A new income study by SmartAsset examining the one-year change in income for households in the country’s biggest cities has determined Fort Worth had the 17th biggest increase in median income nationwide from 2023-2024, at 7.03 percent.
In 2024, Fort Worth households made $82,503 in median annual income, compared to $77,082 in 2023.
SmartAsset’s just-released report, “U.S. Cities With the Highest Income Growth,” also tracked the changes in senior and family household income across the 50 most populated U.S. cities from 2023 to 2024. Data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 1-Year American Community Survey from the last two years.
Tampa, Florida had the highest growth in its residents’ household income nationwide, at 15.46 percent. Tampa households earned a median $72,851 in annual income in 2023, and that figure increased to $84,114 in 2024.
The national median household income grew 1.3 percent to $83,730 in 2024, the report additionally found. That’s only $1,227 more than Fort Worth’s median household income.
“This means many households did not keep pace with the roughly 3% inflation rate during the same time period, but that was not true everywhere,” the report’s author wrote. “Especially in large cities where residents often pay a premium for convenience, infrastructure and amenities, the change in household income swung vastly, in some cases reaching double-digit growth, or even negative growth.”
Fort Worth families saw their median annual income increase 9.33 percent year-over-year to $100,426 in 2024. That’s a solid jump into the six-figure sphere after the city’s median family household income was less than $92,000 in 2023.
The city’s elderly population, however, may be feeling the sting after the median senior household income rose 5.23 percent from 2023-2024. Fort Worth seniors made about $56,340 in annual income last year, the report said, or $2,800 more than what they were earning in 2023.
Income changes across Dallas-Fort Worth
Arlington ranked ahead of Fort Worth to claim No. 12 in SmartAsset’s list of U.S. cities where income grew the most. Arlington’s median household income jumped 7.48 percent from 2023, and residents made a median household income of $74,388 in 2024.
The city’s financial prosperity likely comes from its senior population, whose income skyrocketed 19.18 percent during the one-year period. Arlington senior households that were earning $58,600 in 2023 saw their income jump to $69,838 in 2024.
Arlington’s family household income also got a 17.85 percent boost during the same period. Families that made $66,607 in annual income in 2023 subsequently made $78,499 the following year.
“Changes in incomes across a city can lead to different dynamics on local demand for businesses, job markets, and even have implications for how new tax legislation will affect residents,” the report said.
Over in Dallas, the city’s household income rose nearly 6 percent from 2023-2024. Dallas households brought home a median $74,323 last year, or $4,202 more than their 2023 median annual income.
This is how Dallas’ median senior and family household income grew during the one-year period:
- Senior income growth rate: 6.38 percent
- 2024 senior household income: $57,100
- 2023 senior household income: $53,676
- Family income growth rate: 11.16 percent
- 2024 family household income: $76,837
- 2023 family household income: $69,124