Tarrant County, Texas

Tarrant County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2010, it had a population of 1,809,034.[2] It is Texas' third-most populous county and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth.[3]

Tarrant County
County
Tarrant County
Sundance Square, Tarrant Courthouse
Flag
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 32°46′N 97°17′W
Country United States
State Texas
Founded1850
Named forEdward H. Tarrant
SeatFort Worth
Largest cityFort Worth
Area
 • Total902 sq mi (2,340 km2)
 • Land864 sq mi (2,240 km2)
 • Water39 sq mi (100 km2)  4.3%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total1,809,034
 • Estimate 
(2019)
2,102,515[1]
 • Density2,095/sq mi (809/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts6th, 12th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 33rd
Websitewww.tarrantcounty.com

Tarrant County, one of 26 counties created out of the Peters Colony, was established in 1849 and organized the next year.[4] It was named in honor of General Edward H. Tarrant of the Republic of Texas militia.[5]

Tarrant County is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 902 square miles (2,340 km2), of which 864 square miles (2,240 km2) is land and 39 square miles (100 km2) (4.3%) is water.[6]

Adjacent counties

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
1850664—
18606,020806.6%
18705,788−3.9%
188024,671326.2%
189041,14266.8%
190052,37627.3%
1910108,572107.3%
1920152,80040.7%
1930197,55329.3%
1940225,52114.2%
1950361,25360.2%
1960538,49549.1%
1970716,31733.0%
1980860,88020.2%
19901,170,10335.9%
20001,446,21923.6%
20101,809,03425.1%
2019 (est.)2,102,515[7]16.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
1850–2010[9] 2010–2019[2]

2015 Texas Population Estimate Program

As of the 2015 Texas Population Estimate Program, the population of the county was 1,960,741: 916,941 non-Hispanic whites (46.8%); 299,637 Black Americans (15.3%); 158,299 other non-Hispanic Americans (8.1%); 585,864 Hispanics and Latinos, of any race (29.9%).[10]

2010 Census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,809,034 people. Tarrant County is currently the second most populous county in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metropolitan Statistical Area. Non-Hispanic whites are believe to constituted about 46.7% of the county's population according to current population trends.

2000 Census

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 1,446,219 people, 533,864 households, and 369,433 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,675 people per square mile (647/km2). There were 565,830 housing units at an average density of 655 per square mile (253/km2). The racial 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.

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.[12]

In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.1% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 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.

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.

Government, courts, and politics

Government

Tarrant County, like all Texas counties, is governed by a Commissioners Court, which 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.[13]

County commissioners
Office Name[14][15] Party
  County Judge B. Glen Whitley Republican
  County Commissioner, Precinct 1 Roy Charles Brooks Democratic
  County Commissioner, Precinct 2 Devan Allen Democratic
  County Commissioner, Precinct 3 Gary Fickes Republican
  County Commissioner, Precinct 4 J.D. Johnson Republican

County officials
Office Name[14][15] Party
  County Clerk Mary Louise Nicholson Republican
  Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson Republican
  District Clerk Thomas A. Wilder Republican
  Sheriff Bill E. Waybourn Republican
  Tax Assessor-Collector Wendy Burgess Republican

Constables
Office Name[14][15] Party
  Constable, Precinct 1 Dale Clark Republican
  Constable, Precinct 2 Robert McGinty Democratic
  Constable, Precinct 3 Darrell Huffman Republican
  Constable, Precinct 4 Joe D. "Jody" Johnson Republican
  Constable, Precinct 5 Pedro Munoz Democratic
  Constable, Precinct 6 Jon H. Siegel Republican
  Constable, Precinct 7 Sandra Lee Democratic
  Constable, Precinct 8 Michael R. Campbell Democratic

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,[16] and Haslet[17] and Edgecliff Village[18] contract service from the Sheriff's Office. DFW Airport,[19] 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,[20] while the city of Arlington contracts paramedic apparatus from private entity American Medical Response.[21]

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.[22]

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

Justices of the peace
Office Name[14][15] Party
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 Ralph Swearingin Jr. Republican
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2 Mary Tom Curnutt Republican
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 Bill Brandt Republican
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 Chris Gregory Republican
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5 Sergio L. De Leon Democratic
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6 Jason M. Charbonnet Republican
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7 Kenneth Sanders Democratic
  Justice of the Peace, Precinct 8 Lisa R. Woodard Democratic

County criminal courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  County Criminal Court No. 1 David Cook Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 2 Carey F. Walker Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 3 Bob McCoy Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 4 Deborah Nekhom Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 5 Jamie Cummings Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 6 Molly Jones Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 7 Cheril S. Hardy Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 8 Charles L. "Chuck" Vanover Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 9 Brent A. Carr Republican
  County Criminal Court No. 10 Phil Sorrells Republican

