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DeSoto, Texas

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the Southwest Dallas census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75115. It stands on Spring Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lancaster quadrangle. 56,145 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 666 feet above sea level.

DeSoto within Dallas County

Population over time

2 figures

DeSoto grew from 49,047 to 56,145 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201049,047
202056,145+7,098 (+14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

71 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of DeSoto between 2005 and 2018, burning about 205 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined43
Debris and open burning9
Equipment and vehicle use8
Recreation and ceremony3
Arson/incendiarism2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Natural1
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
3 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceMEAGAN
27 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest Service128 E. OVILLA RD
23 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceOLD HICKORY
17 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceWINTERSET
15 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceW WHEATLAND
13 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest ServiceOLD HICKORY
12 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreTexas A & M Forest Service7500 POLK
7 August 2018Equipment and vehicle use109 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceOVILLA ROAD

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dallas County

Storms near this place

20 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names DeSoto in 20 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2015Heavy RainDesoto1 killedA DeSoto teenager and his dog were found dead Monday Morning in a storm drain. He was last seen Sunday afternoon.
April 2008Tornado (EF1)Desoto$1,000,000A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth found that a tornado touched down in DeSoto along Meadowbrook Road just west of Hampton Road. The tornado traveled east-northeast to the eastern edge of the city just north of Wintergreen Road. Several homes suffered roof damage with one home losing the majority of its roof. There were around twenty homes that sustained damage. Many downed trees, power poles, and power lines were noted along with damage to sheds and outbuildings. This tornado was rated an EF-1 with estimated maximum wind speeds of 95 MPH.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindDesoto$600,000An overturned 18 wheeler was reported on southbound I-35E at Bear Creek Rd in Glenn Heights due to intense thunderstorm winds. Across the city, trees and power poles were damaged and knocked down, a few of which were blocking roadways. Some business signs were also knocked down. More considerable damage was reported to a small mattress shop on Bear Creek that had a tree fall on its roof, and damaged mobile homes on Happy Bear and also on South Uhl.
April 2025Flash FloodDesoto$100,000Broadcast media reported a home flooded on Dynasty Drive in Glenn Heights.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindDesoto$50,000Emergency management reported that a tree was blown over onto a home in DeSoto.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindDesoto$7,000An emergency manager reported power lines down along Spinner Road and Stain Glass Drive.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindDesoto$5,000A 67 mph wind gust was reported 1 mile south of DeSoto.
March 2025HailDesoto-Reported via mPING just north of DeSoto.
March 2025HailDesoto-Emergency manager reported 1 inch hail north of DeSoto.
March 2013HailDesoto-Quarter sized hail was reported in DeSoto.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindDesoto-A spotter measured a 63 MPH wind gust at the intersection of Westmoreland Road and Pleasant Run Road in DeSoto.
July 2009HailDesoto-Half Dollar size hail fell in the city of Desoto.
March 2007Flash FloodDesoto-Flash flooding reported on roads.
March 2023HailDesoto-no account filed
April 2011HailDesoto-no account filed
May 2011HailDesoto-no account filed
September 2011HailDesoto-no account filed
October 1993HailDeSoto-no account filed
October 1993HailDeSoto-no account filed
October 1993HailDeSoto-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dallas County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Pleasant Run1.4 miles21
Shamrock1.7 miles21
Glenn Heights2.8 miles19
Woodland Hills3.7 miles21
River Oaks3.9 miles21
Duncanville5.1 miles21
Cedar Hill5.3 miles21
Lancaster5.3 miles19

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on DeSotoAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q981771The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1373357. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.