City comparison · 1,264 km apart

Fort Worth vs Tallahassee: which should you move to?

Fort Worth or Tallahassee? Housing, rent, crime, climate, income, taxes and transit, side by side, from each city's own published figures. Written for someone deciding where to live, not for a ranking.

The Fort Worth skyline from the Trinity Trails
Texas · United States

Fort Worth

Photograph: The Fort Worth skyline from the Trinity Trails · DerekAyala27 · CC BY 4.0 · source
The Historic Capitol and the Capitol tower
Florida · United States

Tallahassee

Photograph: The Historic Capitol and the Capitol tower · Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The short answer

The fastest-growing US city of more than a million, 1,028,117 people, and Florida's capital, a college town of 204,902 growing slowly, both pricing in US dollars in states with no income tax, so the figures net directly, though a week apart: Fort Worth at Freddie Mac's 7.03% for 24 September 2026 and Tallahassee at 7.28% for 1 October. Both prices are medians of single-family houses sold, over different areas and months: the NTREIS median inside Fort Worth in August, $327,000, and Florida Realtors' median for the four-county Tallahassee metro in June, $364,950, because none is published for the City of Tallahassee. Mortgage, property tax and insurance come to about $2,516 a month in Fort Worth and $2,733 in Tallahassee, or $2,684 at the same rate, roughly 37% of Fort Worth's median household income of $82,503 and 58% of Tallahassee's $56,511, the lowest of any city this site compares. On Zillow's index, which models every home, the two cities are level, $295,800 for the City of Fort Worth, and Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444. A homesteaded owner pays about 1.69% of the median in Tallahassee against 1.54% in Fort Worth, and insurance is budgeted at $220 a month against $350. On the same FBI counts for 2025 Fort Worth is the lower on every line, 375 violent offenses per 100,000 against 635, 2,226 property offenses against 2,405 and a homicide rate of about 7.6 against 9.8. Choose Fort Worth for a job market about six times the size, aerospace, airlines and freight rail, higher household income, lower crime and DFW. Choose Tallahassee for state government and the universities, a far lower uninsured rate, a milder winter, few 100F days and a short commute, and ask the City for the fire services fee on the utility bill first.

Population
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
City population1,028,117 (2025)204,902 (2025)Not directly comparable
Metro population8,477,157 (2025)397,442 (2025)Not directly comparable
Five-year growth
Growth is pressure on rents and roads as much as it is opportunity, so it is reported without a winner.
11.9% (2020-2025)4.4% (2020-2025)Not directly comparable
01: Housing

What a home costs in each

The figures the two cities' rent-versus-buy and mortgage calculators run on, read from the same tables.

Housing costs
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
Benchmark home price
MLS® HPI or equivalent benchmark. Lower is treated as the advantage, which is the buyer's view rather than the owner's.
$327,000 (August 2026)$364,950 (June 2026)Fort Worth
Detached house benchmark
Fort Worth and Tallahassee publish a single house index rather than a composite, so the two rows repeat.
$327,000$364,950Fort Worth
Apartment or condominium benchmark$330,000$179,610Tallahassee
Two-bedroom rent$1,317/mo (median, September 2026)$1,309/mo (median, September 2026)Tallahassee
One-bedroom rent$1,141/mo$1,100/moTallahassee
Two-bedroom rent against median income
A year of two-bedroom rent as a share of the median household income below. A household paying the median rent out of the median income is a fiction, but it is the same fiction in both columns and it crosses currencies.
19.2% of a year's income27.8% of a year's incomeFort Worth
Mortgage payment on the benchmark, 20% down
30-year amortization on American monthly compounding, the convention in both.
$1,746/mo at 7.03%$1,998/mo at 7.28%Fort Worth
Price to household income
Benchmark price divided by the median household income below. A ratio is comparable across currencies; the dollars are not.
4.0×6.5×Fort Worth
Property tax on the benchmark home
The effective rate on market value, which is what the two rates have in common and what the Advantage column is decided on; the bills are in each city's own dollars.
$5,046/yr (1.543%, 2025)$6,182/yr (1.694%, 2025)Fort Worth
Transfer tax on the benchmark home
Compared as a share of the price. Where the seller pays it, it is a cost of leaving rather than arriving.
None$2,555 (seller pays)Fort Worth
Rent control
A cap protects a sitting tenant and does nothing for the next lease, so neither column is simply better.
Forbidden by state lawForbidden by state lawNot directly comparable

Fort Worth: About 1.54% of value for a homesteaded owner, worked out on the $327,000 median single-family sale price. A house in the City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth ISD, the school district more of the city's residents live in than any other, is taxed by six units for 2025, which add to 2.18908 per $100 before any exemption. Each takes its own homestead exemption off the appraised value first, except one: Fort Worth ISD takes the state's $140,000 and nothing more, Tarrant County College 1% with the state's $5,000 floor, Tarrant County, the City and JPS Health Network 20% each, and the Tarrant Regional Water District, which pays for the Fort Worth Floodway, none at all. So Tarrant County levies 0.1862 per $100 on $261,600 after an exemption of $65,400, $487; City of Fort Worth levies 0.67 per $100 on $261,600 after an exemption of $65,400, $1,753; Fort Worth ISD levies 1.0291 per $100 on $187,000 after an exemption of $140,000, $1,924; Tarrant County College levies 0.11228 per $100 on $322,000 after an exemption of $5,000, $362; JPS Health Network levies 0.165 per $100 on $261,600 after an exemption of $65,400, $432; Tarrant Regional Water District levies 0.0265 per $100 on the full $327,000, with no homestead exemption, $87. The six come to $5,044 a year, 1.54% of the price. Without a homestead, as a landlord or a buyer who never files, the same house owes $7,158. In Keller ISD, the district the second most residents live in, the school line is 1.0852 per $100 after the same $140,000, and the same house comes to $5,149, 1.57%. On $295,800, Zillow's August 2026 value for a typical Fort Worth home, the Fort Worth ISD stack comes to $4,425, 1.50%, lower because the school district's flat exemption is a larger share of a cheaper house. These are the 2025 rates, the bills due by 31 January 2026. The City has since adopted 0.70565 for 2026, but when these figures were retrieved the Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector's table and the appraisal district's still ran to 2025, so the calculators stay on 2025 until all six units' 2026 rates are published. Tallahassee: About 1.69% of the price for a homesteaded owner, worked out on the $364,950 single-family median for the four-county Tallahassee metro, which is lower than the 19.2060 mills a house in the City of Tallahassee is charged because of Florida's homestead exemption rather than any assessment lag. Nine levies make it, one of them at zero: Leon County 8.3144; the County's Emergency Medical Services levy 0.7500; the Children's Services Council of Leon County 0.3477; the County's voted debt 0.0000; the School Board 5.3660 (3.1180 required by the state, 0.7480 discretionary and 1.5000 for capital outlay); the Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0207; and the City 4.4072, for 2025. Outside the city the same stack without the City's line is 14.7988, and inside the Downtown Improvement Authority's district it is 20.2060. The School Board's lines are charged on the price less $25,000, $339,950, and the rest on the price less a second slice as well, $314,950 on the base amounts, so a homesteaded buyer's first bill is about $6,183. Without a homestead, as a landlord or a buyer who never files, the same house owes $7,009. That second slice is indexed to inflation: the Department of Revenue published $25,722 for 2025, which brings the same bill to $6,173; this page uses the $25,000 base, like every Florida page on this site. For 2026 the County adopted 8.3144 and the EMS levy 0.7500 again, the City's 4.4072 and the School Board's 5.3430 were tentative when read, and the other two were not read, so no 2026 total is given. The exemption is not automatic: you file with the Leon County Property Appraiser by 1 March. There is no fire, stormwater or garbage line on a City tax bill: the City charges stormwater at $11.00 and garbage at $28.19 a month on the utility bill, $470 a year together, with a fire services fee beside them whose amount this site could not read. The seller's tax bill is not a guide to yours. Save Our Homes caps a homesteaded property's assessed value at 3% growth a year, and that cap resets to full market value the January after the sale, so a long-tenured owner can be taxed on a fraction of what you will be taxed on for the same house. Ask the property appraiser what the assessment would be at your purchase price, not what the current bill is.

02: Crime and safety

How safe each city is, by the numbers it publishes

Police-reported figures for the most recent year each force or statistics agency has released. Rates describe a whole city or metro area, and the spread between neighbourhoods inside one city is usually wider than the gap between the two cities.

Crime
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
Crime Severity Index
Statistics Canada's weighted index for the metropolitan area, where 100 is Canada in 2006. American cities have no equivalent series.
Not publishedNot publishedNot directly comparable
Violent crime per 100,000375 (2025)635 (2025)Fort Worth
Property crime per 100,0002,226 (2025)2,405 (2025)Fort Worth
Homicides
Counts, not rates, and a single year in a small city moves a long way on chance alone. What each figure covers is under the table.
78 (2025)20 (2025)Not directly comparable
Fort Worth

On the FBI's definitions, violent offenses in Fort Worth went from 5,428 in 2021 to 4,876 in 2022, 4,849 in 2023, 4,641 in 2024 and 3,859 in 2025, a 17% drop in the last year and 29% in four, and property offenses from 25,186 to 26,275, 26,098 and a peak of 27,290 in 2024, then 22,886, 16% below it. Motor vehicle theft rose from 3,687 in 2021 to 5,157 in 2024 and fell to 3,616 in 2025, down 30%. In 2025 the CDE shows aggravated assaults down 18% (3,230 to 2,656), rapes down 18% (613 to 505), robberies down 15% (726 to 620), burglaries down 16% and larcenies down 12%, while murders rose 8% (72 to 78), the one violent measure that went up. Eddie Garcia, Dallas's former police chief, took over the department in September 2025 after months without a permanent chief, and FWPD's own figures for January through August 2026 against the same months of 2025 show robberies down from 436 to 269 and aggravated assaults from 1,842 to 1,557 as well as the drop in murders (WFAA). The 2025 CDE counts were read on 30 September 2026 from a feed last refreshed on 15 September and can still be revised.

What the rates cover: Computed: 3,859 violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in the FBI Crime Data Explorer's summarized data for the Fort Worth Police Department (ORI TX2201200) in calendar 2025, divided by the 1,028,117 Vintage 2025 city population. On the CDE's own agency population of 1,030,410 the rate is also 375. That is the lowest of the Texas cities this site compares, against 532 in San Antonio, 577 in Dallas and 890 in Houston. No FWPD total on this definition was found in anything fetched; the city's quarterly crime reports, as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram described them, count crimes against persons, a broader group that includes assaults and sex offenses, and put them 12% lower in the first half of 2025 than a year earlier.

Homicides: 78 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in 2025 in the FBI CDE, against 72 in 2024, about 7.6 per 100,000 on the city population. Spectrum News, reading city data in February 2026, also put the year's homicides 8% above 2024. Most of the rise came early: the city's quarterly reports counted 20 homicides in January through March 2025 against 9 a year earlier and 43 in the first half against 31 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). The CDE series has fallen from 118 in 2021, and 2026 has turned the other way: FWPD counted 36 murders through 31 August against 54 in the same months of 2025 (WFAA).

Tallahassee

Down from a 2023 peak, though the rate is still high. On the FBI CDE's figures violent offenses were 1,587 in 2022, 1,732 in 2023, 1,383 in 2024 and 1,302 in 2025, about 785, 852, 678 and 635 per 100,000 on each year's Vintage 2025 population, so 2025 was 25% below 2023. Property offenses peaked later, at 5,804 in 2024, and fell 15% to 4,927 in 2025. FDLE's incident-based file shows the same direction, 1,806 violent offenses in 2023, 1,441 in 2024 and 1,363 in 2025, and for 2026 so far: January to August brought 783 violent offenses against 893 in the same months of 2025, down 12%, and 2,985 property offenses against 3,450, down 13%. The CDE has January to July 2026, 737 violent offenses against 769, down 4%. Tallahassee Reports, tabulating the police department's daily incident data, found total incidents down 22.6% in 2025, property crime down 28.3% and violent crime down 8.9%, but assaults in September to December up 55.8% on the same months of 2024, 299 against 192. The CDE counts were read on 2 October 2026 from a feed last refreshed on 15 September and can still be revised.

What the rates cover: Computed: 1,302 violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) in the FBI Crime Data Explorer's summarized data for the Tallahassee Police Department (ORI FL0370300) in calendar 2025, divided by the 204,902 Vintage 2025 city population; on the CDE's own agency population of 206,918 the rate is 629. The rate is high, for Florida and for the country. It is the highest 2025 rate of the Florida cities this site compares, above Jacksonville's 514, St. Petersburg's 502, Tampa's 375.5 and Miami's 359 and about five times Port St. Lucie's 130; only Orlando's 835.8, which is for 2022, the last full year the FBI has for that city, is higher. The CDE's rate for all reporting Florida agencies in 2025 is 248 per 100,000 and for the nation 329, so Tallahassee's is about two and a half times the state's and nearly twice the national. On the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's incident-based (FIBRS) file, which counts somewhat more (its forcible sex offenses include fondling), the department recorded 1,363 violent offenses in 2025, 663 per 100,000 on FDLE's population, the second-highest of the 46 Florida agencies serving 100,000 or more people, behind the Fort Lauderdale Police Department (675) and ahead of Gainesville's (635), another college town; a few large agencies' 2025 rows in that file, Orlando's among them, are plainly incomplete. The Leon County Sheriff's Office, which polices the unincorporated county, recorded 500 per 100,000.