County civil courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  County Court at Law No. 1 Don Pierson Republican
  County Court at Law No. 2 Jennifer Rymell Republican
  County Court at Law No. 3 Mike Hrabal Republican

County probate courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  County Probate Court No. 1 Chris Ponder Republican
  County Probate Court No. 2 Brooke Allen Republican

Criminal district courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  Criminal District Court No. 1 Elizabeth H. Beach Republican
  Criminal District Court No. 2 Wayne Salvant Republican
  Criminal District Court No. 3 Robb Catalano Republican
  Criminal District Court No. 4 Mike Thomas Republican
  213th District Court Chris Wolfe Republican
  297th District Court David C. Hagerman Republican
  371st District Court Mollee Westfall Republican
  372nd District Court Scott Wisch Republican
  396th District Court George Gallagher Republican
  432nd District Court Ruben Gonzalez, Jr. Republican

Civil district courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  17th District Court Melody Wilkinson Republican
  48th District Court David Evans Republican
  67th District Court Don Cosby Republican
  96th District Court J. Patrick Gallagher Republican
  141st District Court John P. Chupp Republican
  153rd District Court Susan Heygood McCoy Republican
  236th District Court Tom Lowe Republican
  342nd District Court Kimberly Fitzpatrick Republican
  348th District Court Megan Fahey Republican
  352nd District Court Josh Burgess Republican

Family district courts
Office Name[14][15] Party
  231st District Court Jesus "Jesse" Nevarez, Jr. Republican
  233rd District Court Kenneth Newell Republican
  322nd District Court James Munford Republican
  324th District Court Jerome S. Hennigan Republican
  325th District Court Judith Wells Republican
  360th District Court Patricia Baca Bennett Republican

Juvenile district court
Office Name[14][15] Party
  323rd District Court Alex Kim Republican

Politics

Tarrant County has been one of the most-populous Republican-leaning counties in the nation, though also electing Democrat Jim Wright to 17 terms (1955-1989) as U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House (1987-1989), succeeded by Democrat Pete Geren (1989-1997).

Since 2018, the Democratic Party has rebounded to represent a larger portion of the political profile and has 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.[23]

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.[23]

Beginning in 1952, the majority of voters supported the Republican Party presidential candidate in every election except 1964, when Tarrant County voted for the Lyndon Johnson-Hubert Humphrey Democratic ticket, then again in 2020 when the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Democratic ticket carried the county. In 2016, Donald Trump-Mike Pence won Tarrant with 51.7% of the vote, the worst showing for Republicans since the Bob Dole-Jack Kemp ticket in 1996 won by a margin of 8.6%, and closest since 1976 when Gerald Ford-Bob Dole carried the county by less than 1% over the Jimmy Carter-Walter Mondale ticket.

The first Republican elected to the State Senate from Tarrant County since Reconstruction was Betty Andujar in 1972.

The county has leaned Republican in United States Senate races since Democrat Lloyd Bentsen's 1988 victory, but in the 2018 election Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke carried Tarrant, though losing statewide to incumbent Ted Cruz.[24]

Continuing to reverse the Republican advantage, Tarrant County trends Democratic, as 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 race in the county since 1976, which was won by the razor thin margin of 1,826 votes. Many other suburban Texas counties, including Tarrant's immediate neighbors in Denton County and Collin County as well as those around Houston and Austin, have shown similar trends since 2016.

The county is considered a bellwether polity.[25]

From the 1893 beginning of U.S. House District 12, there have been 2 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 3 Republicans in 145 years elected to the U.S. House for the eastern portion of Tarrant County, including Phil Gramm's election as both a Democrat and a Republican after he switched parties in 1983 to run for re-election.

Presidential election results
Presidential election results[26]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2020 49.0% 409,741 49.3% 411,567 1.6% 13,389
2016 51.7% 345,921 43.1% 288,392 5.1% 34,201
2012 57.1% 348,920 41.4% 253,071 1.5% 8,899
2008 55.4% 348,420 43.7% 274,880 0.8% 5,253
2004 62.4% 349,462 37.0% 207,286 0.6% 3,393
2000 60.7% 286,921 36.8% 173,758 2.5% 11,710
1996 50.9% 208,312 41.6% 170,431 7.5% 30,901
1992 38.9% 183,387 33.1% 156,230 28.0% 131,779
1988 61.2% 242,660 38.2% 151,310 0.6% 2,267
1984 67.3% 248,050 32.6% 120,147 0.2% 665
1980 56.9% 173,466 39.7% 121,068 3.5% 10,532
1976 50.1% 124,433 49.2% 122,287 0.8% 1,911
1972 68.6% 151,596 31.3% 69,187 0.2% 355
1968 42.9% 81,786 41.8% 79,705 15.3% 29,256
1964 36.7% 56,593 63.0% 97,092 0.3% 473
1960 54.8% 72,813 44.7% 59,385 0.6% 788
1956 59.7% 66,329 39.5% 43,922 0.9% 946
1952 58.0% 63,680 41.9% 45,968 0.2% 194
1948 28.3% 17,157 59.8% 36,325 12.0% 7,257
1944 8.1% 4,113 72.1% 36,791 19.9% 10,161
1940 17.2% 7,474 82.7% 36,062 0.1% 53
1936 11.2% 3,781 88.2% 29,791 0.6% 190
1932 15.7% 5,251 83.1% 27,836 1.3% 426
1928 69.0% 20,481 31.0% 9,208
1924 26.5% 5,859 61.7% 13,673 11.8% 2,619
1920 20.4% 3,486 72.7% 12,431 7.0% 1,191
1916 12.7% 1,550 84.1% 10,269 3.2% 394
1912 6.1% 548 80.8% 7,222 13.1% 1,169

