Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas.
It is home to the University of Texas at Dallas and the Telecom Corridor, with a high concentration of telecommunications companies. More than 5,000 businesses have operations within Richardson's , including many of the world's largest telecommunications and networking companies, such as AT&T, Verizon, Cisco Systems, Samsung, ZTE, MetroPCS, Texas Instruments, Qorvo, and Fujitsu. Richardson's largest employment base is provided by the insurance industry, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas's headquarters, a regional hub for the insurance company GEICO, regional offices for UnitedHealth Group#UnitedHealthcare, and one of State Farm Insurance's three national regional hubs located in the community.
History Emigrants from Kentucky and Tennessee settled near present-day Richardson in the 1840s. Before the Civil War, a small settlement called Breckenridge, located near present-day Richland College, was established. In 1873, the Houston and Texas Central Railway built a depot northwest of Breckenridge. After the H.&T.C. purchased acreage for a townsite from two local land-owners, the site was surveyed and laid out in blocks and lots, which the railroad began selling in 1874. The town was named after the secretary of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, Alfred S. Richardson.
In 1908, the Texas Electric Railway, an electric railway known as the Interurban, connected Richardson to Denison, Waco, Corsicana and Dallas. In 1910 the population was approximately 600. A red brick schoolhouse was built in 1914 and is now the administrative office for the Richardson Independent School District. In 1924 the Red Brick Road, the present-day Greenville Avenue, was completed. The completion of the road brought increased traffic, population and property values. The town incorporated and elected a mayor in 1925. In 1940 the population was approximately 740.
After World War II the city experienced major increases in population, which stood at approximately 1,300 by 1950. Throughout the 1950s the city continued to see growth including the opening of the Collins Radio Richardson office, Central Expressway, a police department, shopping centers, and many homes. Texas Instruments opened its offices in Dallas on the southern border of Richardson in 1956. This was followed by significant gains in land values, population, and economic status. In the 1960s Richardson experienced additional growth including several new parks, facilities, and the creation of the University of Texas at Dallas within the city limits. By 1972 the population was approximately 56,000. Residential growth continued through the 1970s and slowed in the 1980s. Commercial development increased throughout the 1980s. Richardson had a population of 74,840 according to the 1990 census. Population increases throughout the 1990s were primarily from development of the northeast part of the city. The city of Buckingham, after being completely surrounded by Richardson, was annexed into the city in 1996.
Richardson had a population of 91,802 as of the 2000 census. By 2002 Richardson had four Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail stations and had built the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts and Corporate Presentations and the adjacent Galatyn Park urban center, which has a 2-acre public pedestrian plaza, a luxury hotel, and mixed-use development. Richardson was a "dry city" with no alcohol sales until November 2006, when the local option election passed to allow the sale of beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores. In the fall of 2008 Peter Perfect, a Style Network television show, came to Richardson. The business-makeover show remodeled SpiritWear, an apparel and embroidery store in the city's historic downtown area. The episode first aired on January 22, 2009. It was the first episode of the series to be filmed outside of California.DFW.com, SpiritWear, TV makeover
Geography
The cities of Dallas, Plano and Garland constitute almost all of the Richardson border apart from the municipality's extreme northeastern "panhandle."
Richardson borders the Lake Highlands area of northeast Dallas to the south, North Dallas to the southwest, Far North Dallas to the west, West Plano to the northwest, East Plano to the north, the city of Murphy to the northeast, Sachse to the east, and Garland to the southeast.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.32%, is water.
Approximately two-thirds of the city is in Dallas County, with the northern third of the city in Collin County. Of the contained within the borders of the city of Richardson, lie in Dallas County; the other are in Collin County.
