Dallas County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census count of 2,613,539,[1] making it the ninth-most populous county in the country. Dallas County is included in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth metropolitan statistical area—colloquially referred to as the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Municipal expansion within Dallas County has blurred the geographic lines between cities and between neighboring counties.[2]
Its county seat is the city of Dallas,[3] 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.
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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.[4] 3,519 acres of the county is contained within 21 county-owned nature preserves, which were acquired through the county's Open Space Program.[5][6]
Per the 2010 census,[19] 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 people/km2). There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971 units per square mile (375 units/km2). 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.[20][21] By 2020, its population was 2,613,539.[18]
In 2010, the racial and ethnic 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. During the 2015 Texas population estimate program, 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%).[22] At the 2020 U.S. census, the racial and ethnic makeup was 27.74% non-Hispanic white, 21.61% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 6.94% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.38% some other race, 2.55% multiracial, and 40.48% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.[18] The increase among people of color reflected nationwide demographic trends of greater diversification.[23]
In 2010, 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.[24]
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 $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. At the 2020 American Community Survey, the median household income increased to $61,870.[25]
Dallas County, like all counties in Texas, is governed by a commissioners' court. This court consists of the county judge (the chairperson of the court), who is elected county-wide, and four commissioners who are elected by the voters in each of four precincts.
The Commissioners' Court is the policy-making body for the county; in addition, the county judge is the senior executive and administrative position in the county. The Commissioners' Court sets the county tax rate, adopts the budget, appoints boards and commissions, approves grants and personnel actions, and oversees the administration of county government. Each commissioner supervises a Road and Bridge District. The Commissioners' Court approves the budget and sets the tax rate for the hospital district, which is charged with the responsibility for providing acute medical care for citizens who otherwise would not receive adequate medical services.[26]
The Parkland Health & Hospital System (Dallas County Hospital District) operates the Parkland Memorial Hospital and various health centers.
The Commissioners' Court meets the first and third Tuesday at the Commissioners' Courtroom located in the Dallas County Administration Building at 411 Elm St., corner of Elm and Houston streets. The building was the headquarters of the Texas School Book Depository Company until 1970. Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy from a window located on the sixth floor which today houses the Sixth Floor Museum dedicated to the late president's memory.
Acts of the commissioners court are known as 'court orders'. These orders include setting county policies and procedures, issuing contracts, authorizing expenditures, and managing county resources and departments. Most importantly, the commissioners court sets the annual tax rate and the budget for Dallas County government and the courts. The commissioners also set the tax rate and budget for the Dallas County Hospital District which operates Parkland Hospital.
The commissioners court has direct control over all county offices and departments not otherwise administered by a county elected official. Those departments include Dallas County Elections, Health and Human Services, Facilities Management, Parks and Open Space Program, I.T. Services, Homeland Security and Emergency Services, among others. Through their budget making powers, the commissioners exercise indirect control over the District Attorney's office, Sheriff, District Clerk, County Clerk and County Treasurer. The commissioners also set the budget for each of the District, County, and Justice courts.
Dallas County employs a commissioners court administrator who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the commissioners court and implementing the Dallas County Master Plan and the directives of the commissioners court. The current commissioners court administrator is Darryl Martin who was hired by the commissioners in 2008.
Dallas County operates several jail facilities. They include:[28]
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Hutchins State Jail for men in an unincorporated area adjacent to Hutchins.[30] Corrections Corporation of America operates the Dawson Unit, a co-gender state jail in Downtown Dallas, under contract.[31]
Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville, is located in Seagoville.
Dallas County was one of the first areas of the South to break away from a Solid South voting pattern. This coincided with the county's explosive postwar growth. It swung from a 13-point win for Democrat Harry Truman in 1948 to a 23-point win for Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. For most of the second half of the 20th century, it would be one of the most conservative urban counties in the nation, voting for the GOP at every election until 2004. The lone exception was when Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson successfully ran for a full term as president on the Democratic ticket in 1964.
In the 2004 election, Democrats won their first countywide administrative office since 1986 by electing Lupe Valdez to the office of Dallas County Sheriff. The last Democratic countywide administrator was D. Connally elected County Surveyor prior to the office's abolition. Democrats also won three district court benches in 2004. Two years later in 2006, Democrats swept every contested countywide race including County Judge, District Clerk, County Clerk, District Attorney and County Treasurer as well as every contested judicial seat.
Since the 1990s, Dallas County has voted more Democratic than the state of Texas as a whole. It swung from an 18-point win for George H. W. Bush in 1988 to only a two-point win in 1992. In 1996, Bill Clinton became only the fourth Democrat since Truman to win 40 percent of the vote. Former Governor of Texas George W. Bush managed relatively narrow wins in 2000 and 2004, even as he easily carried the state. This trend culminated in 2008 when the county swung dramatically to Barack Obama. Obama's coattails allowed Democrats to win the remaining Republican held judicial seats.
Since the 2010s, Dallas County has been one of the most Democratic-leaning counties in Texas. In 2012, Obama won Dallas County by virtually the same margin as he had done in 2008. In 2016, Hillary Clinton increased the Democratic margin of victory even further. She became the first Democrat to win 60% of the county's vote since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, while Donald Trump became the first Republican not to win 40% of the vote in the county since 1992. Joe Biden managed an even larger win in 2020.
Dallas County has had three openly LGBT elected county officials: Lupe Valdez, elected Sheriff in 2004 and serving until 2017; Jim Foster, elected county judge in 2006, serving one term before defeat in the Democratic primary in 2010; and Gary Fitzsimmons, elected District Clerk in 2006.[33]
The following school districts serve Dallas County:[34]
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.[35]
Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District formerly served a part of the county.[36] In 2006 WHISD officially merged into DISD.[37]
Dallas County is served by the Dallas College system of seven community colleges.[38] Dallas College is the designated community college for the entire county.[39]
There are two public universities in Dallas County: the University of North Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas, of which the latter is also partially located in Collin County.
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.
NOTE: US 67 and US 77 are not signed fully along their routes in Dallas County.
32°46′N 96°47′W / 32.77°N 96.78°W / 32.77; -96.78
