Dallas Facts

Dallas is the 3rd largest city in the state of Texas, and the 9th largest in the US. Dallas is 342.5 square miles. Dallas Metro (DFW) is the 4th largest metro region in the US.

As of 2007, the estimated population of dallas is 1.23 million people.

Loughborough University Globalization and World Cities Study Group lists Dallas as a gamma world city, which is a city deemed to be a critical part of the global economic system.

Dallas’ economy is founded on:

  • Banking
  • E-commerce
  • Telecommunications
  • Computer Technology
  • Energy
  • Transportation

Dallas, in terms of politics, is the 3rd most liberal city behind Austin and El Paso. Republicans dominate the upper-middle class suburban neighborhoods of North Dallas, while liberal Democrats dominate neighborhoods in South Dallas and to Downtown.

Dallas knows barbecue, as well as Tex-Mex cuisine, and is home to some of the greatest steak houses in the country, such as Bob’s Steak and Chop House.

Dallas is rich with notable art venues, such as the Dallas Museum of Art, , the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, and the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.

Dallas is home to some of the greatest sports fans, and for good reason. Dallas High School and Texas College sports are in some cases more popular than professional sports in other parts of the country. Professional sports teams include the Dallas Desperados arena football, Dallas Mavericks basketball, Dallas Stars hockey, FC Dallas soccer, Texas Rangers baseball, and Dallas Cowboys football. Don’t forget about NASCAR wich is found racing at the Texas Motor Speedway.

More Dallas Facts:

  • InfoMart is housed in a unique building designed to resemble London’s Crystal Palace, built in 1851 for the first World’s Fair and International Technology Exhibition.
  • City Hall was designed by Pritzker-Prize winning architect I.M. Pei and features an outdoor sculpture by Henry Moore.
  • The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas - a medical school and research university for graduate level science adjacent to Parkland Hospital - is home to four Nobel Laureates: three in physiology/medicine and one in chemistry.
  • The integrated circuit computer chip was invented in 1958 in Dallas.
  • Love Field’s Antique Mall is the largest antique and classic car mall in the United States.
  • Texas is larger than France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland and Luxembourg combined.
  • The “Texas Star” Ferris wheel at the State Fair of Texas is the tallest in North America.
  • The 52-foot “Big Tex” statue that greets visitors at the annual State Fair of Texas is the tallest cowboy in Texas.
  • The Dallas Arboretum holds the Southwest’s largest annual outdoor floral festival.
  • Parkland Hospital System is the second-largest birthing center in the nation, with more than 16,500 arrivals annually.
  • The McKinney Avenue Trolley, which operates daily, is the largest volunteer-run trolley system in the world.
  • The Six Flags Over Texas is the largest theme park in the Southwest
  • The State Fair of Texas has been held annually at the same location in Fair Park since 1886.
  • Neiman Marcus began in Dallas, and its flagship store continues to thrive downtown.
  • At 5.5 million square feet, the Dallas Market Center is the world’s largest market for wholesale merchandise.

For more Dallas facts, see the Visit Dallas website.