Moving to Dallas, TX

Why people move to Dallas

Dallas keeps pulling companies and workers out of higher-tax, higher-cost states, and the metro's growth numbers reflect it. The pitch is fairly direct: no state income tax, a business climate that's convinced AT&T, Southwest Airlines, Texas Instruments and a long list of corporate relocations to headquarter here, and a housing market that, while no longer cheap, still buys noticeably more space than Austin or almost any coastal city. Downtown's Arts District is genuinely walkable, and neighborhoods like Bishop Arts and Deep Ellum give newcomers from denser cities a version of the walkable, mixed-use blocks they're used to. A few things catch people off guard after they arrive. Summer runs long and seriously hot, with three-plus months of highs regularly clearing 90°F and stretches of 100-degree days most years. The region is built around highways first, so plan on a car even if you land near a DART line. And property taxes run higher than the absent income tax might suggest, since Texas leans on them instead to fund schools and local government. People who research their target school district ahead of time, plan their commute around I-635 and I-35E traffic, and take the heat seriously as a logistics factor tend to settle in fastest.

• Texas charges no state personal income tax, a real change for movers coming from most other states
• A ~$475,000 median home price still undercuts Austin and nearly every coastal metro
• AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Texas Instruments anchor a deep corporate-headquarters job market
• DART operates the longest light-rail network in the US by track mileage
• Two airports, DFW and Love Field, put nearly every major US city a nonstop flight away
• Summers run genuinely hot and long, so AC reliability matters more than in most metros

What Dallas is famous for

• The Dallas Cowboys

  'America's Team' plays just outside city limits at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, but the fan culture is inseparable from Dallas's own identity.

• A dense corporate-headquarters cluster

  The metro hosts one of the country's heaviest concentrations of Fortune 500 headquarters, led by AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Texas Instruments.

• Tex-Mex and barbecue

  The food scene runs on a long-running rivalry between old-school Tex-Mex institutions and a newer generation of barbecue joints drawing lines out the door.

• Dealey Plaza and JFK history

  President Kennedy was assassinated here in November 1963, and the Sixth Floor Museum overlooking Dealey Plaza now walks visitors through that day in detail.

• The Dallas Arts District

  A sprawling downtown arts district billed as one of the largest contiguous urban arts districts in the country, anchored by the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Winspear Opera House.

• The State Fair of Texas

  Held every fall at Fair Park under the gaze of the 55-foot Big Tex statue, famous for deep-fried everything and record-setting attendance.

• DFW International Airport

  One of the busiest airports on the planet and a defining piece of the region's identity as a logistics and travel hub.

• The 'big money, bigger deals' image

  The 1978 TV series 'Dallas' cemented an outside image of oil wealth and ambition that still colors how people picture the city, even though its economy now runs more on finance and tech than oil.

Neighborhoods in Dallas

Dallas spreads across a wide, mostly flat grid split by the Trinity River, with downtown and Uptown forming the one genuinely walkable core and most of the rest of the city stretching outward as car-dependent neighborhoods-within-a-city. North Dallas and the two independent Park Cities carry the metro's old money and its strongest school reputations, while the areas just east and south of downtown — Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts, Oak Cliff — carry most of the creative energy and the more attainable rents. The Trinity River works as a rough dividing line: north of it generally means higher prices and more corporate commuters, south of it generally means older housing stock, more diversity, and neighborhoods still visibly mid-change.

• Uptown

  Dense mid-rise towers, a free vintage trolley up McKinney Avenue, and a restaurant-and-bar strip that stays busy most nights of the week.

  Good for

  Young professionals wanting a walkable base with quick highway access to the rest of the metro

• Deep Ellum

  A former warehouse district turned live-music and mural-covered entertainment strip just east of downtown, loud and a little rough around the edges by design.

  Good for

  Music fans, artists, and anyone who wants nightlife within walking distance of home

• Bishop Arts District (Oak Cliff)

  Early-1900s storefronts converted into independent restaurants, boutiques and coffee shops packed into a compact, walkable core.

  Good for

  Renters who want real neighborhood character without paying Uptown prices

• Oak Cliff (broader)

  Hilly and historic, with 1920s bungalows sitting a few blocks from newer infill construction and a skyline view back across the river.

  Good for

  Buyers priced out of North Dallas who want character and don't mind a neighborhood still in transition

• Highland Park & University Park

  Two small, independently incorporated cities inside Dallas's borders, lined with mature oak trees, mansions, and some of the priciest real estate in Texas.