Homicides: 20 murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in 2025 in the FBI CDE, about 9.8 per 100,000 on the city population, against the CDE's 3.0 for Florida and 4.3 for the nation, and against St. Petersburg's 9 (3.4 per 100,000) and Tampa's 17 (4.1), in a city half Tampa's size; Jacksonville had 80. FDLE's file has 21. The CDE series is 15 in 2022, 21 in 2023, 16 in 2024 and 20 in 2025. Tallahassee Reports, tabulating the police department's daily incident data, counted 18 fatal shootings in 2025 against 26 in 2024. FDLE's file has 7 homicides in January to August 2026, against 17 in the same months of 2025.

03: Climate

Winters, summers and what the weather can do to a house

Climate normals
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
January mean7.7 °C11.2 °CNot directly comparable
July mean29.5 °C28.1 °CNot directly comparable
Precipitation a year898 mm1,494 mmNot directly comparable
Snowfall a year4 cm0 cmNot directly comparable
Sunshine a year2,850 hoursNot publishedNot directly comparable
Fort Worth

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (station USW00013961), the city-owned general aviation field inside the city about 5 miles north-northwest of downtown: January mean 45.8F, July mean 85.1F, annual mean 65.9F, 35.34 in of precipitation. Meacham's normals carry no snowfall, so the 1.6 in of snow stored here is the normal at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (USW00003927), about 20 miles northeast of downtown, where the National Weather Service keeps the metro's official record. August is the warmest month by a tenth of a degree at 85.2F, with a mean high of 95.9F; July's mean high is 95.7F and January's mean low is 35.3F. October (4.46 in) is the wettest month, then May and June (4.02 in each), and January (2.05 in) the driest. The normals count 105.5 days a year at 90F or above, 24.1 at 100F or above and 32.8 nights at or below freezing. DFW Airport averages 46.3F in January and 85.7F in July with 37.01 in of rain, 20.3 days at 100F or above and 29.2 nights at or below freezing. Converted here to 7.7 C, 29.5 C, 898 mm and 4.1 cm. Those 24.1 days at 100F are more than Love Field's 22.4 for Dallas and fewer only than Austin's 28.7 among the Texas cities this site compares, although the July mean is 1.2 C below Dallas's. Sunshine hours are the older 1961-1990 NCDC means that Current Results lists for Dallas (2,850 hours, 61% of possible, and 135 clear days); it lists no separate Fort Worth figure, and the 1991-2020 normals do not include sunshine.

Hazards: Hail is the costly routine hazard. On the evening of 5 May 1995 a supercell dropped hail up to softball size on Mayfest, the outdoor festival on the bank of the Trinity River, where more than 10,000 people were caught in the open: more than 400 were hurt and 60 seriously enough to be hospitalized, though no one died at the festival. The storms went on to kill one driver in a swollen creek in western Tarrant County and 19 people in Dallas County, most of them in floodwater, and the National Weather Service puts the damage at about $2 billion, one of the costliest hailstorms in history. Cotality counted more than 235,000 Texas homes hit by damaging hail in 2025, far more than in any other state, with the risk concentrated in Dallas-Fort Worth and the other Texas Triangle metros. Tornadoes have hit the center of the city. At 6:18 pm on 28 March 2000 a tornado touched down near Castleberry High School, about 4 miles west of downtown, and tracked east along West 7th Street, nearly destroying the Cash America building and heavily damaging Mallick Tower before it weakened over downtown, where debris broke 80% of the windows in the Bank One building and 1,300 of the 5,000 in the Union Pacific Resources building. Two people died and about 80 were injured, 6 of them hospitalized; the Texas Tech damage survey rated it F2. A second tornado later that evening did F3 damage in Arlington and Grand Prairie without a death, and NOAA counts the storms of 28 and 29 March across the South at $690 million ($1.27 billion in 2024 dollars). Flooding shaped the city's form. In May 1949 a night of 6 to 12 in of rain overflowed the Trinity, killing 10 people and leaving more than 13,000 homeless, and the Army Corps of Engineers later built the 27 miles of levees of the Fort Worth Floodway, which the Tarrant Regional Water District maintains. The Corps' $1.16 billion Central City project, known locally as Panther Island, is to carry the river around downtown through new bypass channels and protect more than 2,400 acres; work on the northern half of the channel is due to begin late in 2026 and the project to be finished in 2032. Flash floods on the creeks are the more frequent danger: on 21 and 22 August 2022, 9.56 in (243 mm) fell at Meacham over the two days, 5.11 in (130 mm) of it on the 22nd, and the National Weather Service measured 8.41 in in Fort Worth, with flooding reported from Como and the John T. White neighborhood to West 7th Street; the city's 2016 floodplain plan counted more than $1 billion of stormwater improvements needed. Heat is the constant. The normals give Meacham 24.1 days a year at or above 100F (37.8 C). The summer of 2026 has been among its hottest: 55 days at 100F or above through 27 September, fourth in its record after 72 in 2011, 64 in 2023 and 62 in 1998, and 31 in a row from 3 August to 2 September, the longest run it has recorded; its highest reading is 112F (44.4 C), on 12 July 1998 and 4 September 2000. At DFW Airport the National Weather Service counts 52 days of 100F in 2026 through 22 September, tied for fifth, against the record of 71 in 2011. Cold is rare and badly handled. Winter Storm Uri took Meacham to -2F (-18.9 C) on 16 February 2021, tying 31 January 1949 for the lowest in its record, and DFW Airport also fell to -2F, the lowest there since 1953, with 5.0 in (12.7 cm) of snow over the storm. ERCOT cut power across the state grid from 15 to 18 February and about 4.5 million customers lost it at the worst; Texas counted 246 deaths from the storm, 11 of them in Tarrant County. In January 2026 Winter Storm Fern brought 2.4 in (6.1 cm) of snow and sleet to DFW Airport and a low of 11F (-11.7 C) at Meacham on the 25th.

Tallahassee

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for Tallahassee Regional Airport (station USW00093805), the city's airport about 6 miles southwest of the city's center point, which is the National Weather Service's station for the city and has full temperature and precipitation normals: January mean 52.2F, July mean 82.5F, annual mean 68.4F, 58.81 in of precipitation. The airport station's normals carry no snowfall, so the 0.0 in of snow stored here is the normal at Tallahassee AP (USC00088756), the cooperative station at the same airport. July is the warmest month by a tenth of a degree, ahead of August's 82.4F, with a mean high of 92.1F; January's mean low is 40.5F. June (7.76 in), August (7.60 in) and July (7.14 in) are the wettest months, and June through September bring 27.41 in, 47% of the year, so the rain is spread more evenly than in peninsular Florida; November (3.10 in) is the driest. The normals count 102.6 days a year at 90F or above, 2.9 at 100F or above, 27.0 nights at or below freezing and 1.4 at or below 20F. Converted here to 11.2 C, 28.1 C, 1,494 mm and 0 cm. The cooperative station's own temperatures run a little cooler in winter: 51.0F in January, 82.9F in July, 59.82 in a year and 128.3 days at 90F. Tallahassee has the coldest winter of the Florida cities this site compares, a degree below Jacksonville's 12.3 C and five and a half below St. Petersburg's 16.8 C, and its summer is as hot as any: its 102.6 days at 90F are fewer than Cape Coral's 120.3, but it averages 2.9 days at 100F, where Jacksonville averages under one, Hialeah 0.2 and St. Petersburg, Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral none. Its rain is third, after Hialeah's 1,852 mm and Miami's 1,712 mm. Sunshine is not stored: Current Results' US city table, the source and 1961-1990 basis of the other US profiles' sunshine hours, lists no Tallahassee station, and the 1991-2020 normals do not include sunshine.

Hazards: Wind, falling trees and the power cuts that follow them, more than water. Tallahassee is inland, which is why its airport serves as a staging area for hurricane relief (Wikipedia), so storm surge is not its hazard, but it is a city of big trees, and every recent storm has been measured in power outages. Hurricane Hermine struck directly in September 2016 and left about 80% of the city without power, including Florida State University; Hurricane Michael passed about 50 miles to the west in October 2018 after coming ashore as a category 5 and left 95% of Leon County without power (Wikipedia). The airport's highest gust since 2010 is 70.9 mph, on 10 October 2018 during Michael, followed by 67.1 mph on 26 September 2024, the day the airport closed for Hurricane Helene, which came ashore that night near Perry, to the southeast, the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Big Bend (Wikipedia), and 66 mph on 10 May 2024, the day two EF2 tornadoes crossed the city, one of them through downtown at 1,400 yards wide (Wikipedia). Heat is the everyday hazard: 102.6 days a year at 90F or above on the normals and 2.9 at 100F (37.8 C), a temperature the St. Petersburg, Port St. Lucie and Cape Coral normals never reach. The airport reached 105F on 15 June 2011, its highest reading since 2010 and Wikipedia's record for the city, and 104F on 24 June 2022; it counted 108 days at 90F in 2025 and 114 in 2026 through 29 September, three of them at 100F or above. Unlike the peninsula's cities it freezes: 27 nights a year on the normals, 27 in 2025 and 21 so far in 2026, with a low of 14F on 11 January 2010 and 18F on 2 February 2026. Snow is rare but not unknown: the airport measured 1.5 inches on 21 January 2025 and 0.4 more the next day, the city's largest snowfall since 1958 on Wikipedia's list of its measurable snows. Low-lying streets near downtown, notably along Franklin Boulevard, flood in very heavy rain (Wikipedia).

04: Income, jobs and taxes

What people earn and what the government takes

Income and taxes
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
Median household income$82,503 USD (2024)$56,511 USD (2024)Fort Worth
Unemployment rate4.6% (July 2026)5.1% (July 2026)Fort Worth
Sales tax8.25%7.5%Tallahassee
Top marginal income tax
Federal plus provincial or state. The American figure leaves out payroll taxes and the cost of health insurance, both of which a Canadian household covers through the tax it pays here.
37%37%Even
Income tax on $100,000, single filer
Computed from each jurisdiction's brackets at a single filer's $100,000 and rounded to the dollar, so a gap of a dollar is rounding rather than tax. Two cities in one province or state are shown as Even, because there the two cells describe the same tax and whatever separates them is method.
$13,449 USD$13,449 USDEven
Fort Worth

BLS counted 1,222,100 nonfarm jobs in the Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine Metropolitan Division in August 2026 (not seasonally adjusted, preliminary), up 17,800 or 1.5% on the year. Professional and business services grew fastest (+5.0%, to 159,300), then mining, logging and construction (+4.8%, to 92,100), leisure and hospitality (+4.4%, to 145,500) and transportation and warehousing (+2.1%, to 102,600), while financial activities (-2.0%), information (-1.8%) and government (-0.6%, to 136,000) shrank; federal employment fell 9.0%, from 16,700 to 15,200. Manufacturing held at 110,000, of which aerospace product and parts manufacturing was 23,600, up 1.3%. The seasonally adjusted series (SMS48231040000000001) was 1,223,400 in August 2026, 1.5% above August 2025. The Texas Comptroller credits Lockheed Martin with about 49,000 direct and indirect workers in Fort Worth and a $9 billion regional impact, and 25,579 direct employees across Texas, and counts 4,553 direct and 21,266 total jobs and $2.75 billion of state GDP for Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in 2025. Hillwood's annual report puts AllianceTexas's economic impact at $12.9 billion in 2025 and $142.9 billion since it opened in 1989, and Hillwood says the Comptroller has recognized it as the primary inland port for the southwestern United States. American Airlines, with 103,440 staff in 2024, and BNSF Railway, with about 36,000, are both headquartered in the city (Wikipedia).

Main sectors: Aerospace and defense (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, which builds the F-35 at Air Force Plant 4; Bell Textron, headquartered in the city; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, the former Carswell Air Force Base), Airlines and freight rail (American Airlines, headquartered in the city, with its largest hub at DFW Airport; BNSF Railway, headquartered in the city), Logistics and advanced manufacturing at AllianceTexas in far north Fort Worth, which Hillwood says holds 602 companies and 73,134 jobs, Trade, transportation and utilities, the division's largest sector by payroll jobs (289,300 in August 2026), Health care and education (JPS Health Network, Cook Children's Medical Center, Texas Christian University and its medical school).

Property tax is the local levy that matters. Tax Foundation puts Texas's effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes at 1.40%, and school districts must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value from their tax. On 15 September 2026 the City Council adopted a $3.33 billion operating budget for fiscal 2027 unanimously and raised the city's rate by 3.565 cents to 70.565 cents per $100 of taxable value on a 7 to 4 vote, to help close a $94 million shortfall. The city says the average homeowner's bill will still fall, by $8.19 to $1,643.64 on a home valued at $232,925, because the Tarrant Appraisal District has not reappraised residential property since 2024 and the average value dropped; the city's total taxable value rose only 0.89%, to $130.2 billion (Fort Worth Report, Community Impact, CBS Texas). The budget also raises stormwater, water, sewer, solid waste and environmental fees by about $7 a month for the average resident. The county, school district, JPS hospital district, Tarrant County College and other levies on the same bill belong to the housing layer.

