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Fort Worth, Texas
Inside Fort Worth's city limits, shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 42% of mapped land, higher than 51% of Texas cities. A shallow water table limits basements on under 1%.
That clay share is close to Tarrant County's 41%. FEMA's flood data list 205 flood losses since 2016 in the 34 ZIP codes overlapping the city. Of its 373,948 homes, 34% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1994.
Data as of September 22, 2026 · sources · in Tarrant County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 34 overlapping ZIPs
of homes built before 1980
Soil under Fort Worth city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 42.3% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 0.4% |
| Septic fields very limited | 71.8% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 6.8% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 45.7% |
| Urban land, not rated | 14.6% |
| Mapped soil | 232,193 acres |
| Soil series | Share here | Series nationally: expansive clay |
|---|---|---|
| Sanger | 16% | 99% |
| Aledo | 11% | n/a |
| Slidell | 6% | n/a |
| Bolar | 6% | n/a |
| Ponder | 5% | n/a |
| Purves | 5% | 40% |
What the numbers mean here
Clay swell averages a linear extensibility of 6.8% by land area here, and 46% of the land reaches USDA's high class (6% or more). Clay like that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, under 42% of the mapped land.
Clay shrinks as it dries: 100% of Tarrant County is in drought on the latest map, and 42% of Fort Worth's mapped land has shrink-swell clay.
USDA rates 72% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
Drought in Tarrant County
100% of Tarrant County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the September 22, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Fort Worth. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 76179 | 6% | 4 | $56,686 |
| 76052 | 5% | 0 | $0 |
| 76177 | 5% | 0 | $0 |
| 76106 | 4% | 11 | $239,007 |
| 76244 | 4% | 5 | $67,318 |
| 76108 | 4% | 9 | $148,258 |
| 76119 | 4% | 10 | $172,114 |
| 76112 | 3% | 13 | $256,547 |
| 76135 | 3% | 6 | $155,988 |
| 76137 | 3% | 2 | $7,704 |
| 76116 | 3% | 13 | $95,341 |
| 76131 | 3% | 2 | $93,396 |
| 76140 | 3% | 50 | $1.8 million |
| 76107 | 3% | 29 | $1.3 million |
| 76123 | 3% | 1 | $0 |
| 76133 | 3% | 4 | $25,183 |
| 76109 | 2% | 8 | $116,780 |
| 76120 | 2% | 4 | $12,817 |
| 76134 | 2% | 4 | $15,384 |
| 76111 | 2% | 2 | $10,020 |
| 76132 | 2% | 5 | $27,481 |
| 76118 | 2% | 9 | $197,186 |
| 76103 | 2% | 3 | $106,088 |
| 76104 | 2% | 3 | $126,175 |
| 76105 | 2% | 0 | $0 |
| 76110 | 2% | 4 | $125,271 |
| 76102 | 1% | 0 | $0 |
| 76115 | 1% | 0 | $0 |
| 76114 | 1% | 0 | $0 |
| 76164 | 1% | 3 | $86,696 |
| 76155 | 1% | 0 | $0 |
| 76040 | 1% | 1 | $0 |
| 76127 | 1% | 0 | $0 |
| 76129 | 0% | 0 | $0 |
Homes in Fort Worth
| Housing units | 373,948 |
| Median year built | 1994 |
| Built before 1980 | 34% |
| Built 2000 or later | 43% |
| Owner-occupied | 57% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $303,000 |
| Single-family detached | 65% |
Nearby cities
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Oaks | 3 mi | 10% | 2% |
| Sansom Park | 3 mi | 12% | 0% |
| Westover Hills | 5 mi | 1% | 0% |
| Westworth Village | 5 mi | 21% | 1% |
| Blue Mound | 5 mi | 53% | 0% |
| Haltom City | 5 mi | 44% | 1% |
| Lake Worth | 5 mi | 26% | 1% |
| Saginaw | 6 mi | 73% | 0% |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (September 22, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status