, and can experience extreme weather.
In the Metroplex, summers are very hot and humid, although low humidity characteristics of desert locations can appear at any time of the year. July and August are typically the hottest months, with an average high of and an average low of. Heat indexes regularly surpass at the height of summer. The all-time record high is, set on June 26 and 27, 1980 during the Heat Wave of 1980 at nearby Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Winters in the area are cool to mild, with occasional cold spells. The average date of first frost is November 12, and the average date of last frost is March 12. January is typically the coldest month, with an average daytime high of and an average nighttime low of. The normal daily average temperature in January is but sharp swings in temperature can occur, as strong cold fronts known as "Blue Northers" pass through the Metroplex, forcing daytime highs below the mark for several days at a time and often between days with high temperatures above. Snow accumulation is seen in the city in about 70% of winter seasons, and snowfall generally occurs 1–2 days out of the year for a seasonal average of. Some areas in the region, however, receive more than that, while other areas receive negligible snowfall or none at all. The all-time record low temperature within the city is, set on January 18, 1930, however the temperature at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport reached on February 16, 2021, during Winter Storm Uri.

Principal communities

The following are cities and towns categorized based on the latest population estimates from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. No population estimates are released for census-designated places, which are marked with an asterisk. These places are categorized based on their 2020 census population.

Places with more than 100,000 inhabitants

Places designated "principal cities" by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget are italicized.
1,000,000+
  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
200,000–499,999
100,000–199,999