Tallahassee

BLS counted 200,500 nonfarm jobs in the Tallahassee MSA in August 2026 (not seasonally adjusted, preliminary), up 2,500 or 1.3% on the year. Professional and business services (+1,600, or 5.4%, to 31,100) and leisure and hospitality (+1,100, or 5.7%, to 20,300) added the most, and private education and health services 400 (to 27,600), while government lost 400 (-0.7%, to 60,500): local government 300, to 14,600, and federal government 200, to 2,000, with state government up 100, to 43,900. Government is 30.2% of all jobs in the metro, and it sets the rhythm of the year: state government jobs dropped from 47,300 in April 2026 to 43,300 in July as the universities' terms ended, and it averaged 46,200 of 202,000 jobs in 2025 (22.9%). The City's 2025 financial report lists eleven principal employers for the city, led by the State (26,831), FSU (16,207), Tallahassee Memorial (5,696), the school board (4,300) and the City (4,000), which together employ 67,609; the report's earlier lists counted Leon County rather than the city, so they are not compared here. Most residents work in the city: 88.1% of the city's 103,272 workers worked inside it in 2024 and only 6.1% outside Leon County, against 54% outside the city for Cape Coral. 11.4% worked from home, and the mean commute for the rest was 19 minutes, six shorter than St. Petersburg's and 13 shorter than Cape Coral's, with 1.9% spending an hour or more (ACS 2024 1-year, B08007, B08008, B08013, B08301 and B08303).

Main sectors: State government: the State of Florida employs 26,831 people in the city, the largest employer by far (City of Tallahassee), and state government, which in BLS's count includes the state universities, held 43,900 of the metro's 200,500 nonfarm jobs in August 2026, 21.9%, and 47,300 (23.0%) in April with classes in session, Higher education: Florida State University (16,207 employees in 2025-26, 7,723 of them full- or part-time faculty and staff and the rest graduate assistants, student assistants and temporary workers), Florida A&M University (1,794) and Tallahassee State College (1,468), with 65,657 students between them in fall 2024, Health care: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, the region's nonprofit hospital system, is the third-largest employer (5,696), in a metro sector (private education and health services) of 27,600 jobs, Local government and schools: the Leon County School Board (4,300), the City of Tallahassee (4,000), which also runs the electric, gas and water utilities and the airport, and Leon County (1,957), in a local government sector of 14,600, Professional and business services, the law firms, lobbyists and associations that cluster around the Capitol (Wikipedia), with 31,100 metro jobs, up 1,600 or 5.4% on the year, the most of any sector; and retail and warehousing, with Amazon (2,256), Walmart (1,700) and Publix (1,400) among the city's eleven largest employers.

Property tax is the local levy that matters. Tax Foundation puts Florida's effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes at 0.78%, and a homestead exemption takes as much as $50,000 off a permanent residence's taxable value and qualifies it for the Save Our Homes limit on how fast its assessment can rise (Florida Department of Revenue). A house in the City of Tallahassee (Leon County tax authority code 1) pays 19.2060 mills for 2025, the rates the Leon County Property Appraiser certified to the Department of Revenue: Leon County 8.3144, the county's EMS levy 0.7500, the Children's Services Council of Leon 0.3477, the school board 5.3660 (3.1180 required local effort, 0.7480 discretionary and 1.5000 capital outlay), the Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0207 and the City 4.4072. The City lowered its rate from the 4.4200 it levied for 2024 and proposed again, but 4.4072 is still 4.7% above the rolled-back rate of 4.2080, and with taxable values up the City's levy rose 9.0% to $81.8 million; the County has held 8.3144 since 2012 (Leon County Property Appraiser). The 2024 total was 19.2379. Downtown Improvement Authority parcels pay one mill more (20.2060), and unincorporated Leon County, which has no city levy, pays 14.7988. That puts the city near Miami's 19.9878, Tampa's 19.8428 and St. Petersburg's 19.9197, a little above Hialeah's 18.6468 and above Cape Coral's 15.3806, as those cities' housing layers carry them. The school board voted in May 2026 to ask the county to put an additional operating mill for 2027 to 2031 on the November ballot to raise teacher pay (WCTV); whether the commission did was not confirmed. Zillow's typical home value for the city was $294,444 in August 2026, up 1.4% on the year and one of only two rises among the nine Florida cities this site compares (Miami's is the other), and its observed rent index $1,470 a month, up 1.5%, the lowest of the nine; only Jacksonville's typical home value ($285,103) is lower. The bills, exemptions, insurance and fees that follow from these figures belong to the housing layer.

05: Getting around

Whether you need a car

Transit
MeasureFort WorthTallahasseeAdvantage
SystemTrinity Metro buses (147 fixed-route and 76 demand-response vehicles), the 27.2-mile TEXRail commuter line with 9 stations from T&P Station downtown through North Richland Hills and Grapevine to DFW Airport Terminal B (opened January 2019), the Trinity Railway Express to Dallas run with DART, ZIPZONE on-demand zones and the downtown Blue Line circulator; Fort Worth is the only full member, with Forest Hill, Grapevine, North Richland Hills and River Oaks partial membersStarMetro, the City of Tallahassee's bus system, founded as TalTran in 1973 when the City bought the private bus company, and renamed in 2005 (Wikipedia). It runs 14 weekday fixed routes, two call-ahead FLEX zones and a peak-hour express, with fewer routes on Saturdays and a separate four-route network on Sundays and weekday evenings, nearly all of them meeting downtown at C.K. Steele Plaza, and Dial-A-Ride for riders with disabilities. It also runs Florida State University's campus routes under a contract with the university, free to the public and operated with battery-electric buses, and K-12 students ride free (Wikipedia). There is no rail transit or bus rapid transit, and no intercity passenger rail since Amtrak's Sunset Limited stopped east of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Greyhound, Megabus and RedCoach serve the city by coach, and Interstate 10 runs across its north side (Wikipedia).Not directly comparable
Commute by public transit0.7% (2024)3.2% (2024)Tallahassee
Walk or cycle to work1.1% (2024)5.3% (2024)Tallahassee
AirportDallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), about 20 miles northeast of downtown Fort Worth and midway between the two cities, handled 85,660,127 passengers in 2025, 2.5% fewer than 2024's 87,817,864, per the airport's December 2025 traffic report; American Airlines, headquartered in Fort Worth, carried 82.6% of them, and TEXRail runs from downtown to Terminal B. Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, owned by the city about 5 miles north-northwest of downtown, has no scheduled airline service and serves general aviation; its 1933 American Airways hangar is on the National Register of Historic Places (Wikipedia).Tallahassee International Airport (TLH), owned and run by the City and named Bobby Bowden-Tallahassee International Airport in April 2026 after the longtime FSU football coach, about 5 miles southwest of downtown (Wikipedia). It handled 936,448 airline passengers in the City's fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), slightly below fiscal 2024's 944,835 and above 2019's 851,689 (City of Tallahassee), with American and Delta the main carriers to Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami and no scheduled international service (Wikipedia). Wikipedia counts it among the smaller commercial airports in Florida.Not directly comparable
Fort Worth

Trinity Metro carried 6,180,600 unlinked trips in 2025, 4,554,400 of them by bus and 906,800 on TEXRail, and about 22,100 a weekday in the second quarter of 2026, 2,800 of them on TEXRail (APTA ridership reports, as cited by Wikipedia; APTA's PDFs refused the fetcher), against 30.7 million for VIA in San Antonio, 52.8 million for DART and 78.0 million for Houston's METRO. The Trinity Railway Express, which Trinity Metro runs with DART between downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas, carried 1,337,600 trips in 2025 (APTA, same source). The system is paid for by a half-cent sales tax Fort Worth has levied since 1984, half what DART's and METRO's cities pay. TEXRail runs every 30 minutes until 7 pm and hourly after, and a 2.1-mile extension to the Medical District on the Near Southside, estimated at about $167 million, is due to break ground by the end of 2026 and open in 2029 (Wikipedia).

Tallahassee

StarMetro carried 1,762,062 unlinked trips in 2025 on the National Transit Database's monthly ridership file (Federal Transit Administration), 1,657,717 of them on its buses and the rest on demand-response service. That is about a third of its peak of 4,933,682 in 2010 and below the 3,624,805 of 2019; ridership fell to 1.5 million in 2020 and 2021 with FSU's campus routes suspended, recovered to 2.6 million in 2023, and has fallen since, to 2.25 million in 2024 and 1.76 million in 2025, and January to August 2026 ran 8.7% below the same months of 2025. The file does not separate the campus routes, and why ridership has fallen since 2023 was not found. For comparison, St. Petersburg's PSTA carried 10.4 million trips in 2025, Lee County's LeeTran 1,969,906 and Port St. Lucie's Area Regional Transit 825,588 (their profiles, from the same file).

06: Daily life

Health care, schools and what each city is like

Fort Worth

Health care

Care is paid for through employer or marketplace insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and Texas is one of the ten states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (KFF). It had the highest uninsured rate of any state in 2024: 16.7%, or 5,152,427 of 30,799,312 people, against 8.2% nationally and 12.0% in Georgia, the next highest, on the ACS 2024 1-year estimates. The City of Fort Worth's rate was 18.9% (189,692 of 1,003,516), Tarrant County's 16.9% and the metro's 16.2%. JPS Health Network, the Tarrant County Hospital District, runs John Peter Smith Hospital, the county's public hospital, a Level I trauma center and the only psychiatric emergency site in the county; on 16 April 2026 it broke ground on a $1.5 billion replacement hospital at South Main and East Morphy streets, part of a $2.5 billion building plan backed by an $800 million bond from 2018, which will take it from 582 beds to more than 740 when it opens in 2030 (Fort Worth Report). Cook Children's Medical Center has 452 licensed beds and a Level II pediatric trauma center (Wikipedia). TCU's Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine took its first class in 2019. This file did not verify a wait time figure for primary or specialist care.

Education

Fort Worth is served by Fort Worth ISD and, in parts, by fourteen other districts, among them Keller, Northwest, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Crowley and Arlington (the 2020 Census school district map, as cited by Wikipedia). Fort Worth ISD is now under state control: after a campus received a fifth straight failing rating, Education Commissioner Mike Morath decided in October 2025 to intervene, and on 24 March 2026 he replaced the elected trustees' authority with a nine-member board of managers led by Pete Geren and named Peter Licata, formerly of Broward County, superintendent. It is the second-largest takeover in Texas history, after Houston ISD's. The board opened by saying roughly 63% of students do not read at grade level and 29% are proficient in math (Fort Worth Report). The district, built for 90,000 students, had 67,315 in 2025-26 on Texas Education Agency data and projected about 66,500 for 2026-27; it has lost more than 12,000 in five years and in May 2025 approved closing 18 campuses by June 2029 (CBS Texas). Texas Christian University (12,980 students in fall 2025) is about 4 miles from downtown, and the city also holds Texas Wesleyan University, UNT Health Fort Worth and Texas A&M University's law school and downtown campus.

Living there

Fort Worth has grown faster than any other US city of a million people: 11.9% since 2020, and 19,512 residents in 2024-25, a gain second only to Charlotte's; it passed a million in 2024. It is the western half of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro and works differently from Dallas: its economy leans on aircraft, airlines and freight, from the F-35 line at Lockheed Martin's plant and Bell's helicopters to the headquarters of American Airlines and BNSF and the warehouses and factories of AllianceTexas, and household income, at $82,503, is higher than in Dallas, Houston or San Antonio. It is built for the car: 74.9% of workers drive alone and 0.7% take transit, the lowest share of any city this site compares, though TEXRail runs to DFW Airport. Violent crime, at 375 per 100,000 on the FBI's counts, is the lowest of the Texas cities here. Summer is long and hot, with 24 days a year at 100F or above and 31 in a row in 2026, and hail and tornadoes are the costly weather. Texas takes no income tax, and 18.9% of residents have no health insurance. The open questions are the costs of growth: the council raised its property tax rate in September 2026 to cover a $94 million gap as appraisals stalled, the state took over the shrinking Fort Worth ISD in March 2026, and the Panther Island flood channels around downtown are not due until 2032.

Tallahassee

Health care

Care is paid for through employer or marketplace insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and Florida is one of the ten states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (KFF). Florida's uninsured rate was 10.9% in 2024, against 8.2% nationally, on the ACS 2024 1-year estimates; the City of Tallahassee's was 8.5% (17,205 of 201,731) and Leon County's 8.1%, well below the state's. The city has two acute care hospitals. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a private nonprofit founded in 1948 that serves a 22-county region of North Florida and South Georgia, has a 772-bed acute care hospital, a psychiatric hospital and the region's only Level III neonatal intensive care unit, and is the city's third-largest employer with 5,696 staff (Wikipedia; City of Tallahassee). HCA Florida Capital Hospital, owned by HCA Healthcare and known until recently as Capital Regional Medical Center, has 266 beds (Wikipedia). The City's own count of hospital beds at the two is 1,060. Florida State University's College of Medicine trains its first- and second-year students in Tallahassee and places its third- and fourth-year students at regional campuses around the state (Wikipedia). This file did not verify wait times for primary or specialist care.

