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Fort Wayne, Indiana
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Fort Wayne
Sharon Tucker | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2027 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2027 |
| City council seats: | 9 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 263,886 |
| Race: | White 65.0% African American 15.3% Asian 5.8% Native American 0.5% Pacific Islander 0.0% Multiple 7.8% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 10.6% |
| Median household income: | $60,293 |
| High school graduation rate: | 88.9% |
| College graduation rate: | 28.5% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Fort Wayne offices | |
| Indiana Congressional Delegation Indiana State Legislature Indiana state executive offices | |
Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana. The city's population was 263,886 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Fort Wayne utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[1]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive. He or she is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and committee members, and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1][2] The current Mayor of Fort Wayne is Sharon Tucker (D). Tucker assumed office in 2024.
City council
The Fort Wayne Common Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws and policies.[3]
The city council is made up of nine members. Three members are elected at large, while the other six are elected by the city's six districts.[3]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Fort Wayne has a Democratic mayor. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2023
The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, held general elections for mayor, city council, and city clerk on November 7, 2023. A primary was scheduled for May 2, 2023. The filing deadline for the primary was February 3, 2023, and the filing deadline for the general election was July 15, 2023.
2019
2015
The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. A primary election took place on May 5, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 6, 2015. All nine city council seats were up for election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Fort Wayne | |
|---|---|
| Fort Wayne | |
| Population | 263,886 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 110 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 66.4% |
| Black/African American | 14.6% |
| Asian | 5.8% |
| Native American | 0.4% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | 4.3% |
| Multiple | 8.4% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.5% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 88.9% |
| College graduation rate | 28.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $60,293 |
| Persons below poverty level | 15.6% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates on a fiscal year cycle from January 1 to December 31. The budget process begins annually in June when all city departments draft budgets for the next fiscal year. The proposed department budgets are reviewed by the city's Division of Finance and Administration before the mayor presents the city budget to the common council in September. The common council holds hearings to allow for public input in the budget process. By state law, the common council must adopt the budget by November 1.[4][5]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[6]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[7] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[8] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[6]
Fort Wayne, Indiana, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
Citizens Square, Suite 425
200 East Berry St.
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-427-8311
City Clerk's office
Citizens Square, Suite 110
200 East Berry St.
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-427-1221
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Allen County, Indiana ballot measures
The city of Fort Wayne is in Allen County. A list of ballot measures in Allen County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Fort Wayne, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Fort Wayne, Indiana, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Allen County Courthouse.[9] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[10]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 City of Fort Wayne, "§ 31.01 Elected Officials.," accessed October 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "Office of the Mayor," accessed August 18, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 City of Fort Wayne, "About City Council," accessed August 14, 2021
- ↑ City of Fort Wayne, "2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Indiana General Assembly, "2023 Indiana Code," accessed August 23, 2023 (IC 36-4-7-11)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ WPTA 21, "‘I can’t breathe’ protesters gather at Allen County courthouse demanding justice for George Floyd," May 29, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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