Dallas–Fort Worth is the most populous metropolitan area of Texas, and the Southern United States. Having 7,637,387 residents at the 2020 U.S. census, the metropolitan statistical area has experienced positive growth trends since the former Dallas and Fort Worth metropolitan areas conurbated into the Metroplex. By the 2022 census estimates, its population grew to 7,943,685, and if the metropolis was consolidated into a single city, it would be the second-largest by population behind New York City.
Population
At the 2020 U.S. census 7,637,387 people lived in the area, up from 6,371,773 in 2010, and 2,974,805 in 1970.
Among the population in 2015, an estimated 101,588 foreign-born residents moved to the Metroplex. Of the immigrant population, 44.1% were from Latin America, 35.8% Asia, 7.1% Europe, and 13.1% Africa. In 2010, 77,702 foreign nationals immigrated; approximately 50.6% came from Latin America, 33.0% from Asia, 7.3% Europe, and 9.1% Africa. During the 2020 American Community Survey, an estimated 18.5% of its population were foreign-born, with 56% from Latin America, 30% Asia, 8% Africa, 4% Europe, and 1% elsewhere from North America.
Race and ethnicity
In 2020, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex's racial composition was 42% non-Hispanic white, 16% Black or African American, 8% Asian, 3-4% two or more races, and 29% Hispanic or Latino American of any race. According to information gathered from the North Texas Commission, the Metroplex's racial and ethnic makeup was 46% non-Hispanic white, 15% Black or African American, 7% Asian American, and 3% from other races in 2017. Ethnically, Hispanics and Latinos of any race made up 29% of the metropolitan population. From 2010 to 2017, Hispanics and Latinos increased an estimated 38.9% followed by Blacks and African Americans.
White and European Americans
White and European Americans, since settlement, have been the largest racial and ethnic group for the present-day Metroplex, until an increase in immigration and white flight. From 2000 to 2014 the absolute number of non-Hispanic white children in the metropolitan area increased by 140,000 from 2000 to 2014, although their relative percentage of the overall number of children in the area declined. In that period the population of non-Hispanic white children largely shifted to Collin, Denton, and Rockwall counties away from Dallas County. From 1997 to 2015, in the first three counties, the number of non-Hispanic white K-12 students increased by 40,000, 20,000, and 6,000, respectively, while the number of non-Hispanic white students in Dallas County public school districts dropped from 138,760 in 1997 to 61,538 in the 2014–2015 school year; during the latter period the charter schools in the county had 5,000 non-Hispanic white students.
Middle Easterner Americans
Arabs
There are approximately 275,000 Arab-Americans around Dallas County, with many of them coming from countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, etc. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas maintains a Lebanese Maronite Christian mission at Our Lady of Lebanon in Lewisville, established in 1990; as well as the St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church in Irving, established in 1983.
, the number of people of Egyptian heritage was about 5,000 to 10,000 in the Metroplex area.
Iranians
According to the 2000 census, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex had about 5,000 Iranians. The city’s Iranian community was large and influential enough to host U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a private visit in April 2019. Most Iranians in the DFW area reside in the Plano–Frisco–Allen–McKinney areas north of Dallas although there are several near Arlington in the Mid-Cities region.
Kurds
There are roughly around 8,000 Kurds in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with many of them residing around the northern suburbs, especially around Plano. There is also a sizeable Kurdish community around Arlington. Most of them came as refugees from Iraq although there are also Iranian, Syrian and Turkish Kurds in the Metroplex.