Education

Tallahassee is a college town, and the share of its residents in college is four times the national share. On the ACS 2024 1-year estimates 54,353 of the city's 199,776 residents aged 3 and over were enrolled in college (43,399 undergraduates) or graduate school (10,954), 27.2%, against 6.6% nationally and 6.2% in Florida; undergraduates alone are 21.7% of the city. Three public institutions account for most of them. Florida State University enrolled a record 46,184 students in fall 2025, 33,068 of them undergraduates and 11,022 graduate and professional students, of whom 43,936 took at least one class on the main campus in Tallahassee (FSU Office of Institutional Research). Florida A&M University, founded in 1887, the only public historically black university in Florida and the third-largest in the country by enrollment (Wikipedia), had 9,313 students in fall 2024 (7,890 undergraduates), and welcomed more than 1,900 first-time students in August 2026, its largest incoming class in a decade (FAMU). Tallahassee State College, called Tallahassee Community College from 1970 until it was renamed on July 1, 2024 (Wikipedia), had 12,455 students in fall 2024, all undergraduates, and acts largely as a feeder to the two universities. Together the three enrolled 65,657 in fall 2024 on the federal College Navigator's counts, and the City's 2025 financial report puts college-level students at 68,667. FAMU's fall 2025 headcount was not found in a source fetched here. Public schools are run by Leon County Schools, the countywide district, with 31,638 students in pre-kindergarten to grade 12 in 2025, down from 34,085 in 2019, in 51 schools (City of Tallahassee). The district is asking voters in November 2026 to renew its half-cent sales surtax, which expires in 2027 and has raised about $400 million since 2012, and warns of a $620 million gap in facility needs without it (WTXL; WCTV).

Living there

Tallahassee is Florida's capital, a college town and almost nothing else, and it shows in every figure here. It became the territorial capital in 1824 as a halfway point between Pensacola and St. Augustine, near the Apalachee town of Anhaica where Hernando de Soto's expedition wintered in 1539 (Wikipedia), and it sits at the southern end of the Red Hills, hilly by Florida standards, along nine officially designated canopy roads, with a winter unlike the peninsula's: it freezes about 27 nights a year and saw 1.9 inches of snow in January 2025. The State of Florida and Florida State University are its two largest employers, government holds 30% of the metro's jobs, and more than a quarter of residents are in college, which makes the city the youngest of the Florida cities this site compares (median age 28.5) and the one with the lowest household income ($56,511), the fourth-lowest share of homeowners, after Miami, Orlando and Hialeah (44.5%), short commutes and, after Miami, the most people who take the bus, walk or cycle to work. It also has the highest violent crime rate of the Florida cities here in 2025, 635 per 100,000 on the FBI's counts, two and a half times the state's, though falling since 2023. Its history includes the Tallahassee bus boycott of 1956, begun by two FAMU students, and the Frenchtown neighborhood, the oldest historically black neighborhood in the state (Wikipedia). It is growing slowly, 4.4% from 2020 to 2025, and its home values and rents are among the lowest of the Florida cities here, with a typical home at $294,444 and a typical rent of $1,470 on Zillow's indexes, against a property tax rate of 19.2060 mills, nearly as high as Miami's, Tampa's and St. Petersburg's.

07: The trade-offs

Where each city wins, and where it loses

Both cities price in US dollars, though they were priced a week apart: Fort Worth at Freddie Mac's 7.03% for 24 September 2026 and Tallahassee at 7.28% for 1 October, so the mortgage lines differ by rate as well as price, and Tallahassee's is given at both. Both prices are medians of single-family houses sold, though over different areas and months. Fort Worth's is the North Texas Real Estate Information System's median inside the city, $327,000 in August 2026, 0.9% below a year earlier, on 805 sales. The Tallahassee figure is Florida Realtors' median of single-family houses sold in the Tallahassee metro, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties, $364,950 in June 2026 on 364 sales, 5.8% above a year earlier, as Tallahassee Reports printed it; no median is published for the City or for Leon County alone, though Leon is almost 90% of the metro's sales, and the July and August figures were not found. Zillow's index, which models every home in each city, puts the two cities level: it stood at $295,800 for the City of Fort Worth in August, 1.8% lower on the year, and Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444, 1.4% higher on the year, about $1,400 apart against $37,950 on the medians. At 20% down, Fort Worth's $261,600 loan costs about $1,746 a month and a $291,960 loan on the Tallahassee metro median about $1,998 at 7.28%, or $1,948 at 7.03%. Property tax is $5,044 a year in Fort Worth and about $6,183 in Tallahassee with a homestead, about 1.54% and 1.69% of the price, and insurance is budgeted at $350 and $220 a month, the Fort Worth figure raised by North Texas hail and the Tallahassee figure NerdWallet's average for the city, $2,640 a year, close to the Office of Insurance Regulation's Leon County average of $2,538 with wind cover, for a Florida policy with a separate hurricane deductible, and neither with a flood policy in it. The three lines come to about $2,516 and $2,733, roughly 37% and 58% of each city's 2024 median household income; at 7.03% Tallahassee's would be about $2,684. Of the $217 gap about $252 is the mortgage and $95 the property tax, less the $130 a month more Fort Worth pays in insurance, and at the same rate the gap would be about $168. Tallahassee's share needs a caution: more than a quarter of its residents are in college, students living off campus form many of its households and their low incomes are likely part of why the median is low, while the price is the metro's single-family median, so the share is a rough guide to what a working household that buys would face. The rents are on the same series, Apartment List's September medians for each city: a one-bedroom at $1,141 in Fort Worth and $1,100 in Tallahassee, a two-bedroom $1,317 and $1,309. Zillow's observed rent index, measured for each city, was $1,615 in Fort Worth and $1,470 in Tallahassee in August, about 23% and 31% of median income. In Tallahassee, where owners hold 44.5% of occupied homes, a rent index is partly a student market.

The definitions match and so do the years: both cities' figures are the FBI's summarized counts for 2025 divided by Census Vintage 2025 populations, Fort Worth's read on 27 September and Tallahassee's on 2 October 2026. Fort Worth is the lower on every line. Its 3,859 violent offenses come to 375 per 100,000 against Tallahassee's 635 on 1,302, and its 22,886 property offenses to 2,226 against 2,405 on 4,927. Homicide was 78 in Fort Worth, about 7.6 per 100,000, against 20 in Tallahassee, about 9.8. One caution sits on Tallahassee's property figure, and it understates rather than overstates: the FBI's copy carries 23 motor vehicle thefts for the department in 2025 where the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's file has 396, and on the state's own total the rate would be about 2,577. That widens Fort Worth's lead on property crime. Tallahassee's violent rate is the highest in 2025 of the Florida cities this site compares and about two and a half times the FBI's 248 for reporting Florida agencies, and the state's file puts its police second of 46 Florida agencies serving 100,000 or more people, behind Fort Lauderdale's and ahead of Gainesville's, another college town. Both are falling. Tallahassee's violent offenses peaked at 1,732 in 2023 and were about 25% lower in 2025, and the state's file has 12% fewer in January to August 2026 than in the same months of 2025. Fort Worth's violent offenses dropped 17% in 2025 and 29% in four years, and motor vehicle theft fell from 5,157 in 2024 to 3,616, though murders rose from 72 to 78, and FWPD then counted 36 from January through August 2026 against 54 in the same months of 2025. Both sets of FBI counts come from a feed last refreshed on 15 September 2026 and can still be revised.

Fort Worth has the colder winter and the much hotter summer peaks, and Tallahassee the wetter year. January averages 7.7 C at Meacham, inside Fort Worth, against 11.2 C at Tallahassee International Airport, about 6 miles southwest of the city's center, with 32.8 nights a year at or below freezing against 27.0, Tallahassee's the coldest winter of the Florida cities this site compares and still the milder of these two. July averages 29.5 C against 28.1 C. The normals count about the same number of days at 90F or above, 105.5 a year at Meacham against 102.6, but 24.1 at or above 37.8 C (100F) against 2.9. The summer of 2026 showed the difference: Meacham had 55 days of 100F through 27 September, 31 of them in a row, while Tallahassee's airport counted 114 days at 90F or above through 29 September and three of them at 100F or above. Tallahassee gets 1,494 mm of rain a year against Fort Worth's 898 mm, and no snow on the normals against 4.1 cm, the DFW Airport figure, and it snows now and then: the airport measured 1.9 in over 21 and 22 January 2025, the city's largest snowfall since 1958; no Tallahassee station is on the 1961-1990 sunshine series behind Fort Worth's 2,850 hours. Both downtowns have taken a tornado. Fort Worth's costly weather is hail: the Mayfest storm of 5 May 1995 dropped hail up to softball size on more than 10,000 people at a festival by the Trinity, hurting more than 400, and did about $2 billion of damage across Tarrant and Dallas counties, and on 28 March 2000 a tornado tracked along West 7th Street into downtown and killed two. Tallahassee is inland, so storm surge is not its hazard; wind, falling trees and the power cuts that follow them are. Hurricane Hermine left about 80% of the city without power in September 2016 and Michael 95% of Leon County in October 2018, two EF2 tornadoes crossed the city on 10 May 2024, one of them through downtown, and broke more than 400 utility poles, and Helene left about 53,000 City utility customers without power at its peak that September. Cold is Fort Worth's other hazard. Winter Storm Uri took Meacham to -2F (-18.9 C) in February 2021 while ERCOT cut power across the state grid, and Texas counted 11 of the storm's 246 deaths in Tarrant County. Tallahassee's lowest reading since 2010 is 14F, on 11 January 2010.

Fort Worth's half of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro has about six times the jobs of Tallahassee's whole metro, and is adding them a little faster. BLS counted 1,222,100 nonfarm jobs in the Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine division in August 2026, 1.5% more than a year earlier, and 200,500 in the Tallahassee metro in August, 2,500 more, a gain of 1.3%. On the same unadjusted basis unemployment in July was 4.6% in the Fort Worth division and 5.1% around Tallahassee, against 4.4% nationally, and Tallahassee's moves with the academic year: it was 4.4% in July 2025 and 4.2% that September. Fort Worth's economy is industrial and logistical: Lockheed Martin builds the F-35 at Air Force Plant 4, with about 49,000 direct and indirect workers in the city on the Texas Comptroller's count, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth has 4,553 direct employees, BNSF and American Airlines are headquartered in the city, and AllianceTexas in the far north counts 73,134 jobs by its developer's figures. Tallahassee runs on the state and its universities: the State of Florida employs 26,831 people in the city and Florida State 16,207, then Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare 5,696, the school board 4,300 and the City 4,000, and government holds 30.2% of the metro's jobs. State government, which in BLS's count includes the universities, held 43,900 jobs in August and 47,300 in April with classes in session, and professional and business services, the law firms, lobbyists and associations around the Capitol, added the most jobs in the year, 1,600. Most residents work where they live: 88.1% of the city's workers worked inside it in 2024, and the mean commute was 19 minutes. Neither profile carries a wage figure. City median household income was $82,503 in Fort Worth and $56,511 in Tallahassee in 2024, the latter with a margin of error of $5,841 either way and the lowest of any city this site compares, and the metros' $92,733 and $65,009. Neither state taxes income, so $100,000 pays $13,449 in federal tax in both for 2025, and sales tax is 8.25% in Fort Worth, with half a cent for transit and half for the crime control district, against 7.5% in Leon County, where voters decide in November 2026 whether the school half-cent continues after 2027. The property tax stacks are close in nominal rate and the exemptions decide the order. Fort Worth's six units add to 2.18908 per $100; Fort Worth ISD grants the state's $140,000 and nothing more, and Tarrant County, the City and JPS Health Network take 20% off a homestead. A house in the City of Tallahassee pays 19.2060 mills for 2025, about 1.92 per $100: Leon County 8.3144, its EMS levy 0.7500, the Children's Services Council 0.3477, the school board's three lines 5.3660, the Northwest Florida Water Management District 0.0207 and the City 4.4072, with no fire line because the City bills fire service on the utility bill instead. Florida takes $25,000 off every levy and a second slice, $25,000 before the inflation adjustment it has carried since 2025, off all but the schools. So the order depends on the price: on the same $364,950 house Fort Worth's six units would charge about $5,797 against $6,183, and on $327,000 the Tallahassee stack would charge about $5,454 against Fort Worth's $5,044.

Tallahassee has the larger share of people using transit and walking, and Fort Worth one of the smallest on this site. In 2024, 0.7% of Fort Worth's workers took transit, the third-lowest share of any city this site compares, and 1.1% walked or cycled, against 3.2% and 5.3% in Tallahassee, though Tallahassee's margins are wide and its 2020-2024 average is 2.2% by transit; 74.9% of Fort Worth's workers drove alone against 67.6%, and 10.5% and 11.4% worked from home. Trinity Metro carried 6,180,600 trips in 2025, 906,800 of them on TEXRail, the 27.2-mile commuter line from downtown to DFW Airport, and runs the Trinity Railway Express to Dallas with DART; its next step is a 2.1-mile TEXRail extension to the Medical District, estimated at about $167 million and due to open in 2029. StarMetro, the City's buses, carried 1,762,062 trips in 2025, about a third of its 2010 peak, and runs Florida State's campus routes under contract, free to the public, with no rail and no rapid bus; why its ridership has fallen since 2023 was not found. No passenger train has served Tallahassee since Amtrak's Sunset Limited stopped east of New Orleans in 2005. Trinity Metro carried about three and a half trips for every one of StarMetro's. The airports are of different orders, and connected. DFW, American's largest hub, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Fort Worth, handled 85,660,127 passengers in 2025. Tallahassee International, owned by the City about 5 miles southwest of downtown and renamed for the Florida State coach Bobby Bowden in April 2026, handled 936,448 passengers in the City's fiscal 2025, with American and Delta flying to Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami and no scheduled international service. So a Fort Worth trip from Tallahassee is a direct flight into DFW.

