In 1846 a young doctor named James Azle Stewart moved to an area 16 mile northwest of present-day Fort Worth and was among the earliest to settle this region. Other settlers followed and made homes near the streams Silver Creek, Walnut Creek, and Ash Creek. The first post office didn't open until 1881 and the area took the name of O'Bar for the man who obtained the service. In 1883, Stewart requested the name be changed to Azle TX after donating land to form the town site. The early economy was agricultural well into the early 1900's as the city provided dairy products to Fort Worth. After the 1930's, agriculture started to decline and fields were developed into housing.
Source: wikimedia.org
The population of Azle is 1% rural and 99% urban. The city has grown by 18.1% since 2000 to 11,334 currently with 52.2% of residents being female and 47.8% male. The median resident age is 41.7 years compared to 34 for Texas overall. Median household income is up to $55,519 from 2000 when it was $43,304. The State of Texas median is $51,704. Per capita income has grown from $20,817 in 2000 to $29,188 present-day. Median house or condo value is up from $80,700 in 2000 to $111,935 compared to the state median of $132,000. The median rent is $876.
Average housing prices are as follows:
The population breakdown by race is:
The population broken down by ancestry is:
Source: wikimedia.org
Out of residents 25 and older 86.4% have a high school diploma or higher, 22% have a bachelor's degree or higher, and 7% have a graduate or professional degree. The unemployment rate is currently 4.3% and the average commute is 33.9 minutes. The cost of living index is 94.3 compared to the U.S. national index of 100.
The population breakdown by marital status 15 years and over is:
Out of Azle's entire population, 333 residents are foreign born with 1.6% coming from Latin America, 0.7% from Asia, and 0.5% from Europe. Only 3% of the city is from foreign soil compared to 16.5% in the entire state of Texas.
The median property taxes paid for housing with mortgages is $2,598 or 2.2% and without a mortgage is $1,523 or 1.5%.
Single-family building permits for new house constructions from 1997 to 2012 have been distributed as follows:
Source: wikimedia.org
Residents of Azle are extremely well educated people with some of the highest percentages of people with education beyond high school in the state. Citizens of Azle place great importance on respect for nature and love to visit nearby Eagle Mountain Lake. People are warm and friendly, as is the Texas custom. Residents by in large are more likely to drive to Fort Worth and ply their trade than in Azle itself.
Depending on your own situation, Azle could be a great place to live or a town you should pass on. The statistics tell a story of the city being a great place to own a lake house, but people looking to raise a family should look through the individual schools and be wary of the crime rate. Area Vibes ranks livability in Azle as follows:
This compares to the overall livability score of both Texas and the United States of 72 out of 100.
According to City Data, the crime rate has remained close to the national average from 2002 to 2013 with very little progress or change. Crime scores for those years are as follows:
This compares to the national average of 291.7.
Great Schools rates the school system in Azle a six out of a possible ten points. The lackluster crime rate is due in large part to the many commuters who do not spend as much time at home as they do in Fort Worth working. It is common when the majority of residents commute, less time is spent on things like civic pride or working with law enforcement. There are some great schools in Azle with just a few bad apples dragging down the average. If citizens, law enforcement, and local government ever come together and lower the crime rate, they would have a first-rate community on their hands.
