Cities › TX
Fort Worth
Mayor Mattie Parker · Republican · in office since June 15, 2021
The Executive Summary
Mayor Mattie Parker (R) has led Fort Worth since June 2021; on economic outcomes — the only thing this site scores for mayors — Fort Worth ranks No. 9 of 21 big cities. On Parker's watch, median household income rose $79,355 → $82,503 across 2023–2024; poverty rate rose 12.2% → 13.1% across 2023–2024. Crime, housing and schools are not in this score, and Fort Worth runs day-to-day through a city manager, so the record is shared — association, not causation.
| Unemployment 4% (2025) | +0.63σ · +2.6%/yr vs peers +8.71%/yr · 2023–2025 (3 pts) |
| Median household income $82,503 (2024 · constant 2024 $) | +0.19σ* · +3.97%/yr vs peers +2.27%/yr · 2023–2024 (2 pts) |
| Poverty rate 13.1% (2024) | −0.06σ* · +7.38%/yr vs peers -2.29%/yr · 2023–2024 (2 pts) |
| Government form | Council-manager |
Fort Worth uses a council-manager government, so day-to-day administration runs through an unelected city manager. Read this as the city's record, which the mayor shares.
Sources: unemployment — BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · median household income — Census ACS 1-year, CPI-U deflated · poverty rate — Census ACS 1-year (B17001). Unemployment runs through 2025; income and poverty through 2024. The 2025 unemployment point is an eleven-month average — October 2025 was never collected during the federal shutdown — and it is included and flagged here under the same rule the state pages apply to the same statistic (one statistic, one rulebook, as of v2.6; through v2.5 city pages excluded it instead, and the changelog says so).
Scored on economic outcomes only — unemployment, real median income and poverty. Crime, housing and health are not yet included, so this is a narrower measure than a governor’s. Two denominators. The rank is out of 21 — the mayors with enough scored years to rank. 21 of 50 cities are scored, 0 of those are early reads left unranked, and 29 mayors are not yet scorable. Each σ is measured against all 49 other cities. *Thin data — a trend fitted through fewer than 3 points is a line between dots, not a track record; percentage-per-year figures on those rows swing hard on small changes. Government form follows standard reference classifications and was not verified city by city. Methodology
The Rundown
No. 9 of 21 big-city mayors — on economics, and only economics.
Unemployment. Better than the typical big city. 3.8% → 4% across 2023–2025.
Median household income. About the middle of the pack. $79,355 → $82,503 across 2023–2024.
Poverty rate. Better than the typical big city. 12.2% → 13.1% across 2023–2024.
How this is scored: 60% is where Fort Worth stands against the other 49 largest cities, 40% is which way it moved on Mayor Parker's watch — the same rule governors get. It covers 3 economic outcomes only: crime, housing and schools are not in this grade, so it is narrower than a governor's. Fort Worth also runs day-to-day through an unelected city manager, so this record is shared, not the mayor's alone.
Fort Worth sits in TX, whose governor Greg Abbott holds a scored statewide record (No. 22 of 29). State outcomes are not the mayor’s grade — a city is not a state — but they’re the nearest verified context today.