Coverage is where the two cities part most. Neither Texas nor Florida has expanded Medicaid. Texas had the highest uninsured rate of any state in 2024, 16.7%, and the City of Fort Worth's was 18.9%; Florida's was 10.9% and the City of Tallahassee's 8.5%, against 8.2% nationally. JPS Health Network's John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth's Level I trauma center, broke ground on 16 April 2026 on a $1.5 billion replacement that will take it from 582 beds to more than 740 in 2030, and Cook Children's Medical Center has 452 licensed beds. Tallahassee has two acute care hospitals: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, a private nonprofit serving a 22-county region of North Florida and South Georgia, with a 772-bed hospital and the region's only Level III neonatal intensive care unit, and HCA Florida Capital Hospital, with 266 beds; Florida State's College of Medicine trains its first- and second-year students in the city. Neither profile verified a wait time. Both school districts are losing students. Fort Worth ISD, built for 90,000 students, had 67,315 in 2025-26, has approved closing 18 campuses by June 2029, and since 24 March 2026 has been governed by a board of managers the Education Commissioner appointed; it covers about half the city. Leon County Schools, the countywide district, had 31,638 students in 2025, down from 34,085 in 2019, and asks voters in November 2026 to renew the half-cent sales surtax that has raised about $400 million since 2012. TCU has 12,980 students. Florida State enrolled a record 46,184 in fall 2025, Florida A&M, the only public historically black university in Florida, had 9,313 in fall 2024 and Tallahassee State College 12,455, and 27.2% of Tallahassee's residents aged three and over were in college or graduate school in 2024, against 6.6% nationally.

What people underestimate is that both bills carry charges their rates do not show, and that the two are growing at very different speeds. There is no fire, stormwater or garbage line on a City of Tallahassee tax bill: the City, which also runs the electric, gas, water and sewer systems, charges stormwater at $11.00 and residential garbage at $28.19 a month on the utility bill, about $470 a year together, and a fire services fee beside them, flat per household in two zones, raised 9.98% from 1 October 2025 and challenged in a lawsuit filed on 17 November 2025, whose amount this site could not read; ask the City's utility customer service for it at the address. Neither carry here includes it. Newer Fort Worth subdivisions on the northern and western edges often sit in a public improvement district, where each lot in Walsh Ranch's first phase owes $482 to $1,559 a year, and in Keller ISD the same $327,000 house pays $5,149. Insurance is low for Florida because the city is inland, but flood comes from rain and creeks rather than the sea: the City is in Class 5 of FEMA's Community Rating System, a 25% discount on flood cover in the mapped flood zone, and low streets near downtown along Franklin Boulevard flood in very heavy rain. Flood cover is in neither carry, and from 1 January 2027 most Citizens Property Insurance policies with wind cover must carry it. This site's maintenance estimate also leaves out tree work, a real cost on a wooded lot in a city whose storms are counted in fallen trees. Without a homestead the two medians would owe $7,158 in Fort Worth and $7,009 in Tallahassee. Both bills reset on a sale: Save Our Homes caps a homesteaded Florida assessment at 3% a year and resets it to market value the January after a sale, the Texas 10% cap lapses on a sale too, and in both the exemption has to be filed, in Tallahassee with the Leon County Property Appraiser by 1 March of the year after you buy. Closing differs. Texas has no transfer tax and no tax on the loan, and the Texas seller customarily buys the buyer's owner's title policy, $1,901 on Fort Worth's median. Florida charges documentary stamp tax on the deed at 70 cents per $100, $2,555 on the Tallahassee metro median and the seller's by convention, and the buyer pays 0.55% of the loan in stamp and intangible tax, about $1,606 at 20% down. Fort Worth's council, on 15 September 2026 by 7 to 4, took the City's rate from 67 cents to 70.565 to help close a $94 million shortfall, and the City says the average homeowner's bill will still fall a little because the appraisal district has not reappraised houses since 2024; Tallahassee's commission set the City's line at 4.4072 mills for 2025, a little below 2024's 4.4200 but 4.7% above the rolled-back rate, and kept it there tentatively for 2026, and the County has held its 8.3144 since 2012. Fort Worth added 19,512 residents in 2024-25, the second-largest gain of any US city, and has grown 11.9% since 2020, the fastest of the twelve US cities of more than a million, though Tarrant County lost 6,978 more residents to the rest of the country than it gained. Tallahassee added 877 residents, 0.4%, and has grown 4.4% since 2020, and its metro's 3.4% was the slowest of Florida's 22; Leon County lost more people to the rest of the country than it gained in each of the last three years. A capital since 1824, at the southern end of the Red Hills, it is hilly by Florida standards, with nine official canopy roads, a median age of 28.5, the youngest of the Florida cities here, and a history that includes the bus boycott of 1956, begun by two FAMU students, and Frenchtown, the oldest historically black neighborhood in the state.

Fort Worth

Better here

  • Mortgage, property tax and insurance come to about $2,516 a month on the August 2026 median, roughly 37% of the city's median household income, against $2,733 and 58% on the Tallahassee metro median at 7.28%.
  • Violent crime ran 375 per 100,000 in 2025 against 635 in Tallahassee, property crime 2,226 against 2,405, and homicide about 7.6 per 100,000 against 9.8, on the same FBI counts.
  • The Fort Worth division's 1,222,100 nonfarm jobs grew 1.5% in the year to August 2026, about six times the Tallahassee metro's 200,500, and unemployment was 4.6% against 5.1%.
  • City median household income was $82,503 in 2024 against $56,511 in Tallahassee.
  • Lockheed Martin's F-35 line, American Airlines, BNSF Railway and AllianceTexas's 73,134 jobs give the economy anchors in aerospace, airlines and freight.
  • DFW, American's largest hub, handled 85,660,127 passengers in 2025, and TEXRail runs to it from downtown, against 936,448 at Tallahassee International.

Worse here

  • The City of Fort Worth's uninsured rate was 18.9% in 2024 against 8.5% in the City of Tallahassee.
  • January averages 7.7 C at Meacham against 11.2 C, and the normals count 24.1 days a year at or above 37.8 C (100F) against 2.9.
  • Only 0.7% of workers took transit in 2024, against 3.2% in Tallahassee, and 74.9% drove alone.
  • Insurance is budgeted at $350 a month against $220, raised by North Texas hail.
  • Fort Worth ISD has been run by a state-appointed board of managers since 24 March 2026 and has approved closing 18 campuses by June 2029.
  • Uri took Meacham to -2F (-18.9 C) in February 2021 while ERCOT cut power, and Texas counted 11 deaths in Tarrant County.

Choose Fort Worth if

  • you work in aerospace, defense manufacturing, airlines, freight rail or logistics
  • you want lower crime and a higher household income at about the same monthly cost to own
  • you fly often and want a hub airport with a train from downtown
  • you want a fast-growing city and will take hail, hard freezes and 100F summers with it

The Fort Worth guide · Neighborhoods · Fort Worth rent vs buy · Fort Worth mortgage calculator

Tallahassee

Better here

  • The City of Tallahassee's uninsured rate was 8.5% in 2024 against 18.9% in the City of Fort Worth.
  • Insurance is budgeted at $220 a month against $350, low for Florida because the city is inland and out of reach of storm surge.
  • January averages 11.2 C against 7.7 C, and the normals count 2.9 days a year at or above 37.8 C (100F) against 24.1.
  • 88.1% of the city's workers work inside it and the mean commute was 19 minutes in 2024, and 3.2% took transit and 5.3% walked or cycled, against 0.7% and 1.1%.
  • Florida State, Florida A&M and Tallahassee State College enrolled 65,657 students between them in fall 2024, and 27.2% of residents are in college.
  • On Zillow's index the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444 in August, level with Zillow's $295,800 for the City of Fort Worth.

Worse here

  • Violent crime ran 635 per 100,000 in 2025 against 375 in Fort Worth, the highest of the Florida cities this site compares, and homicide about 9.8 per 100,000 against 7.6.
  • Mortgage, property tax and insurance come to about $2,733 a month on the Tallahassee metro median at 7.28%, roughly 58% of the city's median household income of $56,511, the lowest of any city this site compares.
  • A homesteaded owner pays about 1.69% of the median in property tax against 1.54%, and the City's fire services fee comes on the utility bill in an amount this site could not read.
  • Unemployment was 5.1% around Tallahassee in July 2026 against 4.6% in the Fort Worth division, and government holds 30.2% of the metro's jobs.
  • The city added 877 residents in 2024-25 against Fort Worth's 19,512, and its metro's growth since 2020 was the slowest of Florida's 22.
  • The seller pays documentary stamp tax of $2,555 on the metro median and the buyer about $1,606 in stamp and intangible tax on the loan, where Texas taxes neither the deed nor the loan.

Choose Tallahassee if

  • you work for the State of Florida, at Florida State, Florida A&M or Tallahassee State College, or in the law and lobbying around the Capitol
  • you want a milder winter, few 100F days, hills and canopy roads
  • you want a short commute in a city where walking and the bus are real options
  • you will weigh the violent crime rate street by street and ask the City for the fire services fee before you buy

The Tallahassee guide · Neighborhoods · Tallahassee rent vs buy · Tallahassee mortgage calculator

08: Questions people ask

Fort Worth or Tallahassee, in short

Is Fort Worth or Tallahassee cheaper to live in?

Fort Worth, by a little, to own; Tallahassee, by a little, to rent; and against local income Fort Worth on both. The cities were priced a week apart, Fort Worth at Freddie Mac's 7.03% of 24 September 2026 and Tallahassee at 7.28% of 1 October, and both prices are single-family medians over different areas: the NTREIS median inside Fort Worth, $327,000 in August 2026, and Florida Realtors' median for the four-county Tallahassee metro, $364,950 in June, because no median is published for the City. At 20% down the mortgage is about $1,746 against $1,998. Property tax is $5,044 a year against about $6,183 with a homestead, and insurance $350 a month against $220, so the three lines come to about $2,516 in Fort Worth and $2,733 in Tallahassee, or $2,684 at the same 7.03%, roughly 37% and 58% of each city's median household income, $82,503 and $56,511, a Tallahassee median lowered in part by its students. On Zillow's index the two cities are level, $295,800 for the City of Fort Worth, and Zillow's index for the City of Tallahassee stood at $294,444. Zillow's observed rent index was $1,615 in Fort Worth and $1,470 in Tallahassee in August. Neither state taxes income, and sales tax is 8.25% in Fort Worth against 7.5% in Leon County. Tallahassee's carry leaves out the City's fire services fee, and neither includes a flood policy.

Is Fort Worth or Tallahassee safer?

Fort Worth, on every line, on figures built the same way. Both are the FBI's summarized counts for 2025 divided by Census estimates. Violent offenses ran 375 per 100,000 in Fort Worth against 635 in Tallahassee, property offenses 2,226 against 2,405, and homicide was 78 in Fort Worth, about 7.6 per 100,000, against 20 in Tallahassee, about 9.8. Tallahassee's property figure is understated by the FBI's copy; on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's count it would be about 2,577. Both are falling: Fort Worth's violent offenses dropped 17% in 2025, and Tallahassee's have dropped about 25% since 2023. Every rate here is a count divided by a Census estimate rather than a published rate, and the counts can still be revised.

Which has the better job market, Fort Worth or Tallahassee?

Fort Worth's, by size, growth and income. BLS counted 1,222,100 nonfarm jobs in the Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine division in August 2026, 1.5% more than a year earlier, and 200,500 in the Tallahassee metro, 1.3% more. On the same unadjusted basis unemployment was 4.6% in the Fort Worth division and 5.1% around Tallahassee in July, and Tallahassee's rises and falls with the academic year. Fort Worth builds the F-35, is home to American Airlines and BNSF, and has AllianceTexas's logistics hub. Tallahassee's work is mostly the state's: the State of Florida, Florida State, Tallahassee Memorial, the schools and the City are its five largest employers, and government holds 30.2% of the metro's jobs. Median household income was $82,503 in the City of Fort Worth in 2024 against $56,511 in Tallahassee, and $92,733 and $65,009 across the metros.

What does buying cost beyond the price in Fort Worth and in Tallahassee?

Closing taxes in Tallahassee, a utility bill that carries the City's fees, district charges on new Fort Worth subdivisions, and a reset in both. Texas has no transfer tax and no tax on the loan, and the seller customarily buys the buyer's owner's title policy, $1,901 on Fort Worth's median. Florida charges documentary stamp tax on the deed at 70 cents per $100, $2,555 on the Tallahassee metro median and the seller's by convention, and the buyer pays 0.55% of the loan in stamp and intangible tax, about $1,606 at 20% down. A City of Tallahassee address pays stormwater, garbage and a fire services fee on its monthly utility bill rather than its tax bill, about $470 a year for the first two and an amount for the fire fee this site could not read; a new Fort Worth subdivision often sits in a public improvement district, $482 to $1,559 a year in Walsh Ranch's first phase. In both states the seller's tax bill is no guide: Save Our Homes resets a Florida assessment to market value the January after a sale, the Texas 10% homestead cap lapses on a sale, and each exemption has to be filed; without one the medians would owe $7,158 in Fort Worth and $7,009 in Tallahassee. Neither carry here includes flood insurance.

Sources

Where the figures come from

Housing figures are the ones behind each city's calculators, dated on those pages. The rest are listed here with the date they were retrieved. See the methodology for how facts, estimates and opinion are kept apart.

