Retiring in Arlington, Texas

Retiring in Arlington: overview

Arlington is in Tarrant County, Texas, within the Fort Worth & Western Metroplex region.

Arlington is a large city in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and the Census Bureau's 2020 place file lists it as lying in Tarrant County. In the Census Bureau's 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates it has 394,769 residents, a median age of 33.6, and 11.5% of residents (45,263 people) aged 65 or older. Those numbers describe a large, younger city rather than a retirement town, so the useful questions for an older buyer are practical ones: what the city and its taxing units offer older homeowners, which part of a very large city and which kind of housing fits, and how hospitals and airports connect to a particular address.

A city this size varies by neighborhood in the age of its housing, its exposure to creek flooding and the school district that serves a parcel, so no single description fits every street. For the wider area, see the Fort Worth and west Metroplex region. The neighboring cities of Fort Worth and Mansfield are described on their own pages, and the Arlington hospital described below lists Mansfield among the communities it serves.

Cost of living in Arlington

The 2019-2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates give Arlington a median household income of $73,519, a median value of owner-occupied homes of $276,400 and a median gross rent of $1,389 a month, with only 54.8% of occupied housing units owner-occupied. The same survey gives Fort Worth a median home value of $277,300 and median rent of $1,412. Among Arlington households, 21.3% receive Social Security income and 18.3% receive retirement income, and 18.7% of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of all ages had no health insurance coverage. These are citywide medians for all households over a period ending in 2023, so they say little about the price of a particular newer single-story home today.

The city sets its own utility and service charges each budget year. In adopting its fiscal year 2027 budget, which begins October 1, 2026, the Arlington City Council kept the property tax rate unchanged and approved small increases in water, wastewater and garbage and recycling rates. The city says the average residential water and sewer bill rises 6.37% from $80.10 to $85.20 a month, the residential garbage collection rate rises 3.5% from $22.71 to $23.49 a month, and the stormwater fee is unchanged. It reports that the combined effect on the average homeowner's property taxes, water and sewer fees and garbage fees is a decrease of $4.81 for the year, a result it attributes partly to falling appraisal-district valuations.

Property taxes in Arlington

The Tarrant Appraisal District 2025 rate table, which covers units that tax parcels in Tarrant County, lists the City of Arlington at $0.6298 per $100 of taxable value, made up of $0.4446 for maintenance and operations and $0.1852 for debt service. The same table lists Arlington ISD at $1.0929, Tarrant County at $0.1862, the Tarrant County Hospital District at $0.1650, Tarrant County College at $0.11228 and the Tarrant Regional Water District at $0.0265. As our arithmetic, adding those six rates gives $2.21268 per $100 for a parcel taxed by all six units. The school district that serves a given address is a parcel-level question, so confirm it on the tax statement or with the appraisal district rather than assuming the district named for the city.

The City of Arlington lists a 20% homestead exemption approved annually since 1985, a $60,000 exemption for homeowners who are 65 or older, a $60,000 exemption for homeowners with disabilities, a tax freeze for owners 65 or older first approved in 2005, a freeze for individuals with disabilities, and veteran-related exemptions ranging from $5,000 to $12,000. In a May 2025 article the city says it is among 14 Tarrant County cities that offer the maximum 20% homestead exemption and that only seven county cities offer as much as its $60,000 over-65 exemption. In its September 2026 budget announcement the city says it will fully fund all of its allowed exemptions, including the senior freeze, for fiscal year 2027 at an unchanged rate of $0.6298 per $100. The same article says an additional $2.3 billion in residential value was exempt that year because of the freezes for owners 65 or older and for individuals with disabilities. Exemptions reduce taxable value and are not cash payments, and the city's own freeze is separate from the conditional school-tax ceiling. Read the homestead and age-65 guide and the appraisal district guide before estimating a bill, and file exemption applications with the appraisal district for the county where the parcel sits.

The Tarrant Appraisal District table also lists special taxing districts. For example, it shows the Viridian Management District at $0.5152 per $100. Whether any special district applies depends on the lot, so ask the seller or title company for the taxing units on the specific parcel and obtain assessment amounts in writing. The statewide context is in Texas retirement taxes.

Insurance and risk in Arlington

Flood risk in Arlington varies by creek and lot. The city's Stormwater Management Division says its staff can provide flood depth information, historical flooding information and guidance on known flood risks, can arrange a one-on-one visit from a stormwater engineer, and keeps a list of addresses for which it holds an elevation certificate, which may be needed for flood insurance or a floodplain development permit. Flood Insurance Rate Maps are available through the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and the city's online map service. The city's floodplain pages also include a repetitive loss area analysis plan, a voluntary flood buyout program and a Community Rating System page, and the city site has a form for reporting home flooding and street ponding. Standard homeowner policies generally exclude flood, so ask an agent about separate coverage for any address near a creek.

