Dallas

Dallas & Rockwall counties1,307,930 residentsDallas ISD
59
C
Suburbgrade score

30th of 60 DFW suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by housing & affordability.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Dallas yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 59 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
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What Dallas is like to live in, by category

Bars show Dallas against DFW. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 35/100
F
Median home value$320,700
DFW $359,500
Median rent$1,472/mo
DFW $1,614/mo
Cost-burdened households41%
DFW 35%

Schools

18% of the score · 56/100
C−
Within-state proficiency43rd pct
DFW median 61st pct
Student–teacher ratio15.0
DFW median 15.4
Graduation rate87%
DFW median 95%
EDFacts SY2021–22 · NCES CCD 2024–25 · EDFacts ACGR SY2018–19Full page →

Cost of living

14% of the score · 68/100
B−
Housing cost index94
DFW 100
Eff. tax rate1.45%
DFW 1.45%
Local sales tax8.25%
DFW median 8.25%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · Texas Comptroller 2026-09Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 64/100
C+
Mean commute25.7 min
DFW 27.9 min
Under 30 minutes61%
DFW 56%
Transit stops / sq mi35
DFW median 0.0 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 92/100
A
Restaurants & cafés239
DFW median 46 · within 2 miles
Groceries18
DFW median 4 · within 2 miles
Parks88
DFW median 32 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 50/100
D+
Median household income$70,518
DFW $90,275
Unemployment4.9%
DFW 4.6%
Professional occupations41%
DFW 44%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Dallas yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Dallas on housing & affordability

Dallas's weakest grade is F. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Dallas

Is Dallas, TX a good place to live?

Dallas scores 59 out of 100, 30th of 60 DFW suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Dallas expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades B−. The median home is $320,700, 11% below the DFW median, and the effective property tax rate is 1.45%. $1,472/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Dallas?

Schools grade C−. The districts serving Dallas sit at the 43rd pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 87% graduation rate and a 15.0 student–teacher ratio. Dallas is served by Dallas ISD. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Dallas?

The mean commute is 25.7 min, with 61% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 16% working from home. Transit density is 35 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Dallas?

Within two miles there are 18 groceries, 239 restaurants and cafés and 88 parks, which grades A on amenities.

Are the homes in Dallas old or new?

The median home in Dallas was built in 1981 — older than the DFW median of 1993. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 45% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.