  1. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Texas: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (SUB-EST2025) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Five-year growth, Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Character
  2. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More (all states, SUB-EST2025) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Five-year growth, Character
  3. Annual Resident Population Estimates and Components of Change for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas and Their Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025 (CBSA-EST2025-ALLDATA) · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: Metro population, Five-year growth
  4. Crime Data Explorer summarized agency data, Fort Worth Police Department (TX2201200): violent crime, property crime, homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, 2021-2025 · FBI · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Character
  5. Dallas sees drop in violent crime while Fort Worth sees increase in homicides · Spectrum News · retrieved
    Supports: Homicides, Crime trend
  6. After 'puzzling' spike in homicides, Fort Worth leaders look to new police chief · Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Yahoo News) · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Homicides
  7. Eddie Garcia marks one year as Fort Worth police chief, shares reasons behind city's drop in violent crime · WFAA (via Yahoo News) · retrieved
    Supports: Homicides, Crime trend
  8. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00013961 Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Climate normals, Climate hazards, Character, January 45.8F, July 85.1F and August 85.2F from the monthly series, which carries no snowfall normal for this station, and annual mean 65.9F, precipitation 35.34 in and the counts of days at 90F and 100F and nights at freezing from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020 for the same station
  9. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00003927 Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Annual snowfall, Climate normals, 1.6 in of snow, January 46.3F, July 85.7F, 37.01 in of precipitation, 20.3 days at 100F and 29.2 nights at freezing, the last three from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020
  10. Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (USW00013961), 1946-1953 and 1992-2026 · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character, 55 days at or above 100F in 2026 through 27 September, 72 in 2011, 64 in 2023 and 62 in 1998, 31 in a row from 3 August to 2 September 2026, 112F on 12 July 1998 and 4 September 2000, -2F on 16 February 2021 and 31 January 1949, 4.45 in on 21 August 2022 and 5.11 in on 22 August 2022, 11F on 25 January 2026
  11. Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (USW00003927), 1953-2026 · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, -2F on 16 February 2021, 5.0 in of snow on 14 and 17 February 2021, 2.4 in of snow and sleet on 24 and 25 January 2026
  12. Dallas/Fort Worth: Annual and Consecutive 100 Degree Days (last updated 22 September 2026) · National Weather Service, Fort Worth/Dallas · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  13. Average Annual Sunshine in US Cities · Current Results (NCDC Comparative Climatic Data, 1961-1990) · retrieved
    Supports: Sunshine hours, Climate normals
  14. Mayfest Hailstorm, May 5, 1995 · National Weather Service, Fort Worth/Dallas · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  15. Cotality 2026 Report: Hail risk now rivals major hurricanes (2026 Severe Convective Storm Risk Report) · Cotality · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  16. March 28, 2000: 10th Anniversary, a review of the March 28, 2000 tornadoes affecting Fort Worth and Arlington (from NWS Storm Data) · National Weather Service, Fort Worth/Dallas · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  17. Damage Survey and Assessment of Fort Worth Tornado, 28 March 2000 · Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  18. 2000 Fort Worth tornado outbreak · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  19. Weather and Climate Billion-Dollar Disasters to affect the U.S. from 1980-2024 (events list) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  20. Flood Protection · Tarrant Regional Water District · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  21. Panther Island bypass project moves forward after Trinity River dams, flood storage delays · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character
  22. 'Boom, here we're hit with it again.' How historic rains flooded homes and neighborhoods across Tarrant County · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  23. February 2021 Winter Storm-Related Deaths, Texas (mortality surveillance report) · Texas Department of State Health Services · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  24. The Timeline and Events of the February 2021 Texas Electric Grid Blackouts · The University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards
  25. ACS 2024 1-year tables B08301 and B19013 for Fort Worth city, Tarrant County and the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Median household income, Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share, Character
  26. ACS 2024 1-year table B27001 (health insurance coverage) for the 50 states, DC, the US, Tarrant County, Fort Worth city and the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Character
  27. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine, TX Metropolitan Division (LAUDV482310400000003), the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA (LAUMT481910000000003), Fort Worth city (LAUCT482700000000003), Tarrant County (LAUCN484390000000003) and the US rate (LNU04000000), not seasonally adjusted · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Unemployment rate
  28. Current Employment Statistics, Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine, TX Metropolitan Division: total nonfarm (SMU48231040000000001, SMS48231040000000001), supersectors (SMU4823104xx00000001) and aerospace product and parts manufacturing (SMU48231043133640001) · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
  29. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (Texas military installations economic impact, 2025) · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Character
  30. AllianceTexas Drives $142.9 Billion in Economic Impact for North Texas · Hillwood · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Character
  31. United States Air Force Plant 4 (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, F-35 production) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors
  32. American Airlines (headquarters, DFW hub, employees) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Airport passengers
  33. BNSF Railway (headquarters, employees) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market
  34. Bell Textron (headquarters) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors
  35. City Sales and Use Tax (city rate table) · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax
  36. Transit Sales and Use Tax (Fort Worth MTA, effective April 1, 1984) · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Transit ridership
  37. Special Purpose District Sales and Use Tax (Fort Worth Crime Control District, effective October 1, 1995) · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax
  38. Texas Tax Rates & Rankings · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000, Tax notes, Character
  39. 2025 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
  40. 2026 Tax Brackets and Federal Income Tax Rates · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000
  41. Property Tax Exemptions · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes
  42. Fort Worth passes $4.35B budget and property tax rate increase · Community Impact · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, Character
  43. Slightly lower property tax bills part of Fort Worth's $3.33B budget for 2027, leaders say · CBS Texas · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes
  44. Fort Worth proposes property tax rate bump, cost cuts to close $94M shortfall for 2027 · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, Character
  45. Trinity Metro (service area, members, services, fleet, citing the APTA Transit Ridership Reports, Q4 2025 and Q2 2026) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership
  46. TEXRail (length, stations, opening, frequency, ridership, Medical District extension) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership, Airport passengers
  47. Template:American transit ridership (APTA Transit Ridership Reports, Q4 2025 and Q2 2026) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit ridership
  48. DFW Total Passengers, December 2025 (calendar year 2025 vs 2024) · Dallas Fort Worth International Airport · retrieved
    Supports: Airport passengers
  49. Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (ownership, general aviation, history) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Airport passengers, Climate normals
  50. Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions · KFF · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  51. A new era: JPS breaks ground on $1.5B hospital · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  52. JPS Health Network (Tarrant County Hospital District, John Peter Smith Hospital) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  53. Cook Children's Medical Center · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  54. Texas Education Agency Appoints Board of Managers and Names New Superintendent to Lead Fort Worth ISD · Texas Education Agency · retrieved
    Supports: Education
  55. 'We failed our kids': New Fort Worth ISD board signals urgency as state takeover begins · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Character
  56. As enrollment drops, FWISD to shift bilingual, special ed services closer to campuses · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Character
  57. Fort Worth ISD board gives final approval to close 18 schools amid budget woes, enrollment decline · CBS Texas · retrieved
    Supports: Education
  58. Fort Worth, Texas (school districts serving the city, citing the 2020 Census school district reference map for Tarrant County; colleges and universities) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education
  59. Texas Christian University (fall 2025 enrollment, location, School of Medicine) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Health care
  60. 2025 Gazetteer Files: Places, Florida · US Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: point, City population, Climate normals, Tallahassee city (1270600): 102.578 sq mi of land, 2.913 sq mi of water, internal point 30.453529, -84.252272
  61. Tallahassee, Florida (history, geography, climate, neighborhoods, transportation) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Climate hazards, Main sectors, Transit system, Character, Capital since 1824; only incorporated municipality in Leon County; Hermine (about 80% of the city without power), Michael (95% of Leon County without power), EF2 tornadoes on 10 May 2024; record 105F on 15 June 2011; measurable snows including 2.8 in on 13 February 1958 and 1.9 in on 21-22 January 2025; nine canopy roads; Frenchtown; the 1956 bus boycott; Greyhound, Megabus and RedCoach; Amtrak's Sunset Limited suspended east of New Orleans in 2005
  62. Crime Data Explorer summarized agency data, Tallahassee Police Department (FL0370300): violent crime, property crime, homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson, 2021-2025, with Florida and national rates · FBI · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Character, 2022: 1,587 violent, 4,430 property; 2023: 1,732 and 5,212; 2024: 1,383 and 5,804; 2025: 1,302 violent (20 + 149 + 214 + 919) and 4,927 property (745 + 4,148 + 23 + 11); homicides 15, 21, 16 and 20; agency population 206,918 for 2025; January to July 2026 737 violent against 769 in 2025; 2025 rates for reporting Florida agencies 248.3 violent, 1,076.6 property and 3.0 homicide, and for the US 329.3, 1,552.1 and 4.3
  63. FIBRS offense data by agency and month, 2021 to August 2026 · Florida Department of Law Enforcement · retrieved
    Supports: Violent crime rate, Property crime rate, Homicides, Crime trend, Tallahassee Police Department: 1,681, 1,806, 1,441 and 1,363 violent and 5,444, 5,591, 6,371 and 5,280 property offenses in 2022 to 2025; motor vehicle thefts 628, 624, 559 and 396; homicides 16, 21, 16 and 21; January to August 2026 783 violent, 2,985 property and 7 homicides against 893, 3,450 and 17; FDLE population 205,623; the 46 agencies serving 100,000 or more in 2025, led by Fort Lauderdale PD (675 per 100,000), Tallahassee PD (663) and Gainesville PD (635); Leon County Sheriff's Office 500
  64. Total Crime Incidents Down in 2025, Violent Crime Spikes During Last Four Months · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: Homicides, Crime trend, From the Tallahassee Police Department's daily incident data: total incidents down 22.6% in 2025, property down 28.3%, violent down 8.9%; assaults in September to December 299 against 192; 18 fatal shootings in 2025 against 26 in 2024
  65. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00093805 Tallahassee Regional Airport (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: January mean, July mean, Annual precipitation, Climate normals, Climate hazards, Character, January 52.2F, July 82.5F and August 82.4F and the monthly highs, lows and rain from the monthly series, which carries no snowfall normal for this station, and annual mean 68.4F, precipitation 58.81 in, 102.6 days at 90F, 2.9 at 100F, 27.0 nights at or below 32F and 1.4 at or below 20F from dataset=normals-annualseasonal-1991-2020 for the same station
  66. US Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USC00088756 Tallahassee AP (cooperative station) (Access Data Service) · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Annual snowfall, Climate normals, 0.0 in of snow (monthly and annual); January 51.0F, July 82.9F, 59.82 in, 128.3 days at 90F
  67. NCEI data search, normals-monthly-1991-2020 stations within 30.7N to 30.2N and 84.6W to 84.0W, and stations with a snowfall normal within 31.3N to 29.7N and 85.3W to 83.4W · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate normals, USW00093805 at 30.3975N, 84.3289W and USC00088756 at 30.3961N, 84.3556W, both at the airport; the other stations near the city are CoCoRaHS precipitation gauges
  68. Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries, Tallahassee Regional Airport (USW00093805), 2010-2026 · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Character, 105F on 15 June 2011 and 104F on 24 June 2022; 108 days at or above 90F in 2025 and 114 in 2026 through 29 September, 3 of them at 100F or above; 27 nights at or below 32F in 2025 and 21 in 2026; 14F on 11 January 2010 and 18F on 2 February 2026; snowfall 1.5 in on 21 January 2025 and 0.4 in on 22 January; gusts of 70.9 mph on 10 October 2018, 67.1 mph on 26 September 2024 and 66.0 mph on 10 May 2024
  69. Hurricane Hermine (2016) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, 57% of homes in Leon County without power, including about 80% of the city proper and Florida State University
  70. Hurricane Helene · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Climate hazards, Tallahassee International Airport closed on 26 September 2024
  71. FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Statistical Section (Demographic Statistics, Principal Employers and Miscellaneous Statistical Data) · City of Tallahassee (filed with the Florida Auditor General) · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Airport passengers, Health care, Education, Principal employers 2025: State of Florida 26,831, Florida State University 16,207, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital 5,696, Leon County School Board 4,300, City of Tallahassee 4,000, Amazon 2,256, Leon County 1,957, Florida A&M University 1,794, Walmart 1,700, Tallahassee State College 1,468, Publix 1,400, and the 2016 list; airline passengers 936,448 (fiscal 2025), 944,835 (2024) and 851,689 (2019); Leon County School enrollment 31,638 (2025) and 34,085 (2019); 51 public schools; 68,667 college-level students; 1,060 hospital beds at Tallahassee Memorial and Capital Regional