Climate The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Richardson has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Richardson city, Texas – racial and ethnic compositionRace / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)63,85057,60060,28669.55%58.05%50.46%Black or African American alone (NH)5,5868,28312,6156.08%8.35%10.56%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)3113183180.34%0.32%0.27%Asian alone (NH)10,66614,92920,41211.62%15.05%17.09%Pacific Islander alone (NH)4142550.04%0.04%0.05%Some Other Race alone (NH)1202015350.13%0.20%0.45%Mixed-race or multiracial (NH)1,8082,0014,7201.97%2.02%3.95%Hispanic or Latino (any race)9,42015,84920,52810.26%15.97%17.18%Total91,80299,223119,469100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Richardson had a population of 119,469, 29,113 families, and 45,812 households residing in the city, and the median age was 34.1 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 98.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.9 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 45,812 households in Richardson, of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.1% were married-couple households, 20.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 49,267 housing units, of which 7.0% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.1%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 64,783 54.2% Black or African American 12,829 10.7% American Indian and Alaska Native 663 0.6% Asian 20,502 17.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 68 0.1% Some other race 7,510 6.3% Two or more races 13,114 11.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 20,528 17.2%
2010 census As of the 2010 census, the population density was 3,213.9 people per square mile (1,241.1/km2). There were 36,530 housing units at an average density of 1,278.9 per square mile (493.8/km2).
In the city, 21.9% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.5% was from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males.
In the 2015 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates males had a median income of $60,709 versus $50,404 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,551. About 5.7% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over. According to a 2015 estimate, the median income for a family in Richardson was $72,427 and a median home price of $198,900.
Race and ethnicity By 1990, 10% of the Richardson population had not been born in the United States, which increased to 18.1% by 2000. According to the 2015 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates, this figure was 24.3%. As of 2015, of those not born in the United States, almost 50% had arrived in the United States after 2000.
Dallas County has an estimated 275,000 Arab Americans, many of whom have settled in Richardson. Many of them have come from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, etc. The DFW Chinatown is located in Richardson, in part because of the large Asian population.Light, Nanette. "Three decades later, Dallas Chinese Community Center still heart of Asian culture " (). The Dallas Morning News. February 21, 2014. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. Esther Wu, a former editor of the Dallas Morning News, stated that Chinese immigration began in Richardson in 1975. Since then the Chinese community has expanded to the north.Brenner, Leslie. "Best in DFW: Chinese restaurants " (). The Dallas Morning News. March 9, 2011. Updated February 10, 2013. Retrieved on September 22, 2014. In the mid-1980s the majority of ethnic Chinese K–12 students in the DFW area resided in Richardson.Kripke, Pamela Gwyn. "Why 30,000 Chinese People Call Plano Home" (). D Magazine. June 2012. Retrieved on September 27, 2014.
By 2012 North Texas had over 60 Chinese cultural organizations and most of them were headquartered in Richardson and Plano. The Dallas Chinese Community Center (DCCC; ) is in the DFW Chinatown. It includes English as a second language (ESL) classes and 20,000 books written in Simplified Chinese; the center imported some books from People's Republic of Mainland China. As of 2011 the Chinese restaurants catering to ethnic Chinese in DFW are mainly in Richardson and Plano. The University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, as of 2012, has almost 1,000 Chinese students. The university has a program to recruit students of Chinese origin.
Richardson's Indian immigrant community has been primarily driven by the international telecommunications industry that is so prevalent in the community. The Indian Association of North Texas headquarters are in Richardson.Brettell, Caroline B. '"Big D" Incorporating New Immigrants in a Sunbelt Suburban Metropolis' (Chapter 3). In: Singer, Audrey, Susan Wiley Hardwick, and Caroline Brettell. Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (James A. Johnson metro series). Brookings Institution Press, 2009. , 9780815779285. Start p. 53. CITED: p.56. Indo-Pak grocery store is located in an Indian-oriented strip shopping center east of Central Expressway.Brettell, Caroline B. '"Big D" Incorporating New Immigrants in a Sunbelt Suburban Metropolis' (Chapter 3). In: Singer, Audrey, Susan Wiley Hardwick, and Caroline Brettell. Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (James A. Johnson metro series). Brookings Institution Press, 2009. , 9780815779285. Start p. 53. CITED: p. 64. Of the suburbs in the DFW area, Richardson had one of the earliest Indian settlements.
Richardson is home to a large community of Vietnamese Americans and even has a significant amount of Vietnamese-catering retail stores, malls, markets, and plazas, especially near U.S. 75, such as the Cali Saigon Shopping Mall - which borders Dallas and Garland respectively.
Economy Despite declining economies in other parts of the United States, from 2005 to 2009 Richardson enjoyed substantial increases in economic growth, with the city's total assessed property value rising from $8.3 billion in 2005 to $14 billion in 2017. Additionally, sales tax collection increased from $21 million in 2005 to an estimated $32.9 million in 2017.