From its roots as a farming community to a sprawling suburban hub, Irving has come a long way.
The town as it is today was born of a post-war development boom in the 1950s and the decades that followed. The Las Colinas area was born in the 1970s and has become one of D-FW’s most significant planned communities. The city was the longtime home of the Dallas Cowboys and still today hosts some of D-FW’s biggest companies.
Here’s your guide to Irving:
Fast facts
Population: 258,052
Median age: 31.6
Median income: $84,849
Unemployment rate: 4.3%
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Race / ethnicity
- One race, white: 33.6%
- One race, Black or African American: 14.6%
- One race, American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.7%
- One race, Asian: 22.4%
- One race, Native Hawaiian: 0%
- One race, Some other Race: 15.2%
- Two or more races: 13.5%
- Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): 43.3%
- White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 17.0%
Educational Attainment
For ages 18-24 (roughly 9.6% of the population)
- Less than High School degree or equivalent: 8.9%
- High School graduates (or equivalent): 39.2%
- Some College or Associates: 36.1%
- Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 15.8%
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For ages 25+ (roughly 64.5%)
- High School graduates (or equivalent): 21.3%
- Bachelor’s Degree: 26.0%
- Graduate or Professional Degree: 18.7%
Housing
103,492 units; 93,239 occupied (90.0%)
- 33,405 Owner occupied
- 59,834 Renter occupied
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- 39,167 1-unit detached
- 3,503 1-unit attached
- 59,387 multi-unit
- 1,435 mobile homes
Median home value: $349,800
Median rent: $1,734
Compiled by staff researcher Rachel Friend. Data from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-Year Estimates Subject Tables, Tables S0601, S1501, S1903, S2301, DP04
The exterior of Texas Stadium is bathed in light following NFL football action between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions on Nov. 20, 2005. The Cowboys won the game, 20-7.
Tom Fox
A brief history
Early settlement in the area dates to farming communities in the 1850s like Kit, Sowers, Twin Wells and more, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
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Irving itself dates to 1903, when J.O. Schulze and Otis Brown founded the town on 80 acres of land along a proposed rail route, per TSHA. The town incorporated a little over a decade later in 1914.
For the first half of the 20th century, Irving was a small, slow-growing farm town with a population of around 2,600 by 1950. A post-war development boom transformed Irving into a large suburban community with its population exploding to nearly 46,000 by 1960 and more than 100,000 by 1970.
That development brought lots of business to the city, including the world’s largest trucking terminal in 1964. By 1971, the Dallas Cowboys had moved to Texas Stadium in Irving where they’d play for nearly 40 years. The team’s five Super Bowl titles all came while they were based in Irving.
Irving also hosted the PGA Tour event named after local golf legend Byron Nelson from 1983 until 2018, when the tournament moved to Trinity Forest Golf Club in South Dallas.
The 1970s saw Dallas-Fort Worth Airport open directly adjacent to Irving as well as the birth of Las Colinas. The master-planned community would go on to become a 12,000-acre entertainment district with lakes, hotels, music venues and more.
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Today, more than a quarter of a million people live in Irving, making it one of North Texas’ most important suburbs. It also hosts a number of Fortune 500 companies, including pharmaceutical giant McKesson, the largest company based in D-FW.
Related: In 50 years, Las Colinas goes from family ranch to bigger jobs hub than downtown Dallas
Aerial view of Las Colinas on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Irving, TX.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Notable landmarks
Heritage Crossing District: This area in downtown Irving is home to much of the city’s past. Heritage Park, just off Main Street, boasts some of Irving’s oldest buildings. The surrounding area also offers various retail and dining options.
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Las Colinas: The master-planned community has a bit of everything, with residential areas, tall towers, hotels, golf courses and parks. It is also home to the Toyota Music Factory, which hosts live music events and more. But most unique are its numerous small lakes, most notably Lake Carolyn and the adjoining Mandalay Canal.
Elvia Ojeda brings a platter of sausage kolaches from the kitchen at Alma Cafe, a new Latina-owned coffee shop, in Irving, TX, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Things to do
Bars and restaurants
Parks and trails
Irving has more than 2,000 acres of public parkland across 80 parks. Here’s a few of those:
- Bird’s Fort Trail Park
- Campion Trail
- Mountain Creek Preserve
- Northgate Park
- Running Bear Park
- Trinity View Park
- West Park
The new Ruth Paine House Mueum opens Nov. 6 in Irving. Lee Harvey Oswald played with his daughter under this tree the day before he assassinated President Kennedy.
AP
Museums
- Heritage House Museum
- Irving Arts Center
- Ruth Paine House Museum
Gondolas move along the water before stopping for passengers at the revived Canal Fest, on Oct. 19, 2013 at Las Colinas in Irving.
Ben Torres – Special Contributor
A fun fact
You can do a Venice-inspired gondola ride along the Mandalay Canal in the Las Colinas area. Greg Mohr, who runs Irving-based company Gondola Adventures, told Texas Monthly in 2026 that he and his fellow gondoliers have seen around 10,000 marriage proposals on the waters of Las Colinas over the years.