Net-worth network

Dallas-Fort Worth crowned one of world's top 10 wealthiest places

Many of Dallas' high-net-worth residents live in the Park Cities.

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman Sothebys International

Believe it or not, the whole Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is home to more mini-millionaires than the entire population of Plano. In fact, DFW now ranks among the world’s top 10 metros for the number of high-net-worth individuals.

A new ranking from Wealth-X, which collects and analyzes data about the world’s wealthiest people, puts DFW at No. 10 globally for the population of high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, defined as those with a net worth of $1 million to $30 million. (In other words, Alice Walton, Jerry Jones, and Andy Beal are way too rich for this list.)

For 2018, Wealth-X tallied 298,220 HNW individuals in Dallas-Fort Worth, up slightly from 297,935 the previous year. By comparison, the population of Plano was 286,143 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. DFW is the only Texas metro to appear in Wealth-X’s top 10.

“With the addition of [the] Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, the U.S. now includes six of the top 10 cities in our ranking,” Wealth-X says.

Sitting atop the ranking is the New York City metro area, home to nearly 1 million HNW individuals. Elsewhere in the U.S., Los Angeles stands at No. 3, Chicago at No. 6, San Francisco at No. 9, Washington, D.C., at No. 9, and Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 10.

Chances are, you’ll find many of DFW’s HNW individuals in the region’s richest ZIP codes, particularly Highland Park and University Park. Highland Park is No. 9 among the country’s wealthiest ZIP codes, and University Park is No. 7, according to a 2018 analysis by Bloomberg.

According to data released in 2018 by Charles Schwab’s Modern Wealth Index, DFW residents say it takes a net worth of $2.4 million to be considered wealthy and $1.3 million to feel financially comfortable.

“Wealth is often thought of as an unreachable sum of money, but that is a view of the past,” Julie Lambert, manager of the Charles Schwab branch in Plano, says in a 2017 release. “We believe people should think about wealth as what they have now, whether that’s a lot of money or a little, and the important part is paying attention to it. Being engaged, even when you’re just getting started, is the only way to build wealth over time and attain personal goals.”

According to the 2018 Knight Frank City Wealth Index, Dallas ranks seventh globally for the most households (297,970) earning at least $250,000 in 2017, just behind Houston at No. 6 (298,868 households).

Dallas is projected to rank 10th for the growth of households earning at least $250,000, adding 58,575 such households from 2017 to 2022, the index says. By comparison, Houston is forecast to hold down the No. 9 position, adding 71,211 of those households during the same five-year span.

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Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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