fly high, eagles

Fort Worth neighbor booms as 6th fastest-growing U.S. college town, report says

Denton ranked No. 6 nationally.

Photo courtesy of Discover Denton

Fort Worth might be one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S., but there's one North Texas city that's outdoing it in a different category of population growth. A new study by university scholarship website BrokeScholar has deemed Denton the No. 6 fastest-growing college town in the country.

Denton's population in 2000 was 84,412; in 2023 the population has nearly doubled to 160,564. For scale, U.S. News and World Report says the University of North Texas alone had an undergraduate enrollment of 32,603 in the fall of 2021. Texas Woman's University's fall 2021 enrollment was 10,283 students.

It's not just a university or its enrollment that attracts newcomers, the study says, but the "cultural oasis" that the college towns maintain.

"These collegiate strongholds benefit from an influx of new residents eager to enjoy a good football game and an existing mix of music, culture, and young energy," the report's author wrote.

Denton is a hub for cultural growth as a natural attraction for local Texas bands, a fun arts scene, and a host of outdoor recreational activities like the weekly Denton Community Market.

BrokeScholar estimates the city's population to expand to over 195,000 people by 2030, and about 342,000 people by 2050.

Richardson came in at No. 47 for the fastest-growing college towns, with a 28 percent growth rate from 2000 to 2023, putting the city's current population at 117,528 residents.

Also in the top 10 is San Marcos, in between Austin and San Antonio, ranking No. 4 with an overall population of 70,372 residents. College Station earned No. 8 with an overall population of 123,238 in 2023, with an estimate growth of 19 percent to 147,126 residents by 2030.

The top 10 fastest-growing college towns in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – Bozeman, Montana
No. 2 – Oxford, Mississippi
No. 3 – Cedar City, Utah
No. 4 – San Marcos, Texas
No. 5 – Auburn, Alabama
No. 6 – Denton, Texas
No. 7 – Cullowhee, North Carolina
No. 8 – College Station, Texas
No. 9 – Fayetteville, Arkansas
No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina

BrokeScholar pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau between 2000 and 2023 to determine annual growth rates and make population projections for 2030.

The full report and its methodology can be found on brokescholar.com.

BrokeScholar Study Fastest-Growing College Town colleges reports texas universities denton

Worldwide wealth

Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton has world's richest family in 2024

Rob Walton, Alice Walton, Jim Walton, Walton family, Walmart heirs, billionaires, world's richest

Photo by Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images

Siblings and Walmart heirs Rob, Alice, and Jim Walton belong to the world's richest family.

Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton and her kin are back on top as the world's richest family, according to Bloomberg's 2024 list of the wealthiest families on the planet.

To reclaim their crown, the Waltons toppled actual royalty: the Al Nahyans, Abu Dhabi's ruling family, who came in first last year and fell to second in 2024. Qatar's ruling dynasty, the Al Thanis, came in third.

Alice Walton and her brothers, Jim and Rob, are descendants of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. According to Bloomberg, their family fortune has swelled by 66 percent since last year, to a record $432 billion.

"That wealth figure exceeds the market value of some of America's biggest companies including Home Depot ($412 billion), Procter & Gamble ($402 billion), and Netflix ($396 billion)," notes Business Insider.

Each of the Walton siblings has increased his or her wealth by $43 billion this year, the publication says.

"The Walton family's wealth bump has been fueled by a roughly 80 percent surge in the retailer's stock price this year," Business Insider says. "Sam Walton gave each of his four children a 20 percent stake in the family enterprise early on, and his three surviving kids each own upward of 11 percent of Walmart — now a company valued north of $750 billion — through a family trust. They've also raked in more than $15 billion from stock sales and dividends over the years, Bloomberg says."

Fort Worth's Alice Walton is primarily and arts philanthropist now. Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images

In September, Alice Walton took back the title of world's wealthiest woman, according toForbes. Walton beat out L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France to become the richest woman on the globe for the first time since 2022.

Walton’s estimated fortune at the time was $89.1 billion and Meyers’ was $88.4 billion, Forbes said.

While she devotes most of her time and energy now to her Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (from which she retired as chairman in 2021) and the new Alice L. Walton School of Medicine - both in her native Bentonville, Arkansas - her official residence is still listed as Fort Worth. She has owned homes and ranches in the Fort Worth area and sits on the board of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

The top five richest families in the world and their fortunes, according to Bloomberg, are:

1. The Waltons (Walmart heirs), $432 billion
2. The Al Nahyans, (Abu Dhabi/United Arab Emirates royalty): $324 billion
3. The Al Thanis (Qatar royalty): $173 billion
4. The Hermeses (French fashion and luxury goods): $171 billion
5. The Kochs (American oil industrialists): $149 billion

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