TEXRail commuter line through city
Direct rail to FW T&P + DFW Airport from inside the 3-sq-mi city
City · Tarrant County
Richland Hills
Population ~8,128 · birdville-isd
☕ Richland Hills brief Mon, Jun 1
Birdville ISD B
22,637 district students
Incorporated 1953
NRH carved out of RH's annexation push the same year
Local News
Richland Hills headlines
What's happening in Richland Hills right now
🏛️ Civic
Home-rule city under a 1986 charter
Richland Hills operates under a home-rule charter adopted in 1986, providing for a council-manager form of government. The 2020 census put the population at 8,621. Source: City of Richland Hills; U.S. Census.
Ongoing · Source: richlandhills.com
🎓 Schools
Served by Birdville ISD
Birdville ISD, incorporated in 1926 under Superintendent W. T. Francisco, runs 31 campuses across Richland Hills and parts of Colleyville, Fort Worth, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills and Watauga. Source: Birdville ISD.
Ongoing · Source: birdvilleschools.net
🏛️ History
Listed on the Texas Lakes Trail
Richland Hills is listed by the Texas Historical Commission as a city on the Texas Lakes Trail, one of the state's ten official heritage tourism regions. Source: Texas Historical Commission.
Ongoing · Source: thc.texas.gov
From across Tarrant County
🗳️ Election
Contested mayor races in nine Tarrant cities on May 2 ballot
The May 2, 2026 ballot featured contested races for mayor in nine Tarrant cities: Arlington, Euless, Keller, Kennedale, North Richland Hills, Pelican Bay, Sansom Park, Westlake, and Westover Hills. The slate also included numerous city council positions, school board trustee seats, and other municipal offices across the county. Source: NBC 5 DFW / Tarrant County Elections.
🗳️ Politics
Taylor Rehmet (D) wins Texas State Senate District 9 special election
In Tarrant County's state Senate District 9 special election held November 4, 2025, Democrat Taylor Rehmet finished as the top vote-getter, ahead by roughly 14,000 votes and a margin of nearly 15%. Rehmet replaces Republican Kelly Hancock, who left the seat in 2025 to become acting state comptroller. Rehmet completes the remainder of Hancock's term. Source: NBC 5 DFW.
Around Town
Around Town
Richland Hills's places, people, and traditions
Landmark
Richland Hills station (Trinity Railway Express)
The TRE commuter rail line between Fort Worth and Dallas stops at Richland Hills, giving the city a rail connection to both downtowns and DFW Airport via shuttle.
Year-round
Park
Link Park
Municipal park complex with sports fields, pavilions and a community center, the centerpiece of the city's parks system.
Year-round
Heritage
Texas Lakes Trail city
Designation under the Texas Historical Commission's Lakes Trail program ties Richland Hills into a heritage tourism corridor that includes Fort Worth, Dallas and the surrounding lakes.
Year-round
Event
Family Fun Day
Annual community festival hosted by the city at Link Park, with food trucks, music and a fireworks display.
Annual
Known for
- Texas Lakes Trail city designation
- Birdville ISD area
- Link Centennial Park
- Historic Trinity Railway Express station
The Story of Richland Hills
Richland Hills was born of the wartime boom that transformed Tarrant County. As defense plants sprang up around Fort Worth in the World War II era, workers needed homes, and a new residential community took shape northeast of the city.
Richland Hills incorporated on September 23, 1950, one of the first of the area's postwar suburbs.
Its name would soon cause some confusion: in 1953 a separate community just to the north, denied annexation into Richland Hills, incorporated on its own as North Richland Hills — a distinct and ultimately much larger city.
Today Richland Hills remains a small, established inner-ring suburb between Fort Worth and the Mid-Cities, bisected by the railroad and State Highway 121.
Sources: Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas.
🗓️ Coming this week Full calendar →
TUE
28
Birdville ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
TUE
2
Tarrant County Commissioners Court
10am · agenda online
TUE
2
Fort Worth City Council
7pm · agenda online
TUE
2
Arlington City Council
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Northwest ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Keller ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Carroll ISD Board of Trustees
5:30pm · agenda online
🎈 Kids Trading Post · Richland Hills 2 activities →
Storytime, classes, camps, leagues, and open-play in Richland Hills, sourced from libraries and partner orgs. Updated nightly · no manual data entry.
