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suburban city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States
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Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. The city had a population of 394,266 in 2020, making it the second-largest city in the county after Fort Worth and the third-largest city in the metropolitan area, after Dallas and Fort Worth. Arlington is the 51st-most populous city in the United States, the seventh-most populous city in the state of Texas, and the largest city in the state that is not a county seat.
Arlington is home to the University of Texas at Arlington, a major urban research university, the Arlington Assembly plant used by General Motors, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV, Texas Health Resources, Mensa International, and D. R. Horton. Additionally, Arlington hosts the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Wings at College Park Center, the International Bowling Campus (which houses the United States Bowling Congress and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame), and the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas (the original Six Flags) and Hurricane Harbor.
European settlement in the Arlington area dates back at least to the 1840s. After the May 24, 1841 battle between Texas General Edward H. Tarrant and Native Americans of the Village Creek settlement, a trading post was established at Marrow Bone Spring in present-day Arlington (historical marker at 32°42.136′N 97°6.772′W / 32.702267°N 97.112867°W). The rich soil of the area attracted farmers, and several agriculture-related businesses were well established by the late nineteenth century.
Arlington was founded in 1876 along the Texas and Pacific Railway. Named after General Robert E. Lee's Arlington House in Arlington County, Virginia., Arlington grew as a cotton-ginning and farming center, and incorporated on April 21, 1884. The city could boast of water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone services by 1910, along with a non-federal public school system.
From 1892 until 1951, a mineral well drilled exactly in the middle of downtown Arlington, Texas, was a key reason to visit the town. The well has been paved over and is now the site of a public memorial plaza.
In the 1920s and 1930s, life in Arlington was bustling with controversy and entertainment. In the early 1920s, a tea room known as "Top O' Hill Terrace" opened up along the now-defunct Bankhead Highway to serve dinner and tea to guests traveling through Dallas and Fort Worth. Ownership changed in the late 1920s and shortly thereafter the facilities were secretly converted into casinos and a speakeasy. Known by historians as "Vegas before Vegas", escape tunnels and secret rooms were constructed to hide the illegal gambling during police raids. However, the restaurant portion of the facility still existed as a legitimate business and a front. The nearby Triangle Inn also operated as an illegal speakeasy and gambling house.
By 1925 the city's population was estimated at 3,031—well under the population of Dallas and Fort Worth at the time. In 1929, a horse-racing track called Arlington Downs was constructed by W.T. Waggoner and Brian Nyantika close by to the speakeasy. Gambling was still illegal, but people were making bets regardless. Waggoner and his sons campaigned to make parimutuel betting legal, and in 1933 the state issued its first legal gambling permit to Arlington Downs. The track was immensely profitable at that point, making a daily average of $113,000 before inflation with a daily attendance average of 6,700 people. At the end of the 1937 season, the state legislature repealed their parimutuel gambling laws, and the Downs were sold to commercial developers.
In the 1940s, Arlington Downs was used as a rodeo and event venue. Top O' Hill Terrace evaded the police until 1947, when famous Texas Ranger M. T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas caught the gambling operation in full-swing and had the place shut down. The 1940s brought World War II to the forefront of the United States, and many families from around Texas moved to Arlington to find jobs. Before World War II, the city's population had grown to over 4,000. The war kick-started a manufacturing revolution in Texas. Arlington was between the biggest aerospace engineering hubs in Texas at the time, Dallas and Fort Worth.
In 1956, the Top O' Hill Terrace property was purchased by the Bible Baptist Seminary and converted into what is now Arlington Baptist University. The underground tunnels and original structures are still standing. In 1958, the Arlington Downs was completely destroyed by commercial developers. All that is left is an original concrete water trough and a Texas historical landmark marker placed in 2016. Large-scale industrialization began in 1954 with the arrival of a General Motors assembly plant. Automotive and aerospace development gave the city one of the nation's greatest population growth rates between 1950 and 1990.
Arlington became one of the "boomburbs", the extremely fast-growing suburbs of the post-World War II era. U.S. Census Bureau population figures for the city date the population boom: 7,692 (1950), 90,229 (1970), 261,721 (1990), 365,438 (2010) and almost 374,000 by 2011. Tom Vandergriff served as mayor from 1951 to 1977 during this period of robust economic development. Six Flags Over Texas opened in Arlington in 1961. In 1972 the Washington Senators baseball team relocated to Arlington and began play as the Texas Rangers and in 2009 the Dallas Cowboys also began to play at the newly constructed Cowboys Stadium, now AT&T Stadium.