Hail and severe wind are the other practical concern. The National Weather Service Fort Worth office's review of the April 2026 storms records hail up to softball size in North Texas and tornadoes elsewhere in the region, and its review of the April 11, 2016 hail storm records a 5.25-inch stone, the largest in its forecast area, with 80% of homes affected in Wylie and more than $300 million in damage. Those storms were not centered on Arlington, but they show the scale of events that cross the Metroplex. The Texas Department of Insurance advises asking whether the deductible for wind and hail differs from other deductibles, and notes that as roofs age some policies switch from replacement cost to actual cash value coverage. See the hail, wildfire, drought, heat and outage guide for the statewide picture.

Healthcare access in Arlington

Two hospitals are inside the city. Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital at 800 W. Randol Mill Road describes itself as a Level III Trauma Center, an Advanced Acute Heart Attack Ready Center and an Advanced Primary Stroke Center serving Arlington, Kennedale, Dalworthington Gardens, Pantego, Mansfield and Grand Prairie. Its president's biography says the hospital is a certified Level III neonatal intensive care unit and Level III trauma facility, and that it was recertified in 2023 as a Cycle III Chest Pain Center and a Primary Stroke Center. Medical City Arlington at 3301 Matlock Road describes itself as a 493-bed full-service hospital in South Arlington.

Network, rather than geography, often decides where care is used. Check that your preferred physicians and hospital are in your Medicare Advantage or supplement network. For specialty care beyond the community hospitals, the large medical centers of Fort Worth are described on the Fort Worth page.

Climate in Arlington

Arlington shares the Dallas-Fort Worth humid subtropical climate. NOAA's 1991-2020 monthly normals for the Dallas Fort Worth airport station, used here as a regional proxy rather than a measurement at Arlington, show a normal July daily high of 95.6 degrees Fahrenheit and August of 95.8, and a normal January low of 36.1. May is the wettest spring month at a normal 4.78 inches and October the wettest autumn month at 4.37. Summers are long and hot, so cooling cost and roof and window condition matter, and the spring storm season brings hail, wind and occasional tornadoes. See the summer heat guide for the regional picture, and plan for power interruptions in heat and winter storms.

Lifestyle and recreation in Arlington

Arlington is unusual among the region's cities in how much of its older-adult programming is run by the city. The ACTIV Center at 2061 W. Green Oaks Boulevard in West Arlington is a 73,000-square-foot recreation center for adults 50 and older that voters funded in a May 2017 bond election. Its Active side has a full-court gymnasium, four indoor pickleball courts, a fitness area and a walking track, and its Social side has a lounge with billiards, a special events space and an arts and crafts room. The natatorium has a four-lane indoor lap pool with a lift chair and an indoor hydrotherapy pool, and the grounds have a patio, a walking trail, six pickleball courts and a community garden with rentable beds. Entry requires a day pass or membership. The city's announcement lists day passes at $8, monthly plans for ages 60-79 starting at $5 for the Blue tier, $18 for Green and $26 for Gold, annual passes for ages 80 and up at $24, and fees roughly 30% higher for non-residents except in the 80-plus tier. Participants in Silver Sneakers, Renew Active and Silver & Fit can receive a complimentary Gold-tier membership. Confirm current pricing with the city.

The city's 50+ programs page also describes the East Library and Recreation Center, where members 50 and older have weekday access to a hall and lounge and can join a congregate meal program with Meals on Wheels, and EngAGE Arlington, a social group that organizes events from wine tours and hiking to pickleball. About four day trips a month within a two-hour radius leave from ACTIV and the East center on a 26-seat accessible bus, with a $10 fee for nonmembers. The city also operates four golf courses.

Housing in Arlington

Arlington has 150,519 housing units, of which 60.1% are single-family detached homes and 6.7% were vacant in the 2019-2023 estimates. The age of the stock is concentrated in the late twentieth century: 27.4% of units were built in the 1980s and 19.8% in the 1970s, compared with 13.9% in the 2000s, 5.9% in the 2010s and 0.9% in 2020 or later. With 54.8% owner-occupancy, Arlington has a larger rental share than the suburbs around it, which affects the mix of neighbors and the supply of resale homes. Roof, plumbing and electrical age are worth an inspection in the older neighborhoods.

Getting to airports and care

The city's visitor information says Arlington is 10 miles from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and describes Dallas Love Field as a short 25 minutes away; treat both as the city's own descriptions and test the route from the address you are considering at the hours you would travel. Arlington Municipal Airport is a general aviation reliever airport for corporate, cargo and recreational pilots, so scheduled airline travel runs through DFW or Love Field. The city's transportation pages also list Handitran and Arlington On-Demand among its services.

Places near Arlington

• MansfieldMansfield is a suburban city in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex whose limits reach into Tarrant, Johnson and Ellis counties, with a 294-bed hospital in town and a gated 55+ community that is selling new homes.

Guides relevant to Arlington

• Texas hail, wildfire, drought, heat and power outages: the inland hazards
• Texas healthcare geography and Medicare network considerations
• Texas homestead exemption, the age-65 exemption and the school tax ceiling
• Texas property taxes and appraisal districts: how to compare actual total tax bills
• Texas retirement taxes: state income tax, Social Security, pensions and federal taxes