See all 2 kid activities →
Sports
Richland Hills Sports (Birdville ISD)
School-district athletics + city rec
ISD Athletics
Birdville ISD — Hawks
Richland Hills students participate in Birdville ISD athletics. UIL classification varies by HS enrollment.
Source: Birdville ISD
Community Rec
Richland Hills parks + community programs
City Parks & Rec coordinates youth + adult community recreation programs scaled to Richland Hills's pop.
Source: City of Richland Hills
Cross-District
Friday-night football in the surrounding district
For HS football fans, the closest district games are in Birdville ISD stadiums — typically a short drive within the Mid-Cities or NE/NW Tarrant corridor.
Source: Birdville ISD
⭐ Game of the week
Carroll Dragons — district football (anchor program)
🏈 District football ·
Tarrant County's anchor programs — Carroll (8 state titles), Keller (top-of-district 5A), Mansfield (B-rated district), Arlington Martin (AISD flagship), Fossil Ridge (KISD power program) — get priority weekly coverage from the news radar. Carroll Dragons headline the off-season anchor framing; weekly schedule populates from MaxPreps DFW + each ISD's athletics site.
📜 On this day in Tarrant County sports
1988
🏈 Carroll (Southlake) Dragons claim 1st state football championship — beginning of the dynasty that would produce 8 UIL state titles. Under coach Bob Ledbetter.
1993
🏈 Carroll Dragons capture their 3rd state football title (1988, 1992, 1993 = three-in-a-row 3A run under Coach Ledbetter; QB Kris Brown led the '93 squad past Cuero).
2011
🏈 Carroll Dragons win their 8th and most recent UIL state football title — capping the program's run as Tarrant County's most successful HS football dynasty.
2018
🥎 Mansfield Tigers softball reaches UIL state semifinals — anchor moment for MISD's growing softball program under HC Gregory George's broader program leadership.
2026
🏃 Keller ISD sends 11 athletes to UIL State Track & Field — multiple medal-stand finishes per district release.
📻 Radio guide
Southlake Carroll Dragons football
KKGM 1630 AM (Fort Worth; news/sports) — exclusive radio home of Carroll football
Dragon Sports Network
Aledo Bearcats football (Tarrant-area marquee program)
KTFW-FM 92.1 'Hank FM' (LKCM Radio Group; country) — flagship for Aledo broadcasts
Aledo Sports Network
Arlington ISD football (Martin · Lamar · Bowie)
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — official AISD broadcast partner
NFHS Network
Mansfield Tigers football
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — Mansfield ISD live broadcasts
NFHS Network
Keller / Fossil Ridge (Keller ISD) football
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — Keller ISD live broadcasts
NFHS Network
Fort Worth-area HS football game of the week
KTCU-FM 88.7 'The Choice' (TCU student station, Fort Worth)
KTCU 88.7
🏆 UIL playoff bracket
No active Tarrant County UIL playoff bracket on the desk. Populates when a Tarrant County team is in a UIL playoff round (football, basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball). Source: UIL playoff records.
Activities
Things to do in Richland Hills
Kids, library, sports, fitness, classes, camps, open play — sourced from libraries, parks, and partner orgs across Richland Hills.
camp
The Link — Seasonal Youth Camps & Classes
Seasonal · see rec center schedule
The Link Event & Recreation Center · 6750 Baker Blvd, Richland Hills
class
The Link — Group Fitness & Family Programs
Mon–Sun · see facility hours
The Link Event & Recreation Center · 6750 Baker Blvd, Richland Hills
Civic & Government
Civic & Government
Richland Hills city hall, schools, and county connection
Government
Home-rule city, council-manager form
Richland Hills's home-rule charter, adopted in 1986, provides for a mayor and five council members supported by a city manager.
Schools
Served by Birdville ISD
Birdville ISD, established in 1926, serves Richland Hills along with parts of Colleyville, Fort Worth, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills and Watauga.
County
Tarrant County (judge Tim O'Hare)
Richland Hills sits in Tarrant County. Commissioners Court meets at 100 E. Weatherford St., Fort Worth. Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare; sheriff Bill Waybourn.
