North Texas: Dallas Fort Worth and surrounding areas.
Wall Street Journal writer Joshua Chaffin published a story in July about arguably the hottest, fastest-growing region in these United States: the area north of Dallas.
It’s a fascinating feature, with jaw-dropping statistics and lots of anecdotes about how — and why — North Texas is the place to be. Here are some of the reasons:
weather,
opportunity,
big business,
big homes,
no personal income tax,
culture,
shopping,
dining and diversions.
And did I mention all the opportunity?
Dallas-Fort Worth is now 8.3 million people and growing — fast. The United States Census Bureau says we had the third-fastest growth in 2024 of any area in the country. According to the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, demographers project that North Texas will reach 10 million people sometime in the 2030s — surpassing Chicago to become America’s third-largest metro area.
Fort Worth specifically.
Cowtown specifically has many more boots on the ground this year, officially roping in a long-expected milestone of more than 1 million residents.
Fort Worth — now officially the nation’s 11th-largest city — was among the five fastest-growing metropolitan areas from 2023 to 2024, maintaining its edge over Austin as the fourth-largest Texas city. More than 23,440 people moved to Tarrant County’s capital to reach 1,008,106 residents, according to new U.S. census data.
The population figures, released in the early morning of May 15, show that Fort Worth’s boom solidly exceeded that of Austin, now the state’s fifth-largest city with 993,588 residents. Fort Worth was the 12th-largest U.S. city last year.
“Fort Worth is a more livable place that makes you feel like you’re home,” Nettles said. “It’s got that small-town feel.”
City Council member Michael Crain said it was “great” that Fort Worth’s population has officially surpassed 1 million residents.
“I think it shows that we’re making smart decisions about quality of life issues in the city regarding infrastructure and public safety,” he said.
Mayor Mattie Parker said the population increase “is an exciting and significant milestone for Fort Worth.”
“We are in a crucial moment of growth and opportunity, and it’s more important than ever that we lead with smart policies, smart investments, and smart planning to ensure our city continues to thrive long into the future,” she said.
The word is out.
And the Wall Street Journal story amplifies it. The cities of Prosper, Princeton and Celina are singled out, as is booming Frisco, which has about 240,000 happy residents now and is expected to reach 350,000 in the next five years or so. “Frisco is now on high school number 12,” Chaffin writes.
Boundless job opportunities. A lot of house for the money. Our warm and wonderful climate. While all of this is very exciting, it is of no surprise to us, we know every nook and cranny of this amazing metroplex.
I’d say you’d better talk to one of us — fast. :)