  72. ACS 2024 1-year tables B19013, B25003 and B01002 for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida, the US and the other Florida cities this site compares · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Median household income, Character
  73. ACS 2024 1-year tables B08007 (place of work by county), B08008 (place of work by place), B08013 (aggregate travel time) and B08303 (travel time to work) for Tallahassee city and Leon County · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Labour market, Character
  74. ACS 2024 1-year table B08301 (means of transportation to work) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share, Labour market, Character
  75. ACS 2020-2024 5-year table B08301 (means of transportation to work) for Tallahassee city and Leon County · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit commute share, Walk and cycle commute share
  76. ACS 2024 1-year tables B14001 and B14007 (school enrollment by level) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: City population, Education, Character, Tallahassee city: 199,776 aged 3 and over, 43,399 enrolled in college undergraduate years and 10,954 in graduate or professional school; US 17,005,362 and 4,797,493 of 329,362,620; Florida 1,094,685 and 311,297 of 22,719,284
  77. ACS 2024 1-year table B27001 (health insurance coverage) for Tallahassee city, Leon County, the Tallahassee MSA, Florida and the US · Census Reporter API (US Census Bureau ACS) · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  78. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, Tallahassee, FL MSA (LAUMT124522000000003), Leon County (LAUCN120730000000003) and Tallahassee city (LAUCT127060000000003), not seasonally adjusted · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Unemployment rate
  79. Current Employment Statistics, Tallahassee, FL MSA: total nonfarm (SMU12452200000000001), supersectors (SMU1245220xx00000001), retail trade and federal, state and local government (SMU12452209091000001, SMU12452209092000001, SMU12452209093000001) · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Labour market, Character
  80. Florida State University 2025-2026 Pocket Fact Book · Florida State University Office of Institutional Research · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Education, Fall 2025 enrollment 46,184 (33,068 undergraduate, 11,022 graduate and professional, 2,094 unclassified), the highest in the enrollment history table; 43,603 at the Tallahassee location and 43,936 taking at least one class on the main campus; 16,207 employees in 2025-26, 7,605 full-time, 118 part-time and 8,484 OPS
  81. College Navigator: Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Tallahassee State College (fall 2024 enrollment) · US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics · retrieved
    Supports: Main sectors, Education, Fall 2024 total enrollment: FAMU 9,313 (7,890 undergraduate, 1,423 graduate; id 133650), FSU 43,889 (32,720 undergraduate; id 134097), Tallahassee State College 12,455, all undergraduate (id 137759)
  82. FAMU Welcomes Largest Incoming Class in a Decade at New Student Pinning Ceremony · Florida A&M University · retrieved
    Supports: Education, More than 1,900 first-time-in-college students in fall 2026, the largest incoming class in a decade, plus 400 online, 700 transfer and 1,200 graduate students
  83. Florida A&M University · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Character
  84. Florida State University · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Education
  85. Tallahassee State College · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Education, Known as Tallahassee Community College from 1970 to 2024; renamed Tallahassee State College on July 1, 2024
  86. Leon County Schools approve increase in property tax rates, voters could decide in November · WCTV · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Tax notes, Education, A one-mill operating levy for July 2027 to June 2031 sent to the county commission for the November ballot; the commission's 12 May motion to put the half-cent sales tax renewal on the November ballot; $400 million raised from 2012 to 2026
  87. Leon County school leaders push to renew half-cent sales tax before 2027 expiration · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: Education, A $620 million gap in facility needs without renewal; more than $500 million over 15 years if renewed
  88. Discretionary Sales Surtax Information for Calendar Year 2026 (DR-15DSS) · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Leon 1.5%: 1% from December 1, 1989 to December 31, 2039 and 0.5% from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2027
  89. Tax Information Publication 14A01-17: Leon County Discretionary Sales Surtax Continues at 1.5% Rate · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Sales tax, Combined rate 7.5%: 1% infrastructure surtax, 0.5% school capital outlay surtax and 6% state tax; the infrastructure surtax extended through December 31, 2039
  90. Florida Tax Rates & Rankings · Tax Foundation · retrieved
    Supports: Top marginal income tax, Income tax on $100,000, Tax notes
  91. Property Tax Exemptions: Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation, and Portability Transfer · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes
  92. Leon County 2025 taxing authority millage rates by tax authority code (with 2010 to 2024), as certified by the Leon County Property Appraiser · Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight (Leon County Property Appraiser's filing) · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, Character, 2025 code 1, City of Tallahassee: County 8.3144, EMS MSTU 0.7500, CSC of Leon 0.3477, School Board RLE 3.1180, discretionary 0.7480 and capital outlay 1.5000, NW Florida Water Management District 0.0207, City 4.4072, total 19.2060 ('City lowered from proposed rate of 4.4200'); code 3, Downtown Improvement, 20.2060; code 2, unincorporated, 14.7988; 2024 code 1 total 19.2379; County 8.3144 every year since 2012
  93. Table 1: Comparison of Taxes Levied, County and Municipal Governments, Fiscal Years 2024-25 and 2025-26 (Leon County) · Leon County Property Appraiser · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, City of Tallahassee 4.4200 in 2024-25, rolled-back rate 4.2080 and 4.4072 adopted for 2025-26, levy $81,772,259, up 9.0% and 4.7% above rolled-back; Leon County BCC 8.3144 and EMS 0.7500
  94. Zillow Home Value Index and Observed Rent Index, city files, August 2026 · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: Tax notes, Character, Tallahassee (region 47945) all-homes value (City_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv) $294,444 in August 2026 against $290,281 a year earlier, up 1.4%, and observed rent (City_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv) $1,470 against $1,448, up 1.5%; the same month for Jacksonville $285,103 and $1,601, Orlando $371,120 and $1,896, Miami $580,866 and $3,008, Tampa $377,566 and $1,957, St. Petersburg $354,074 and $2,058, Port St. Lucie $384,593 and $2,396, Cape Coral $335,825 and $1,949, Hialeah $442,859 and $2,357
  95. Monthly Module Adjusted Data Release, complete monthly ridership with adjustments and estimates (City of Tallahassee, NTD 40036) · Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (via data.transportation.gov) · retrieved
    Supports: Transit ridership
  96. StarMetro (bus service) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Transit system, Transit ridership
  97. Tallahassee International Airport (ownership, location, carriers, naming) · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Airport passengers
  98. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care, Main sectors
  99. HCA Florida Capital Hospital · Wikipedia · retrieved
    Supports: Health care
  100. NTREIS monthly MLS summary report, August 2026 · North Texas Real Estate Information System and the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, via the MetroTex Association of REALTORS · retrieved
    Supports: A median single-family sale price of $327,000 in the City of Fort Worth in August 2026 on 805 sales, against $330,000 on 884 sales in August 2025, and an average of $377,572, A median townhouse sale price of $365,000 on 20 sales, against $319,990 on 21, and a median condominium sale price of $330,000 on 16 sales, against $260,000 on 11, 3,086 active single-family listings and 3.6 months of inventory in the City of Fort Worth, A median single-family lease of $2,195 a month on 470 leases, against $2,150 on 453 a year earlier, A median single-family sale price of $343,000 in Tarrant County on 1,736 sales, and $352,250 in the Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine metropolitan division, City figures by property type only, with no all-types median; report produced 7 September 2026
  101. Housing market reports · MetroTex Association of REALTORS · retrieved
    Supports: Monthly reports featuring data from the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, based on listings of properties physically located within the specified geographic areas
  102. Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A typical home value of $295,800 for the city of Fort Worth (region 18172) in August 2026, $301,195 in August 2025, so a fall of 1.8% over the year
  103. Zillow Home Value Index, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: A typical single-family value of $296,280 in the city of Fort Worth in August 2026, against $301,707 a year earlier, down 1.8%, A typical condominium value of $243,575 in the same month, against $248,614, down 2.0%, from the condominium file at https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/City_zhvi_uc_condo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv
  104. Fort Worth Rent Report, October 2026 · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: A median rent of $1,141 for a one-bedroom and $1,317 for a two-bedroom in the city of Fort Worth, and $1,336 across all bedroom sizes, Rents down 0.2% over September and down 1.7% over the past 12 months, against -2.1% for the state
  105. Apartments for rent in Fort Worth, TX: average rent · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: Average listed rents of $1,279 and up for a studio, $1,352 and up for one bedroom, $1,661 and up for two, and $2,066 and up for three or more
  106. FY 2026 fair market rents, Fort Worth-Arlington, TX HUD Metro FMR Area · United States Department of Housing and Urban Development · retrieved
    Supports: FY 2026 fair market rents of $1,473 for one bedroom, $1,723 for two and $2,273 for three, as gross rents including utilities, The FMR area as Johnson, Parker and Tarrant counties
  107. Zillow Observed Rent Index, all homes plus multifamily, smoothed, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved
    Supports: An observed rent index of $1,615 for the city of Fort Worth in August 2026, against $1,606 a year earlier, up 0.54%
  108. Rates and exemptions: 2025 tax rates per $100 valuation, and detail · Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector · retrieved
    Supports: 2025 rates per $100: Tarrant County 0.186200, City of Fort Worth 0.670000, Fort Worth ISD 1.029100, Keller ISD 1.085200, Tarrant County College 0.112280, JPS Health Network 0.165000, Tarrant Regional Water District 0.026500, Maintenance and debt splits: Tarrant County 0.173000 and 0.013200, City of Fort Worth 0.522500 and 0.147500, Fort Worth ISD 0.786900 and 0.242200, Keller ISD 0.755200 and 0.330000, Tarrant County College 0.096280 and 0.016000, JPS 0.155100 and 0.009900, water district 0.026500 and none, from https://entityportal.tarrantcountytx.gov/ratesExemptions.asp, Homestead exemptions of 20% (minimum $5,000) for Tarrant County, the City of Fort Worth and JPS Health Network, 1% (minimum $5,000) for Tarrant County College, none for the Tarrant Regional Water District, and $140,000 for Fort Worth ISD and Keller ISD, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD at 1.245700, Crowley ISD at 1.255200 with a 10% local option, Emergency Service District 1 at 0.074348, Far North Fort Worth MUD at 1.000000 and Live Oak Creek MUD at 0.942000, Fort Worth public improvement district assessments per $100: PID 1 Downtown 0.125, PID 6 Park Glen 0.155 residential, PID 7 Heritage 0.145 residential, PID 11 Stockyards 0.12, PID 12 Chapel Hill 0.14, PID 14 Trinity Bluff 0.10, PID 15 Sun Valley 0.24, PID 19 Historic Camp Bowie 0.10, PID 20 East Lancaster Avenue 0.266, PID 21 Las Vegas Trail 0.10
  109. 2025 tax rates per $100 valuation for Tarrant County, last updated 8 October 2025 · Tarrant Appraisal District · retrieved
    Supports: The same 2025 rates and homestead exemptions for the county, the City, the hospital district, the college, the water district and every school district in the county, Northwest ISD at 1.0841 per $100 for 2025, No 2026 table yet: https://www.tad.org/content/rates/2026TaxRates.pdf returned not found, from https://www.tad.org/resources/rates
  110. Residential property data, 2026 appraisal roll · Tarrant Appraisal District · retrieved
    Supports: 255,731 single-family accounts inside the City of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, 121,356 of them in Fort Worth ISD, 33,569 in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD and 32,861 in Keller ISD, 120,071 of the 121,356 City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth ISD single-family accounts carrying the Tarrant Regional Water District
  111. Tarrant water district lowers property tax rate, but cities will pay more for water use · Fort Worth Report · retrieved
    Supports: The water district's taxing district, established in 1949, is primarily in Fort Worth and funds operation and maintenance of the 27-mile Fort Worth Floodway
  112. Valuing property: limitation on residence homestead value increases · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · retrieved
    Supports: A residence homestead's appraised value may not rise more than 10% a year once the owner has qualified in the preceding and current year
  113. 2020 block assignment files, Texas: unified school districts and places · United States Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: Read with the 2020 redistricting file's block populations, at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/Texas/tx2020.pl.zip, and the district names in https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2025_Gazetteer/2025_Gaz_unsd_national.zip, Of the City of Fort Worth's 918,915 residents in 2020: 473,224 in Fort Worth ISD, 119,281 in Keller ISD, 83,129 in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, 81,929 in Crowley ISD, 67,070 in Northwest ISD, 27,617 in Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD, 17,470 in White Settlement ISD and 16,049 in Everman ISD, 473,224 of Fort Worth ISD's 519,747 residents inside the city
  114. 2025 Gazetteer files: places, Texas · United States Census Bureau · retrieved
    Supports: A land area of 352.011 square miles and a water area of 8.183 square miles for Fort Worth city
  115. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) · City of Fort Worth Development Services · retrieved
    Supports: The ETJ as the unincorporated land within five miles of the city limits, where the City can regulate some activities, Water control and improvement districts, fresh water supply districts and municipal utility districts in the ETJ, under the City's MUD policy of 2005
  116. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) layer, City of Fort Worth open data boundaries · City of Fort Worth · retrieved
    Supports: The ETJ's polygons summing to 164,965 acres, about 258 square miles, with the latest edit dated 1 September 2026
  117. Public Improvement Districts (PIDs) · City of Fort Worth · retrieved
    Supports: Fifteen districts listed: 1 Downtown, 6 Park Glen, 7 Heritage, 11 Stockyards, 12 Chapel Hill, 14 Trinity Bluff, 15 Sun Valley, 16 Walsh Ranch/Quail Valley, 17 Rock Creek Ranch, 18 Tourism, 19 Historic Camp Bowie, 20 East Lancaster Avenue, 21 Las Vegas Trail, 22 Veale Ranch and 23 Panther Island, PIDs 16 and 17, formed in 2016, supporting streets, drainage, water, sewer and other infrastructure; PID 22 Veale Ranch established in 2023 for a 60-year term; PID 23 established in 2026
  118. Fort Worth Public Improvement District No. 16 (Walsh Ranch/Quail Valley): annual service plan update, fiscal year 2027, 25 August 2026 · City of Fort Worth and MuniCap · retrieved
