Diversity News

Fort Worth neighbor is the No. 1 most diverse large city in America

Diversity is good for the economy and for local communities, no matter who says otherwise. City of Arlington, TX - City Hall / Facebook

Dallas-Fort Worth has always been a diverse place, but there's one city that's truly becoming an epicenter for people of any cultural or socioeconomic background. Give it up for Arlington, which has topped WalletHub's just-released rankings of the most diverse large American cities for 2025.

The 2025 edition is the final installment in WalletHub's diversity study series, which annually compared 501 U.S. cities across 13 metrics in five categories that encompass "diversity" across socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household, and religious factors.

Cities were ranked by population, with large cities defined as those with over 300,000 residents, midsize cities with 100,000 to 300,000 residents, and small cities with fewer than 100,000 residents.

Arlington topped the list of large cities, but came in at No. 4 on the overall most diverse American cities, topped by three smaller cities that surpassed it on diversity rankings.

The top three most diverse American cities, which have held their positions for the second consecutive year, are all located in Maryland: Gaithersburg (No. 1), Silver Spring (No. 2), and Germantown (No. 3).

Here's how Arlington performed across the five major categories in the study:

No. 32 – Cultural diversity rank
No. 43 – Religious diversity rank
No. 61 – Socioeconomic diversity rank
No. 106 – Economic diversity rank
No. 225 – Household diversity rank

Embracing diversity is not only good for local communities, it's also beneficial for the economy, the report says.

"Not only have waves of immigration changed the face of the nation, they’ve also brought in fresh perspectives, skills and technologies to help the U.S. develop a strong adaptability to change," the report's author wrote. "Economies generally fare better when they openly embrace and capitalize on new ideas. Conversely, those relying on old ways and specialized industries tend to be hurt more by changes in the market."

Arlington is a repeat performer: It moved up one spot from its 2024 ranking, and previously ranked eighth in 2021 — showing that the suburb has consistently increased in diversity over the years.

Dallas ranked just outside the top 10 this year, landing in 11th place after previously ranking eighth overall in 2024. Dallas also appeared in sixth place in the national rankings for the most diverse large cities, so the city still has some catching up to do.

Fort Worth fell into No. 25 overall this year, in a three-place slip from last year's ranking. The city performed the best in the overall categories for socioeconomic and cultural diversity, earning a respective No. 58 and No. 61.

Plano fell out of the top 100 this year and ranked 102nd.

The top 10 most diverse cities in America in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Gaithersburg, Maryland
No. 2 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 3 – Germantown, Maryland
No. 4 – Arlington, Texas
No. 5 – Houston, Texas
No. 6 – New York, New York
No. 7 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 8 – Jersey City, New Jersey
No. 9 – Danbury, Connecticut
No. 10 – Los Angeles, California

rankings wallethub diversity

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salary news

How much money you need to live comfortably in Fort Worth in 2025

Fort Worth residents need to make Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

As the cost of living in Fort Worth fluctuates, a financially secure future is getting harder to attain, it seems. A new report has determined that Fort Worth residents need to make almost $1,700 more than they did last year to make living comfortable in 2025.

Residents in Fort Worth have the 34th most affordable salary requirements nationwide to maintain financial stability in 2025, according to SmartAsset's annual study. Their experts collected data from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator to determine the cost of living for a childless individual in the 100 largest American metro areas.

Single adults in Fort Worth would need to make $96,429 a year to live a comfortable life in 2025, or $1,664 more than last year's salary requirements.

That's also huge jump from SmartAsset's 2023 report, when single Fort Worth residents only needed to make $64,742 post-tax to live a financially stable life.

For a family of two working adults and two children, the combined income necessary to live comfortably in the Fort Worth area is $217,235 a year. For additional context, the median household income in the city was $77,082 in 2023.

Financially stable incomes in other Dallas-Fort Worth cities
Fort Worth and Arlington tied for No. 34, while Dallas tied with Irving and Garland for the No. 31 spot in the report. North Texans living on the east side of the Metroplex would need to make $95,930 a year to maintain a comfortable living, only $499 less than Fort Worth dwellers.

Three additional DFW cities – Plano, Frisco, and McKinney – tied for No. 69 nationally with single individuals needing to make nearly $108,000 a year to be financially comfortable in those suburbs. Families of four would need to bring in $229,715 a year.

Breaking down the cost of living in Fort Worth
SmartAsset also used the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy to figure out what a “comfortable lifestyle” meant for the purpose of their study: 50 percent of their income goes to a person’s needs/living expenses, 30 percent to a person’s wants, and 20 percent for their savings or paying down debt.

That means a childless Fort Worth individual would need to spend about $48,215 of their salary on their living expenses, $28,929 for discretionary expenses, and put about $19,286 toward their savings or debt payments.

Families of four would have to spend about $108,618 on living expenses, $65,171 on entertainment or hobbies, and $43,447 toward savings or paying down debt in order to live comfortably in Fort Worth, based on the study's findings.

"Most households aim to maintain a cushion between the necessary spending for day-to-day necessities – like housing, food, utilities and childcare – while also enjoying life in the moment and saving for the future," the report's author wrote. "This means keeping room in the budget for the occasional vacation or splurge, as well as savings for long-term goals like retirement or a child’s college education."

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas-Fort Worth cities sat comfortably among the top 35 U.S. cities with most affordable salary requirements to be financially stable. But two other Texas cities were more budget-friendly: San Antonio (No. 6) and Houston (No. 15).

Single San Antonio residents need to make $86,694 in order to live comfortably in their city, while Houstonians would have to make $90,064.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the most affordable salaries needed to live comfortably in 2025 are: