North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, west of Paris, and north of Waco. Definitions of the region typically do not include the sparsely populated Panhandle of Texas, which is the northernmost region of Texas bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east.
North Texas is centered upon the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the largest metropolitan area in Texas and the Southern United States. People in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas sometimes use the terms Metroplex, DFW, and North Texas interchangeably. However, North Texas refers to a much larger area that includes many northern rural counties along the Red River of the South border.
History Indigenous tribes in North Texas included the Caddo, Tawakoni, Wichita, Kickapoo, and Comanche. With European colonization, Mexican independence, and Texan independence and annexation to the United States, many of these tribes experienced demographic decline through relocation, slavery, etc. Since European colonization and the independence movements, the North Texas area was settled and most notably developed the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.
Climate The North Texas climate is subtropical with hot summers. It is also continental, characterized by a wide annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation also varies considerably, ranging from less than 28 to more than 48 inches (700–1200 mm). Severe storms are frequent in the spring and summer, as the area lies in the southern section of "tornado alley".
South is the prevailing wind direction, and southerly winds are frequently high and persist for several days. Strong northerly winds often occur during the passage of cold fronts.
Winters can be mild, but northers occur about three times each month, and often are accompanied by sudden drops in temperature. In Dallas, a record-setting 12.8 inches of snow fell in February 2010. Periods of extreme cold that occasionally occur are short-lived, so that even in January mild weather occurs frequently.
The highest temperatures of summer are associated with fair skies, and moderate to high humidities. Characteristically, hot spells in summer are broken into three- to five-day periods by thunderstorm activity. There are only a few nights each summer when the low temperature exceeds 80 °F (27 °C). Summer daytime temperatures frequently exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Air conditioners are recommended for maximum comfort indoors and while traveling via automobile.
Throughout the year, rainfall occurs more frequently during the night. Usually, periods of rainy weather last for only a day or two, and are followed by several days with fair skies. A large part of the annual precipitation results from thunderstorm activity, with occasional heavy rainfall over brief periods of time. Thunderstorms occur throughout the year, but are most frequent in the spring and early summer months. Hail falls on about two or three days a year, ordinarily with only slight and scattered damage. Windstorms occurring during thunderstorm activity are sometimes destructive. Snowfall is uncommon.
The average length of the warm season (freeze-free period) is about 249 days. The average last occurrence of 32 °F (0 °C) or below is mid March and the average first occurrence of 32 °F or below is in late November.
Counties Although the terms "Northeastern Texas" or "North Texas" are not official state designations, the Texas State Data Center and Office of the State Demographer lists the following counties as belonging to the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG):
Collin Dallas Denton Ellis Erath Hood Hunt
Johnson Kaufman Navarro Palo Pinto Parker Rockwall
Somervell Tarrant Wise
The Texas State Demographer also lists the following regional county groupings, some or all of which are often included in the informal meaning of the terms "North Texas" or "North Central Texas".
Nortex Regional Planning Commission: Archer Baylor Clay Cottle Foard Hardeman Jack Montague Wichita Wilbarger Young
Texoma Council of Governments:Texoma Council of Governments Cooke Fannin Grayson
Additionally, some other Texas counties contiguous with those named above are sometimes included in the general meaning of "North Texas".
Major cities City Population (2023) State rank U.S. rank Dallas 1,259,404 3 9 Fort Worth 1,029,221 4 11 Arlington 405,995 7 49 Plano291,450 9 69 Garland 235,293 12 91 Irving 248,931 13 93 Grand Prairie 199,395 15 127 McKinney 214,302 17 155 Frisco 227,528 18 162 Mesquite 143,792 20 181 Carrollton 132,935 23 197 Denton 160,564 26 202 Richardson 113,613 32 255 Wichita Falls 103,687 35 285 Lewisville 114,170 36 288 Allen 109,411 40 Flower Mound 79,102 50
Other cities and towns
Addison Aledo Alma Alvarado Alvord Angus Anna Annetta Annetta North Annetta South Archer City Argyle Aubrey Aurora Azle Bailey Balch Springs Bardwell Barry Bartonville Bedford Bellevue Bells Benbrook Blooming Grove Blue Mound Blue Ridge Bonham Bowie Boyd Brazos Bend Breckenridge Briaroaks Bridgeport Bryson Burkburnett Burleson Byers Caddo Mills Callisburg Campbell Cashion Community Cedar Hill Celeste Celina Chico Chillicothe Cleburne Cockrell Hill Colleyville
Collinsville Commerce Cool Copper Canyon Combine Coppell Corinth Corral City Corsicana Cottonwood Coyote Flats Crandall Cresson Cross Roads Cross Timber Crowell Crowley Dalworthington Gardens Dawson Decatur Dean DeCordova Denison DeSoto Dish Dodd City Dorchester Double Oak Dublin Duncanville Eagle Mountain Ector Edgecliff Village Elizabethtown Emhouse Ennis Euless Eureka Everman Fairview Farmers Branch Farmersville Fate Ferris Forest Hill Forney Frost Gainesville Garrett Glen Rose