    Supports: Fiscal 2027 annual installments per lot in Improvement Area 1 of $482.14 for a 35-foot lot, $597.93 for 50 feet, $737.46 for 60 feet, $940.24 for 70 feet and $1,558.83 for a custom lot, Assessments bearing interest at the rate on the district's bonds, 4.63%, repaid over twenty annual installments, eighteen of them outstanding
  119. Central City · Tarrant Regional Water District · retrieved
    Supports: The rerouting of a section of the Trinity River due north of downtown, with flood water storage at Gateway Park, The Army Corps of Engineers building the bypass channel, three isolation gates, a dam, a pump station and ten flood water storage areas; the water district, the City and the state building the rest
  120. Army Corps awards contract for first half of major $1.2B Fort Worth flood control, development project · Tarrant Regional Water District, republishing WFAA of 24 September 2026 · retrieved
    Supports: A $169,431,703 contract with Walsh Construction Company for the north bypass channel, An 800-acre island, and 2,400 acres of land protected from flooding
  121. $403M coming to Panther Island · Tarrant Regional Water District, republishing the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of 19 January 2022 · retrieved
    Supports: A 1.5-mile bypass channel connecting the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River north of downtown Fort Worth
  122. Gas Wells and Gas Compressor/Well Pad Sites layers, planning and development map service · City of Fort Worth · retrieved
    Supports: 2,351 gas wells, 1,955 of them producing, 287 abandoned, 84 water disposal, 13 permitted and 12 applying, in a layer last edited in December 2025, 529 gas compressor and well pad sites, from layer 9
  123. Gas well drilling · City of Fort Worth Development Services · retrieved
    Supports: The Barnett Shale as a natural gas reserve under a 15-county area, about 1.5 miles below the surface, No well drilled closer than 600 feet to a residence, religious institution, public building, hospital, school or public park without a waiver from the protected use owners or City Council approval
  124. Garbage service · City of Fort Worth Environmental Services · retrieved
    Supports: Monthly rates of $13.75, $19.50 and $25.75 for the 32-, 64- and 96-gallon garbage cart, shown as effective 1 January 2024, Solid waste fees billed on the Fort Worth water bill as a sanitation fee, with recycling and yard waste collected at no additional charge
  125. Stormwater utility fee · City of Fort Worth · retrieved
    Supports: Residential rates from 1 January 2026 of $3.65 a month up to 1,300 square feet of hard surface, $7.29 to 2,475, $10.94 to 3,394 and $14.58 above it, on the monthly water bill
  126. Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 24 September 2026 · Freddie Mac · retrieved
    Supports: A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.03%, up from 6.95% the week before and 6.30% a year earlier
  127. Texas homeowners insurance market overview · Texas Department of Insurance · retrieved
    Supports: A statewide average homeowners premium of $3,489 a year for 2025, Hail as the largest cause of paid homeowners losses, $4.93 billion in 2024 against $2.21 billion for wind
  128. How much is homeowners insurance in Fort Worth, TX? · Insure.com · retrieved
    Supports: An average Fort Worth premium of $4,290 a year for $300,000 of dwelling cover, $100,000 of liability and a $1,000 deductible, updated 27 May 2026, An average of $3,342 a year for $200,000 of dwelling cover
  129. Texas homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Fort Worth premium of $5,600 a year for $500,000 of dwelling cover, $300,000 of liability and a $1,000 deductible, updated 20 February 2026
  130. Renters insurance in Texas · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Fort Worth renters premium of $167 a year, $14 a month, for $30,000 of personal property, updated 23 September 2026
  131. Monthly homeowners' association and condominium fee, tables B25142 and B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Fort Worth city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median monthly association fee of $55 among Fort Worth owner-occupied units that pay one, 85,299 of 210,450 owner-occupied units, or 40.5%, paying such a fee, and 7,153 paying $500 or more a month
  132. Homebuyer Assistance Program (HAP) · City of Fort Worth Neighborhood Services · retrieved
    Supports: Up to $25,000 of interest-free assistance toward the down payment and closing costs, as a forgivable loan: forgiven after ten years in the home, or after five on $14,999 or less, Income limits updated July 2026 of $61,800 for one person to $88,250 for four, First-time buyers, or anyone who has not owned a home in three years; an eight-hour homebuyer class; a contribution of $1,000 or 2% of the price, whichever is less; a home inside the city limits; a sales price no more than 95% of the area median, under the HOME rules
  133. Tallahassee home prices outpace state as sales slow in June · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: A median sale price for an existing single-family home in the Tallahassee MSA of $364,950 in June 2026, up 5.8% from June 2025, A year-to-date median of $340,000, up 1.5%, and 364 closed sales in June, down 6.2% from a year earlier, Florida Realtors' statistics compiled from local multiple listing services, June 2026 data released on 17 July 2026; the Tallahassee MSA is Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties, A statewide single-family median of $432,000 in June 2026
  134. Tallahassee MSA median single-family sales price up 4.4% in May · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: A Tallahassee MSA single-family median of $355,000 in May 2026 against $340,000 in May 2025, up 4.4%
  135. Tallahassee MSA residential sales prices trending down · Tallahassee Reports · retrieved
    Supports: Leon County accounting for almost 90% of the MSA's real estate transactions
  136. Florida market reports · Florida Realtors · retrieved
    Supports: Metropolitan Statistical Area reports, Tallahassee among them, published to members only
  137. FY26 budget, 1.4 millage rate · City of Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: A millage rate of 4.4072, a decrease of 0.0128 mills against the prior year; the budget proposed at 4.4200 and adopted at 4.4072
  138. Tallahassee's $1.2B budget advances, with final vote set for September · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: The City Commission setting the millage rate at 4.4072 mills, with public hearings on 9 and 23 September 2026 before the final vote, The City projecting that a property tax amendment, if voters pass it in November, would cost it $11.2 million in fiscal 2028 and $17.8 million in fiscal 2029
  139. Leon Commission OKs $420M budget with property tax increase, raises · Tallahassee Democrat (via Yahoo News) · retrieved
    Supports: The County Commission voting 6-1 for a property tax rate of 8.3144 per $1,000 of assessed value, unchanged for the 15th consecutive year, and the EMS rate alongside it, at its final hearing on 22 September 2026, The unincorporated area's solid waste assessment going from $40 to $80 in the fiscal year starting 1 October
  140. Leon County School Board approves tentative 2026-27 budget in a 4-1 vote · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: A tentative 5.343-mill tax rate, with the final public hearing on the millage and budget on 8 September 2026
  141. Additional homestead exemption adjustment, revised January 2025 · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: A CPI change of 2.9% and a maximum additional exemption of $25,722 for 2025, against the $25,000 base year of 2024
  142. Rent estimates summary, September 2026 · Apartment List · retrieved
    Supports: For the City of Tallahassee (FIPS 1270600), September 2026: $1,296 overall, $1,100 for one bedroom and $1,309 for two, with rents down 0.31% on the month and 0.43% on the year, For Leon County: $1,290 overall, $1,106 for one bedroom and $1,288 for two
  143. Median household income, median home value, median gross rent and tenure, tables B19013, B25077, B25064 and B25003, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median household income of $56,511 in Tallahassee city, against $63,548 in Leon County and $77,735 for Florida, A median owner-occupied home value of $294,500 in Tallahassee city, 39,706 of Tallahassee's 89,217 occupied homes owner-occupied, and a median gross rent of $1,369 against $1,812 for Florida
  144. Median gross rent by bedrooms, table B25031, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Tallahassee city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: A median gross rent of $1,239 for one bedroom, $1,401 for two and $1,592 for three
  145. Monthly homeowners' association and condominium fee, tables B25142 and B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Tallahassee city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved
    Supports: 17,174 of 39,706 owner-occupied units paying a required homeowners' association or condominium fee, 6,936 of them less than $25 a month, A median monthly fee of $44 among them, and 1,906 paying $300 or more a month
  146. Utility rate pricing plans · City of Tallahassee Utilities · retrieved
    Supports: A stormwater charge of $11.00 per month; residential garbage at $28.19 per month for regular homes, $64.64 for premium service and $18.92 for an additional container, Residential electric: a customer charge of $10.29 single phase and an effective billing rate of $0.13583 per kWh (energy $0.09518 and fuel $0.04065), Residential gas: a customer charge of $12.93 per month and an effective billing rate of $1.42287 per CCF, Water: a minimum charge of $17.75 per month and a 50% surcharge outside the City; sewer: a customer charge of $26.09 per month and $0.83458 per cgal
  147. About your utility bill · City of Tallahassee Utilities · retrieved
    Supports: Stormwater and Fire Service lines on the City's utility bill
  148. Department: Electric and Gas Utility · City of Tallahassee (OpenGov) · retrieved
    Supports: The Electric Utility serving over 128,000 customers in a 221-square-mile service territory, Natural gas through 965 miles of underground mains serving over 34,000 customers in Leon, Gadsden and Wakulla counties
  149. Tallahassee sued over fire services fee charged through utility bills · Fire Law Blog · retrieved
    Supports: A Fire Services Fee imposed since 1999 as a flat monthly charge on City utility bills, at two monthly rates by geographic zone, the inner zone paying more, The City Commission's September 2025 decision to readopt the fee and approve a 9.98% increase, effective 1 October 2025
  150. Complaint, Inman-Johnson et al. v. City of Tallahassee, Second Judicial Circuit · Fire Law Blog (court filing) · retrieved
    Supports: Filed electronically on 17 November 2025, Resolution 25-R-45, adopted in September 2025, implementing a 9.98% increase in the Fire Services Fee charged monthly to each residential utility customer
  151. City commissioners move forward with revised fire service fee · WTXL · retrieved
    Supports: The increase costing approximately $2 extra per month for most residents
  152. Leon County residents now pay fire fee on property tax bill · WCTV · retrieved
    Supports: Residents outside the city limits paying the fire services fee on the property tax bill, about $230 depending on the zone, The City Commission raising the fee by 10% only on its own residents
  153. Property taxes: discounts for early payment · Leon County Tax Collector · retrieved
    Supports: A 4% discount if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February
  154. Property Insurance Stability Report, July 1, 2026 · Florida Office of Insurance Regulation · retrieved
    Supports: Average premiums for Leon County from data reported as of 31 March 2026: homeowners $2,538 with wind and $1,710 without; condominium unit owners $846 and $441, Actual charged premium varying by company, insured value, deductibles and policy terms
  155. Florida homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Tallahassee premium of $2,640 a year, $220 a month, against $8,345 in Miami, updated 20 February 2026
  156. Renters insurance in Florida · NerdWallet · retrieved
    Supports: An average Tallahassee renters premium of $138 a year, $12 a month
  157. Flood prevention and preparedness information · City of Tallahassee, Stormwater Management · retrieved
    Supports: A substantially improved or damaged home, where the repairs or renovations equal or exceed 50% of the structure's market value, brought up to the NFIP and City flood ordinance requirements, elevated to at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation, Tallahassee citizens and businesses receiving up to a 25 percent discount on flood insurance
  158. CRS eligible communities, April 2025 · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved
    Supports: The City of Tallahassee (community 120144) in Class 5 from 1 October 2022, a 25% discount in the special flood hazard area; Leon County also Class 5
  159. National Flood Hazard Layer, FIRM panels · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved
    Supports: Leon County's countywide FIRM, DFIRM 12073C, with panels effective 18 August 2009
  160. Tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Hermine (AL092016) · National Hurricane Center · retrieved
    Supports: Landfall along the Florida Big Bend coast just east of St. Marks at 0530 UTC on 2 September 2016, About 65% of electric customers (75,000 in all) without power in the City of Tallahassee, the most significant damage to its system since Hurricane Kate in 1985
  161. Hurricane Hermine (2016) · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: Approximately 80% of customers in Tallahassee losing power during the hurricane
  162. NWS Tallahassee newsletter, June 2024 · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: Three tornadoes through Leon County on 10 May 2024, two of them EF-2 with maximum winds of 115 mph converging on Tallahassee, More than 400 broken utility poles, more than Hermine, Irma and Michael combined on the City's count, and two storm-related deaths
  163. Post tropical cyclone report, Hurricane Helene: impact narratives · National Weather Service Tallahassee · retrieved
    Supports: In Leon County at the peak, roughly 53,000 City of Tallahassee utility customers and 35,000 Talquin Electric customers without power, A mandatory evacuation of mobile and manufactured homes, and 3 homes destroyed and 27 with major damage
  164. Documentary stamp tax · Florida Department of Revenue · retrieved
    Supports: 70 cents on each $100 of consideration on a deed in every county except Miami-Dade, 35 cents per $100 on a promissory note, capped at $2,450
  165. Rule 69O-186.003, Florida Administrative Code: title insurance rates · Florida Department of State, Florida Administrative Code · retrieved
    Supports: An owner's title insurance premium of $5.75 per $1,000 of liability to $100,000 and $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million
  166. Section 627.701, Florida Statutes: liability of insureds; hurricane deductibles · The Florida Legislature · retrieved
    Supports: An insurer offering hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the policy dwelling limits
  167. Flood: Citizens' flood insurance requirements · Citizens Property Insurance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Under section 627.715, Florida Statutes, most new and renewing Citizens personal residential policies with wind coverage required to carry flood insurance by 1 January 2027
  168. FloodSmart · Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance Program · retrieved
    Supports: Most homeowners insurance not covering flood damage
  169. SB 4-D (2022): Building Safety, chapter 2022-269, Laws of Florida · The Florida Senate · retrieved
    Supports: Milestone inspections required of condominium and cooperative associations, and a prohibition on waiving or reducing reserves for certain items after a specified date
  170. Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program · Florida Housing Finance Corporation · retrieved
    Supports: Down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time, income-qualified buyers in eligible occupations employed full time by a Florida-based employer, Up to 5% of the first mortgage, a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000, as a 0%, non-amortizing, 30-year deferred second mortgage that is not forgivable