State Board of Education members
District Name[27] Party
  District 11 Patricia Hardy Republican
  District 13 Erika Beltran Democratic

Texas State Representatives
District Name[27] Party Residence
  District 90 Ramon Romero Jr. Democratic Fort Worth
  District 91 Stephanie Klick Republican Fort Worth
  District 92 Jonathan Stickland Republican Bedford
  District 93 Matt Krause Republican Arlington
  District 94 Tony Tinderholt Republican Arlington
  District 95 Nicole Collier Democratic Fort Worth
  District 96 Bill Zedler Republican Arlington
  District 97 Craig Goldman Republican Fort Worth
  District 98 Giovanni Capriglione Republican Southlake
  District 99 Charlie Geren Republican River Oaks
  District 101 Chris Turner Democratic Grand Prairie

Texas State Senators
District Name[27] Party Residence
  District 9 Kelly Hancock Republican Fort Worth
  District 10 Beverly Powell Democratic Burleson
  District 12 Jane Nelson Republican Flower Mound
  District 22 Brian Birdwell Republican Granbury

United States House of Representatives
District Name[27] Party Residence
  Texas's 6th congressional district Ron Wright Republican Arlington
  Texas's 12th congressional district Kay Granger Republican Fort Worth
  Texas's 24th congressional district Beth Van Duyne Republican Irving
  Texas's 25th congressional district Roger Williams Republican Weatherford
  Texas's 26th congressional district Michael Burgess Republican Lewisville
  Texas's 33rd congressional district Marc Veasey Democratic Fort Worth

Education

Colleges and universities
Further information: List of Dallas-Fort Worth area colleges and universities

Primary and secondary schools
See also: List of high schools in Texas § Tarrant County

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.[28]

Independent school districts

Charter schools

Private schools

Transportation

Major highways

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 14 miles (23 km) 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 and a crosswind runway.

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.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

Cities

Towns

Census-designated places

Historical census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Historical communities

Ghost towns

Notes
  • Italics indicate that the city is a principal city of DFW or a county seat.
  • The term "town" is used only in reference to relative population. Under Texas law, all incorporated places are officially designated "cities".

See also

References
  1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. "Texas: Individual County Chronologies". Texas Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  5. W. Kellon Hightower (June 15, 2010). "Handbook of Texas Online – Tarrant County". Tshaonline.org. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  6. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  7. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  8. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  9. "Texas Almanac: Population History of Counties from 1850–2010" (PDF). Texas Almanac. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  10. Estimates of the Population by Age, Sex, and Race/Ethnicity for July 1, 2015 for State of Texas (PDF), July 15, 2015, archived from the original (PDF) on May 4, 2017, retrieved June 8, 2017
  11. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  12. Leonhardt, David; Quealy, Kevin (June 26, 2015), "Where Same-Sex Couples Live", The New York Times, retrieved July 6, 2015
  13. "Commissioners Court". access.tarrantcounty.com. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  14. "Tarrant County Republican Party". Tarrant County Republican Party. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  15. "Elected County Officials". www.tarrantcounty.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  16. "Police Services". Westlake, Texas. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  17. "Police Protection Tarrant County Sheriff's Office". Haslet, Texas. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  18. "Police Department (Tarrant County)". Town of Edgecliff Village, Texas. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  19. "DFW Airport Police and Fire". DFW International Airport. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  20. "About Us". MedStar Mobile Health. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  21. "On the Clock with the City of Arlington's EMS System & Ambulance Services". City of Arlington, Texas. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  22. "Tarrant County Emergency Services District No. 1". Tarrant County, Texas. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  23. "2016 election: Division in a key Texas Republican stronghold?". star-telegram. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  24. Kennedy, Bud (November 6, 2018). "For Tarrant Democrats, a big state Senate win and a lot of oh-so-close calls". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  25. David Wasserman (October 6, 2020), "The 10 Bellwether Counties That Show How Trump Is in Serious Trouble", Nytimes.com
  26. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  27. "Texas Redistricting". www.tlc.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  28. Texas Private Schools, accessed 2008-08-23

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