Glenn Heights Godley Goodlow Gordon Graford Graham Granbury Grandview Grapevine Greenville Gunter Hackberry Haltom City Haslet Hawk Cove Heath Hebron Henrietta Hickory Creek Highland Park Highland Village Holliday Honey Grove Howe Hudson Oaks Hurst Hutchins Iowa Park Italy Jacksboro Jolly Josephine Joshua Justin Kaufman Keene Keller Kemp Kennedale Kerens Knollwood Krugerville Ladonia Lancaster Lake Bridgeport Lake Dallas Lake Worth Lakeside Lakeside City Lakewood Village
Lavon Leonard Lincoln Park Lindsay Lipan Little Elm Lone Oak Lowry Crossing Lucas Mabank Mansfield Maypearl Megargel McLendon-Chisholm Melissa Meridian Midlothian Mildred Milford Millsap Mineral Wells Mingus Mobile City Muenster Murphy Mustang Navarro Nevada New Fairview New Hope Newark Newcastle Neylandville Nocona Northlake North Richland Hills Oak Grove Oak Leaf Oak Point Oak Ridge (Cooke County) Oak Ridge (Kaufman County) Oak Valley Olney Ovilla Paducah Palmer Pantego Paradise
Parker Pecan Hill Pelican Bay Petrolia Pilot Point Pleasant Valley Ponder Post Oak Bend City Pottsboro Powell Princeton Prosper Providence Village Quanah Quinlan Ravenna Red Oak Retreat Rhome Reno Rice Richland Richland Hills Rio Vista River Oaks Roanoke Rockwall Rowlett Royse City Runaway Bay Sachse Sadler Saginaw Sanctuary Sanger Sansom Park Savoy Seagoville Scotland Scurry Seymour Shady Shores Sherman Southlake Southmayd Springtown St. Jo St. Paul Stephenville
Strawn Sunnyvale Talty Terrell The Colony Tioga Tolar Tom Bean Trenton Trophy Club Union Valley University Park Valley View Van Alstyne Venus Vernon Waxahachie Watauga Weatherford West Tawakoni Westlake Westover Hills Westworth Village Whitesboro White Settlement Whitewright Wilmer Windom Windthorst Wolfe City Wylie
Statistical areas In the North Texas region there is one combined statistical area, three metropolitan areas, and seven micropolitan areas.
Dallas–Fort Worth TX-OK combined statistical area
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)
Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington is the only MSA in Texas subdivided into metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving (Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties) Fort Worth–Arlington–Grapevine (Johnson, Parker, Tarrant, and Wise counties) Sherman–Denison (Grayson County)
Micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) Athens (Henderson County) (In East Texas) Bonham (Fannin County) Corsicana (Navarro County) Durant, OK (Bryan County, Oklahoma) (In Oklahoma) Gainesville (Cooke County) Granbury (Hood County) Mineral Wells (Palo Pinto County)
Wichita Falls area
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) Wichita Falls (Archer, Clay, Wichita counties) Micropolitan statistical areas (μSAs) Vernon (Wilbarger County)
Other
Micropolitan statistical Areas (μSAs) Stephenville (Erath County)
Economy
Top employers Dallas–Fort Worth metroplexDallas Business Journal 2016 Company No. of employees locally Type of business Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 34,000 Retail American Airlines 27,000 Commercial airline Texas Health Resources 22,296 Health care Dallas Independent School District 19,740 Education Baylor Health Care System 16,500 Health care Wichita Falls metropolitan area # Employer # of Employees1 Sheppard Air Force Base12,2722 Wichita Falls Independent School District2,0593 North Texas State Hospital1,9744 United Regional Health Care System1,7785 City of Wichita Falls1,4776 Midwestern State University1,2847 James V. Allred Unit9718 Cryovac7329 Work Services Corporation73010 Howmet Castings704 Sherman–Denison metropolitan area # Employer # of Employees1Tyson Foods1,4002Texoma Health Systems1,3753Texas Instruments1,2004Cigna1,0005Wilson N Jones Health Systems1,000
Colleges and universities +Public universitiesSchoolEnrollmentLocationMascotAthletic affiliation (conference)University system East Texas A&M University 10,966 Commerce Lions NCAA Division I FCS (Southland) Texas A&M University System The University of North Texas 46,940 Denton Mean Green NCAA Division I FBS (American) University of North Texas System University of Texas at Arlington 40,990 Arlington, Fort Worth Mavericks NCAA Division I (WAC) Non–Football University of Texas System University of Texas at Dallas 30,885 Richardson Comets NCAA Division III (American Southwest) Non–Football University of Texas System Texas Woman's University 15,472 Denton Pioneers NCAA Division II (Lone Star) Women's sports only Independent Tarleton State University 14,092 Stephenville, Fort Worth Texans NCAA Division I FCS (WAC) Texas A&M University System Midwestern State University 6,102 Wichita Falls Mustangs NCAA Division II (Lone Star) Texas Tech University System University of North Texas at Dallas 3,513 Dallas Trailblazers NAIA(Sooner)Non–Football University of North Texas System +Private universitiesSchoolEnrollmentLocationMascotAthletic affiliation (conference) Southern Methodist University 11,643 University Park Mustangs NCAA Division I FBS (American) Texas Christian University 10,323 Fort Worth Horned Frogs NCAA Division I FBS (Big 12) Dallas Baptist University 5,445 Dallas Patriots NCAA Division II (Lone Star) Non–Football, compete in the Missouri Valley Conference at the Division I level for baseball Texas Wesleyan University 3,378 Fort Worth Rams NAIA (Sooner) University of Dallas 2,576 Irving Crusaders NCAA Division III (SCAC) Non–Football, compete in Texas Rugby Union at the Division II level for Rugby Southwestern Assemblies of God University 2,012 Waxahachie Lions NAIA NCCAA (Sooner) Austin College 1,224 Sherman Roos NCAA Division III (SCAC) Compete in the Southern Athletic Association for football Paul Quinn College 600 Dallas Tigers NAIA (Red River) Non–Football
Sports