Carrollton, Texas map
32.98° N · 96.89° W · Dallas, Denton and Collin counties · elev. ~500 ft · Central Time
Carrollton is one of the 25 largest cities in Texas and one of the few that sits in three counties at once. Most of it is in Denton County, a smaller share in Dallas County, and a sliver east of the Dallas North Tollway in Collin County. The Elm Fork of the Trinity River runs down its eastern edge.
Centered near Josey Lane and Belt Line Road. I-35E runs down the eastern side, the President George Bush Turnpike across the south.
Where Carrollton is in Texas
Carrollton is 18 miles northwest of downtown Dallas and 22 miles southeast of Denton, filling the gap between the two along I-35E. Plano is directly east across the Dallas North Tollway, Frisco is north across SH-121, Addison and Farmers Branch are south, and Lewisville is north across the county line.
At the 2020 census the Denton County part of the city counted about 81,400 residents and the Dallas County part about 51,300, with a few hundred more in Collin County. That split matters in practice: property tax bills, school districts and county services all change depending on which side of Frankford Road or Hebron Parkway an address falls on. Four school districts serve parts of the city, including Carrollton–Farmers Branch and Lewisville ISD.
The land is flat Blackland Prairie broken only by the Elm Fork, which the city follows on its east side toward the Trinity River and downtown Dallas. Hebron Parkway, Frankford Road and Belt Line Road are the main east–west streets; Josey Lane, Old Denton Road and Marsh Lane run north–south.
Highways and tollways
- I-35E – the eastern boundary; south to Dallas, north to Lewisville and Denton.
- SH-121 (Sam Rayburn Tollway) – northeast to Plano, Frisco and McKinney; southwest to DFW Airport and Grapevine.
- PGBT (SH-190, President George Bush Turnpike) – across the south side, east to Richardson and Garland, west to Irving.
- Dallas North Tollway – just east of the city limits, south to Dallas, north to Frisco.
- SH-161 (Bush Turnpike west leg) – south to Irving, Grand Prairie and I-30.
- Belt Line Road – the surface arterial through Downtown Carrollton, east to Addison and west to Farmers Branch.
Rail: the old MKT line and DART
Carrollton grew around a stop on the Missouri–Kansas–Texas railroad, and the tracks still set the shape of the city. The Downtown Square, a block of low storefronts around a small green, faces the old line at Fourth Avenue and Main Street; it is the one piece of pre-suburban Carrollton left intact.
DART's Green Line ends at Downtown Carrollton station beside the Square, which makes the city the northwest terminus of the Dallas light rail network. One stop south, Trinity Mills station is the transfer point to the DCTA A-train, the commuter line that runs north through Lewisville to Denton. Two more DART stations, Farmers Branch and Frankford, sit just outside the city limits. Trains reach downtown Dallas in roughly 45 minutes.
Freight still uses the corridor, and the grain elevators and warehouses along the tracks south of Belt Line Road are the reason light industry remains a large employer in a city otherwise made of subdivisions. The city has kept the block around the Square low and walkable while allowing apartments beside the two rail stations, which is why the Square looks nothing like the retail strips a mile away on Josey Lane or Marsh Lane.
Areas and neighborhoods
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| Downtown Square | Restored storefronts, the old MKT depot site, DART Green Line terminus |
| Trinity Mills | DART and A-train transfer station, industrial and office parks along I-35E |
| Old Denton Road corridor | Korean supermarkets, restaurants and shops between Frankford and SH-121 |
| Josey Ranch | Josey Ranch Lake, the public library and senior center off Josey Lane |
| Rosemeade / Furneaux | 1980s subdivisions north of Frankford Road with the Rosemeade recreation center |
| Hebron | Newer Denton County neighborhoods north of Hebron Parkway |
| Elm Fork east side | Indian Creek Golf Club, the Elm Fork greenbelt and floodplain along the river |
| Southwest Carrollton | Warehouse and light industry between Luna Road and the Bush Turnpike |
Distances from Carrollton
| City | Road miles | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 18 | I-35E S |
| Plano | 15 | PGBT E |
| Frisco | 16 | SH-121 N |
| Irving | 14 | SH-161 S |
| Denton | 22 | I-35E N |
| Arlington | 30 | SH-161 S / I-30 W |
| Fort Worth | 35 | SH-121 SW / SH-183 / I-35W |
Distances are to city centers; DFW International Airport is about 15 miles southwest via SH-121.