According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 908.644 square miles (2,353.38km2), of which 873.160 square miles (2,261.47km2) is land and 35.484 square miles (91.90km2) (3.91%) is water.[7] It is the 177th largest county in Texas by total area. 3,519 acres of the county is contained within 21 county-owned nature preserves, which were acquired through the county's Open Space Program.[8][9]
U.S. Decennial Census[17] 1790–1960[18] 1900–1990[19] 1990–2000[20] 2010–2020[2]
As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Dallas County was $325,980.[21]
As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 971,690 estimated households in Dallas County with an average of 2.65 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $74,149. Approximately 13.8% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Dallas County has an estimated 68.9% employment rate, with 34.8% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 81.7% holding a high school diploma.[2]
The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (56.8%), Spanish (34.0%), Indo-European (3.0%), Asian and Pacific Islander (4.3%), and Other (1.9%).
The median age in the county was 34.3 years.
Dallas County, Texas – racial and ethnic composition 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 may be of any race.
As of the 2023 estimate, there were 2,606,358 people and 971,690 households residing in the county. There were 1,079,120 housing units. The racial makeup of the county was 65.2% White (692,400 or 26.6% NH White), 24.1% African American (600,055 or 23.0% NH Black), 1.1% Native American (7,089 or 0.3% NH Native), 7.4% Asian (186,730 or 7.2% NH Asian), 0.1% Pacific Islander (1,220 or 0.1% NH Pacific Islander), _% from some other races and 2.1% from two or more races (41,011 or 1.6% NH Multiracial). Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1,077,853 or 41.4% of the population.[27]
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 2,613,539 people, 965,537 households, and 616,554 families residing in the county.[28] The population density was 2,993.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,155.8/km2). There were 1,038,656 housing units at an average density of 1,189.5 per square mile (459.3/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 35.37% White, 21.97% African American, 1.20% Native American, 7.01% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 18.28% from some other races and 16.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 40.48% of the population.[29]
The increase among people of color reflected nationwide demographic trends of greater diversification.[30]
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 2,368,139 people, 856,290 households, and _ families residing in the county. The population density was 2,718.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,049.4/km2). There were 943,622 housing units at an average density of 1,083.0 per square mile (418.1/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 53.55% White, 22.31% African American, 0.72% Native American, 5.04% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 15.53% from some other races and 2.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 38.26% of the population.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523.0 inhabitants per square mile (974.1/km2). There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971.0 per square mile (374.9/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 58.35% White, 20.31% African American, 0.56% Native American, 3.98% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 14.04% from some other races and 2.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 29.87% of the population.
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.
In the 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.
Government and politics
Government
Former Dallas County Courthouse
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.[31]
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. In 1963 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 Jail, 111 West Commerce Street
Dallas County operates several jail facilities. They include:[33]
111 Riverfront Blvd (Dallas)
North Tower Jail
South Tower Jail - also known as the "Suzanne Kays Tower"
West Tower Jail
Government Center Jail - 600 Commerce Street (Dallas)
(formerly) Suzanne Kays Jail - 521 North Industrial Boulevard (Dallas) - population integrated into the South Tower; demolished to clear way for the Trinity River Project[34]
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 DemocratHarry Truman in 1948 to a 23-point win for RepublicanDwight 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.
In 2024 though Trump did not carry the county, he received his best-ever vote share, with 38%.[37] This was likely due to his increase in Hispanic support, which was 54% in the state of Texas compared to Kamala Harris’s 44%.[38]
United States presidential election results for Dallas County, Texas[39]
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.[40]
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.[42]
Dallas County is served by the Dallas College system of seven community colleges.[45] Dallas College is the designated community college for the entire county.[46]
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