Cities in Texas

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This page contains a list of cities in Texas, and other information about local governments.

Texas allows municipal charter cities. However, there are no charter counties. There are 254 total counties in Texas, all of which are subject to General law.[1]

There are 1,214 total municipalities in Texas. Of those 1,214, 862 of them are General law municipalities while the remaining 352 are Charter/Home rule cities.[1]

Types of local government

Local government in Texas consists of 254 counties and 1,214 cities. In addition, there are 2,309 special districts and 1,079 independent school districts.[2]

Further classifications:

Cities in Texas are classified as:

  • Home rule charter city: of which there are 352
  • General law city (which may be Type A,B, or C): of which there are 862

Initiative process availability

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in Texas

There is no statewide initiative process set for general law cities. As creatures of state statute, general law cities do not have authority to adopt initiative elections on their own.

Initiative is only available in charter cities. State statutes mandate an initiative process for citizens to propose charter amendments through petition. Charter cities also have authority to permit an initiative process for ordinances. The top 10 most populated cities in Texas all operate under a home rule charter. 9 of the 10 (all except Arlington) authorize initiative for ordinances.[3][4]

10 most populated cities

List of Most Populated Cities in Texas
City[5] Population City Type Next election
Houston 2,145,146 Charter 2015
San Antonio 1,359,758 Charter 2015
Dallas 1,223,229 Charter 2015
Austin 820,611 Charter N/A
Fort Worth 758,738 Charter N/A
El Paso 665,568 Charter N/A
Arlington 373,698 Charter N/A
Corpus Christi 307,953 Charter N/A
Plano 269,776 Charter N/A
Laredo 241,935 Charter N/A

Full list of cities

See also: List of Texas cities
A guide to local ballot initiatives
Local Ballot Initiatives cover.jpg

As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,214 incorporated cities and towns in Texas. A full list of cities in Texas is available here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Local Government Types and Numbers Research Spreadsheet
  2. ↑ The U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 study of local governments
  3. ↑ Texas Municipal League Handbook, Chap. 1 Local Government
  4. ↑ Ballotpedia: Types and #'s of local government by state
  5. ↑ US Census Bureau "City and Town Totals: Vintage 2011 (Population figures as of 2011 Census estimates)
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