Dallas County, Texas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dallas County
U.S. county
From top, left to right: Dallas panorama, Dallas Hall in University Park, Texas, former Dallas County Courthouse with the Texas flag in 2017, Las Colinas in Irving
Flag
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	March 30, 1846
Named for	George M. Dallas
Seat	Dallas
Largest city	Dallas
Area
• Total	908.54 sq mi (2,353.1 km2)
• Land	873.06 sq mi (2,261.2 km2)
• Water	35.48 sq mi (91.9 km2)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,613,539
• Density	2,993.54/sq mi (1,155.82/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	5th, 24th, 30th, 32nd, 33rd

Dallas County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 2,613,539, making it the ninth-most populous county in the country.

Its county seat is the city of Dallas, which is also Texas' third-largest city and the ninth-largest city in the United States. The county was founded in 1846 and was possibly named for George Mifflin Dallas, the 11th Vice President of the United States under U.S. President James K. Polk.

Dallas County is included in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth metropolitan statistical area (colloquially referred to as the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex).

Expansion in Dallas County has blurred the geographic lines between cities and between neighboring counties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 909 square miles (2,350 km²), of which 873 square miles (2,260 km²) is land and 36 square miles (93 km²) (4.0%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Collin County (north)
• Rockwall County (East)
• Kaufman County (southeast)
• Ellis County (south)
• Tarrant County (west)
• Denton County (northwest)

Demographics

2020 census

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

2010

Per the 2010 census, there were 2,368,139 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile (974/km²). There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi (375/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 53.4% White (33.12% non-Hispanic white), 22.30% Black or African American, 0.10% Native American, 5.15% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 14.04% from other races, and 2.70% from two or more races. 38.30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 807,621 households, out of which 35.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.90% were married couples living together, 14.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.90% were non-families. 27.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.34. As of the 2010 census, there were about 8.8 same-sex couples per 1,000 households in the county.

In the wider county, the population was spread out, with 27.90% under the age of 18, 10.70% from 18 to 24, 34.40% from 25 to 44, 18.90% from 45 to 64, and 8.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was US$43,324, and the median income for a family was $49,062. Males had a median income of $34,988 versus $29,539 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,603. About 10.60% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.00% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.

2014–2018

During the 2015 Texas population estimate program, the population of the county was 2,541,528; non-Hispanic whites made up 713,835 of the county's residents (28.1%); non-Hispanic blacks, 565,020 (22.2%); other non-Hispanics, 197,082 (7.7%); and Hispanics and Latinos (of any race), 1,065,591 (41.9%).

In 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Dallas County to have a total of 2,637,772 residents, 1,027,930 housing units, and 917,276 households. 24.3% of the county were foreign born residents. 28.6% of the county was non-Hispanic white, 23.5% Black or African American, 1.1% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from two or more races, and 40.5% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.

The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $161,500 and the monthly cost with a mortgage was $1,539 in 2018. Without a mortgage a monthly housing payment was $575. The median gross rent of county residents was $1,046 and the owner-occupied housing rate was 50.1% from 2014 to 2018.

There was an average of 2.79 persons per household from 2014 to 2018. 47.8% of Dallas County was male and 52.2% was female. The median age was 33.5 years.

Dallas County's median household income was $56,854 and about 14.2% of the populace lived below the poverty line.

Transportation

Dallas Area Rapid Transit provides bus and rail service to many cities in Dallas County, with Dallas being the largest.

The Trinity Railway Express, operated jointly by Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Trinity Metro, provides commuter rail service to both Dallas County and Tarrant County, connecting downtown Fort Worth with Downtown Dallas.

Major highways

NOTE: US 67 and US 77 are not signed fully along their routes in Dallas County.

Airports

Commercial Airports

• Love Field, located in Dallas, serves only domestic passengers.
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is partially located in the city of Irving in Dallas County, and Grapevine and Euless in Tarrant County.

General Aviation Airports

• Addison Airport is located in and owned by the city of Addison.
• Dallas Executive Airport is located in and owned by the city of Dallas.
• Mesquite Metro Airport is located in and owned by the city of Mesquite.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

Cities

Towns

• Addison
• Highland Park
• Sunnyvale

Unincorporated community

• Sand Branch

Historical communities

• Alpha (not incorporated)
• Buckingham (Annexed by Richardson in 1996)
• Cedar Springs (Annexed by Dallas First Settled in February 1841. In 1929 the community was annexed by the city of Dallas. [1])
• Duck Creek (merged into Garland in 1887)
• East Dallas (annexed by the city of Dallas in 1890 but was once a city of its own)
• Embree (merged into Garland in 1887)
• Fruitdale (annexed by Dallas in 1964)
• Hatterville (Merged into Sunnyvale in 1953)
• Hord's Ridge (Merged by Oak Cliff in 1887 per The Handbook of Texas [2])
• Kleberg (Absorbed by City of Dallas in 1978)
• La Reunion (Absorbed by City of Dallas in 1860)
• Letot (Northwest Dallas County, annexed by Dallas)
• Liberty Grove
• Little Egypt
• Long Creek (Merged into Sunnyvale in 1953)
• Meaders
• New Hope (Merged into Sunnyvale in 1953 - not to be confused with the Collin County town of the same name)
• Noel Junction not incorporated, Addison/Dallas
• Oak Cliff (Annexed by Dallas in 1903)
• Penn Springs (Annexed by Duncanville in 1947)
• Pleasant Grove (Annexed by Dallas by 1962)
• Preston Hollow (Annexed by Dallas in 1945)
• Renner (annexed by Dallas in 1977)
• Rylie (annexed by Dallas in 1978)
• Scyene
• Trinity Mills (Annexed by Carrollton)
• Tripp (Merged into Sunnyvale in 1953)

Education

Primary and secondary schools

The following school districts serve Dallas County:

White flight meant the decrease of non-Hispanic white students in Dallas County K-12 school districts from 1997 until the 2014–2015 school year. The number was 138,760 in the former and 61,538 in the latter; during 2014-2015 county charter schools had about 5,000 non-Hispanic white students. In 2016 Eric Nicholson of the Dallas Observer wrote that the bulk of white K-12 enrollment is shifting to more distant suburban areas beyond Dallas County, and that "Teasing out causation is tricky" but that the perception of poverty, which many white families wish to avoid, is tied with race.

Higher education

Community colleges

Dallas County is served by the Dallas College system of seven community colleges.

Public universities

There are two public universities in Dallas County: UNT Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas, which is partially located in Collin County.

Private universities

• Dallas Baptist University, located in Dallas
• University of Dallas, located in Irving
• Southern Methodist University, located in University Park

Images for kids

• 

  1893 USGS map of Dallas County

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Dallas (Texas) para niños