On January 13, 1996, a 9-year-old girl, Amber Hagerman, was abducted in Arlington and found murdered four days later. No one has been arrested or convicted for her murder as of 2025. The case led to the creation of the Amber alert system.
In October 2019, Arlington was chosen out of several major U.S. cities to become the permanent home of the $150 million National Medal of Honor Museum. Construction of the museum is set to be completed in 2024.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Arlington has a total area of 99.7 square miles (258 km2); 96.5 square miles (250 km2) was land, and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) is water. The city lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of downtown Fort Worth and 20 miles (32 km) west of downtown Dallas.
Johnson Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River, and the Trinity River itself, flow through Arlington. Arlington borders Kennedale, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Fort Worth, and surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego.
Arlington falls in the Cfa (humid subtropical) region of the Köppen climate classification system which is characterized by very hot, humid summers and mild winters.
During the April 3, 2012 tornado outbreak, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado in Eastern Kennedale, which moved northeast across U.S. Route 287 near Stagetrail Drive and continued in a north-northeasterly direction. The tornado had a maximum path width of 140 meters (150 yards), estimated path length of 7.4 kilometers or 4.6 miles, and estimated maximum wind speeds of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h).
The tornado caused damage to numerous businesses, including the Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, of which a large portion of the roof was torn off and damage was sustained to exterior walls. Eighteen homes were destroyed, and 291 others were damaged as well. Eight injuries were caused by this tornado, one of which was serious.
As of the 2020 census, Arlington had a population of 394,266, 142,650 households, and 93,164 families residing in the city. The median age was 34.3 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.3 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0% lived in rural areas.
Of the 142,650 households in Arlington, 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.9% were married-couple households, 19.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 151,697 housing units, of which 6.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 54.0% were owner-occupied and 46.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%.
The demographic increase of American Black and American Hispanic, as well as American Asian is notable with migration patterns and fertility.
At the census of 2010, there were 365,438 people, 133,072 households, and 90,099 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,811 people per square mile (1,471 people/km2). There were 144,805 housing units at an average density of 1,510 per square mile (580/km2).
In 2010, there were 133,072 households, out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 48% were married couples living together, 15% had a female householder with no father present(family units), and 32% were non-family or family-units. 25% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.3.
In the city, the 2010 population was spread out, with 31% under the age of 20, 8% from 20 to 24, 30% from 25 to 44, 23% from 45 to 64, and 8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 104 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 94 males 18 and over.
The median income for a household in the city was estimated to be $50,655 in 2011. Individual males working full-time year-round had a median income of $41,059 versus $35,265 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,317. About 16% of Arlington families in general and 31% of female-headed families with no husband present were living below the poverty line; 20% of the Arlington population as a whole, including 28% of individuals under age 18 and 8% of those age 65 or over were living in poverty. Approximately 43% of Arlington renters and 28% of homeowners were paying 35% or more of their household income for housing costs in 2011. Approximately 20.8% of the population were foreign-born from 2014 to 2018.
According to Arlington's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the top five employers, making up 15.5% of the total employment in the City, include:
Arlington is home to Six Flags Over Texas, a nationwide theme park that includes many notable attractions. Six Flags also opened Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, a waterpark, after the previous location, Wet 'n Wild, was sold to them in the mid-1990s.
With the relocation of the U.S. Bowling Congress, and the Bowling Proprietors Association of America and the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, Arlington became the world headquarters for bowling.
For retail shopping, Arlington is home to the Parks Mall at Arlington, which houses numerous stores, eateries, an ice skating rink, a bowling/arcade spot, and a movie theatre. In addition, the Arlington Highlands was completed in mid-2007, serving as a shopping and entertainment hotspot. The Arlington Highlands is located on I-20 at Matlock Rd. The Lincoln Square located near the AT&T Stadium also houses several stores, restaurants, and a Studio Movie Grill.
Arlington is also home to Theatre Arlington, one of the largest community theatres in the nation, which produces quality live theatre year-round and offers theater classes for all ages. The Mainstage Theatre at UT Arlington is another well-known venue for live theatre in Arlington.
The Arlington Museum of Art in downtown and the Gallery at UT Arlington are the city's designated art venues. In 2016, the city's art museum hosted a public art project called "The Star of Texas" to promote their new slogan as the "American Dream City." Community artists were chosen to paint a large star sculpture with their interpretation of the city. Today, these stars can still be seen throughout the city – most notably in the downtown and entertainment districts. In the mid-2010's, art murals began to appear in downtown Arlington, giving the area an artistic atmosphere.
The Planetarium Dome Theater at UT Arlington is one of the largest in Texas.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Arlington, Texas”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.