Reach the right desk
By the Numbers
By the Numbers
Pop
~8,128 residents in compact suburban footprint
Among smaller incorporated Tarrant cities. Density is high relative to land area because nearly all of city was built out during 1950s + 1960s housing boom, leaving little undeveloped land inside limits.
Recent Census · Source: Wikipedia
Schools
Birdville ISD serves Richland Hills — ~22,637 district-wide
Birdville ISD — Tarrant district serving ~22,637 students. Currently B overall accountability. Footprint extends across NRH, Haltom City, Watauga, parts of FW in addition to Richland Hills.
Recent school year · Source: Birdville ISD
Location
~10 miles NE of downtown Fort Worth
Sits about 10 mi NE of downtown FW along Loop 820 / TEXRail corridor — downtown jobs, Sundance Square, Stockyards, cultural district within short commute. DFW International within single TEXRail ride east.
Ongoing · Source: Wikipedia
Population
8,128
Type
city
School District
birdville-isd
Population by city
Tarrant County city populations (Census 2020 + 2024 estimates).
| City | Population | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Worth | 935,508 | County seat, 4th-largest in TX (after Houston, San Antonio, Dallas) |
| Arlington | 392,304 | Cowboys + Rangers home |
| Grand Prairie | ~200,000 | Cross-county with Dallas |
| Mansfield | 79,708 | |
| Flower Mound | 78,854 | Cross-county with Denton |
| North Richland Hills | 71,564 | |
| Euless | 61,554 | |
| Burleson | 53,283 | Cross-county with Johnson |
| Grapevine | 50,898 | |
| Bedford | 49,337 | |
| Hurst | 39,337 | |
| Haltom City | 46,500 | |
| Keller | 46,044 | |
| Southlake | 32,376 |
Updated 2026-05-27
Ask the Desk
Questions about Richland Hills
What are Tarrant County's 2025 property tax rates?
Tarrant County (general portion): ~$0.19 per $100. City of Fort Worth: $1.0624. City of Arlington: $1.0929 (down ~1¢ from 2024). Combined rates from Fort Worth ISD + City of Fort Worth + Tarrant County College bring the total for most Fort …
Who is Tarrant County's County Judge?
Tim O'Hare. He is the 33rd County Judge of Tarrant County since the county's founding in 1849, took office January 1, 2023, and his current term runs through January 1, 2027. He is running for re-election November 3, 2026, and has said the …
Who is Tarrant County's Sheriff?
Bill E. Waybourn. Source: Tarrant County elected officials (tarrantcountytx.gov).
Who is the State Senator for Tarrant County's District 9?
Taylor Rehmet (Democrat), who won the November 4, 2025 special election to replace Republican Kelly Hancock — Hancock left to become acting state comptroller. Rehmet won by roughly 14,000 votes (~15% margin) and is completing the remainder …
Which ISD serves Richland Hills?
Birdville ISD serves Richland Hills. Birdville enrolls approximately 22,637 students; Birdville High School itself rated B on TEA 2024 with 91 student achievement, 84 school progress, and 84 closing gaps; district-level 2024-25 rating pendi…
All Richland Hills Q&As → Community Voice
History
Founded mid-20th century
A mid-century inner-ring suburb on the Birdville foundation
The land that became Richland Hills was for most of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries part of the rural Birdville community, one of the oldest settlements in Tarrant County and the county's first county seat. Birdville ISD was incorporated in 1926 under Superintendent W. T. Francisco and remains the school district's foundation. Richland Hills itself grew rapidly as a postwar suburb during the 1950s and 1960s, and residents adopted a home-rule charter in 1986 that established the city's modern council-manager government. The city is listed by the Texas Historical Commission as a city on the Texas Lakes Trail, one of the state's official heritage tourism regions. Today Richland Hills's roughly 8,600 residents share an identity tied to Birdville schools, the Trinity Railway Express commuter line, and the Mid-Cities corridor between Fort Worth and DFW Airport. Sources: TSHA Handbook of Texas; City of Richland Hills; Birdville ISD; Wikipedia.
Submit your own — moderated, sourced + curated (per Runbook: no public-posting widgets).
Post to Board →🗺️ Neighboring counties
Part of The County Desk network — one publication, independent regional editions.