TX · Tarrant County · 918,915 (2020) · 13th-largest US city · Central time
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth sits on the Trinity River in north-central Texas, 30 miles west of Dallas, at the edge of the Great Plains. It is the fifth-largest city in Texas and the thirteenth-largest in the United States.
- State
- Texas
- County
- Tarrant County (parts in Denton, Parker, Wise, Johnson)
- Population (2020)
- 918,915
- Rank
- 13th in the US
- Coordinates
- 32.76°N, 97.33°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 7.6 million (with Dallas)
- State capital
- No – Austin
Where Fort Worth is
Fort Worth is at 32.76°N, 97.33°W in Tarrant County, of which it is the county seat; the city also extends into Denton, Parker, Wise and Johnson counties. It covers about 350 square miles at roughly 650 feet above sea level, on rolling prairie where the Western Cross Timbers give way to the open plains — the origin of its nickname "where the West begins". Dallas is 30 miles east, with Arlington and DFW Airport between them. Austin is 190 miles south and Oklahoma City 200 miles north.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 918,915 residents, ranking Fort Worth 13th in the US. It was the fastest-growing of the large Texas cities between 2010 and 2020, adding about 178,000 people, and it passed the 950,000 mark in Census estimates after 2020. Fort Worth is the smaller half of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, whose 13 counties hold about 7.6 million people, the fourth-largest metro in the country. Tarrant County alone has about 2.1 million.
Geography
- Trinity River — the West Fork and Clear Fork meet just north of downtown; the river then flows east to Dallas. The Trinity River Vision project has re-landscaped the banks near downtown.
- Cross Timbers — belts of post-oak woodland that run north–south through the city separate the Grand Prairie to the east from the plains to the west.
- Lakes — Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain Lake and Benbrook Lake are reservoirs on the Trinity forks on the city's outskirts.
- Great Plains — the open range that made Fort Worth a cattle town begins immediately west of the city. See the Great Plains map.
Nearest large cities
Dallas is a half-hour drive east on Interstate 30. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown Fort Worth.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas | TX | 30 | E |
| Oklahoma City | OK | 200 | N |
| Austin | TX | 190 | S |
| San Antonio | TX | 265 | S |
| Houston | TX | 265 | SE |
Is Fort Worth the state capital?
No. The capital of Texas is Austin, 190 miles south. Fort Worth began as an army post in 1849 and grew as a cattle-drive and railroad town; it has never been a seat of state government. It is the seat of Tarrant County and the fifth-largest city in Texas after Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin.
Related maps
- Texas map — the state with all 254 counties.
- Austin — the state capital.
- US cities map.
- Great Plains map.
- Other Texas cities: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin.
- West South Central division · Central Time Zone.