Cowtown Progress
Fort Worth earns a place among the nation's most prosperous cities
Fort Worth residents are moving on up. According to a new study from rental website RentCafe, Fort Worth ranks among the 20 most prosperous cities in the nation.
The site measured more than 300 U.S. cities using Census data from 2000-2016 to "single out the ones that have made the most progress overall." Six key metrics were reviewed: percent change in population, median income, home values, share of inhabitants holding a higher-education degree, poverty rate, and unemployment rate. An overall prosperity ranking was determined by combining the values of the individual rankings.
Cowtown ranks No. 14 on the overall list, and when you drill down to large U.S. cities, Fort Worth ranks an impressive No. 4. From 2000-2016, the area's population grew a whopping 52 percent, home values changed by 34 percent, and the share of locals with a higher-education degree increased by 24 percent.
But it's not all positive growth. While income grew slightly, by 5 percent, Fort Worth's poverty rate increased by 13 percent, and the unemployment rate increased by 7 percent. (The study notes that only 11 cities registered improvements across all prosperity metrics; four of them are in Texas.)
In all, the Lone Star State boasts more prosperous cities than the entire West Coast, notes RentCafe. The report points to the huge upswing in crude oil production for Texas' prosperity.
Smaller Texas cities make a big impression on the overall list, with Odessa taking the No. 1 spot as the most prosperous in America. Pearland (7), Brownsville (9), Midland (10), and El Paso (16) also rank among the top 20. Austin, meanwhile, appears at No. 15 on the large cities list.