  Good for

  Families prioritizing top-rated schools who can absorb the price premium that comes with them

• Lakewood / East Dallas

  Tree-shaded streets built around White Rock Lake, with a strong neighborhood identity and a mostly residential, family pace.

  Good for

  Families and professionals wanting green space and quiet without leaving the city

• Oak Lawn / Cedar Springs

  The center of Dallas's LGBTQ+ community and nightlife, dense and walkable, sitting just south of Uptown.

  Good for

  Renters who want walkability, nightlife, and a strong sense of community

• Preston Hollow

  Large lots and long driveways in one of North Dallas's most established high-income enclaves — closer to suburban than urban in feel.

  Good for

  Buyers wanting space and privacy while staying inside city limits

City Council

Dallas operates under a council-manager government with 14 single-member City Council districts, each electing its own representative alongside a citywide-elected mayor.

School District Overlap

City limits overlap several independent school districts — Dallas ISD covers most of the city, but Highland Park ISD and parts of Richardson ISD serve specific Dallas neighborhoods, so district checks need to be address-specific rather than citywide.

Climate in Dallas

Dallas runs hot for a long stretch of the year: June through September regularly push highs into the 90s, and July and August average in the mid-90s with humidity that makes the heat feel heavier than the thermometer suggests. Winters are mild and mostly short by comparison, though the region gets occasional ice storms that can shut the city down for a day or two since it isn't equipped for snow or ice removal at any scale. Spring and fall are the payoff — a few genuinely comfortable months bracketing the heat — but spring also brings a real tornado season, which is a practical seasonal consideration rather than a rare event here. Rain falls fairly evenly across the year without one defined wet season.

Annual precipitation

37 in

Sunny days (estimate)

232

Source: National Weather Service Fort Worth/Dallas 1991-2020 climate normals; sunny-days figure is a widely cited aggregate estimate for the DFW area

Cost of living in Dallas

Rent figures are metro-wide HUD planning benchmarks, not street-level asking rents — Uptown, Highland Park and the Park Cities run well above this baseline, while much of southern and far-eastern Dallas runs below it. The home-price median is city-wide and up 2.1% year-over-year as of mid-2026; individual neighborhoods vary by a factor of three or more between Oak Cliff and the Park Cities.

Taxes when you move to Dallas

Income tax

None — Texas is one of a small number of US states with no personal income tax

Local tax

No Dallas city wage tax or local income tax

Sales tax

8.25% combined rate (6.25% Texas state rate + 2.00% local, the maximum allowed under Texas law)

Property tax

Property taxes are billed by the Dallas County Tax Office on behalf of the county, city, school district and other local taxing units combined; Dallas County's effective rate runs close to 1.58% of assessed value, above the statewide Texas county average of roughly 1.21%. A homestead exemption is available to owner-occupants and reduces the taxable value.

Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts — Sales and Use Tax; Avalara — Dallas, TX Sales Tax Rate; TaxByCounty — Dallas County Property Tax

Jobs in Dallas

Unemployment: 4.7% (June 2026), above the 4.0% national rate for the same month.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Southwest Regional Office summary, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA (June 2026)

Key industries: Financial services and banking; Telecommunications and technology; Aviation and logistics (DFW hub); Healthcare; Corporate headquarters / professional services.

Schools in Dallas

Dallas Independent School District is the city's primary public school system, but it isn't the only one inside city limits. The incorporated cities of Highland Park and University Park run their own separate, highly rated Highland Park ISD, and several northern Dallas neighborhoods fall under suburban districts like Richardson ISD instead. That patchwork means one city block can sit in a very different school zone than the block a mile away, so anyone moving with kids should check a specific address against district and attendance-zone boundaries before signing a lease or making an offer. Dallas ISD itself is large and diverse, running a wide mix of zoned neighborhood schools alongside magnet and school-choice campuses.

Public enrollment

128,927

September 8, 2026

• Dallas ISD
• Highland Park ISD
• Richardson ISD (parts of northern Dallas)

Source: Dallas ISD enrollment data portal (mydata.dallasisd.org)

Crime and safety in Dallas

Dallas records violent and property crime rates well above the national median, and NeighborhoodScout's composite index puts it among the higher-crime large cities in the country. That single citywide figure hides a lot of variation: North Dallas, the Park Cities enclaves and many of the quieter northern neighborhoods post crime rates far below the city average, while a handful of areas near downtown and in parts of southern Dallas pull the overall number upward. Anyone relocating should treat the citywide statistic as a starting point rather than a verdict on any one address, and check block-level crime data for the specific neighborhood under consideration.

Overall index

3/100 on NeighborhoodScout's scale (safer than only about 3% of US cities)

Violent crime / 1,000

6.7

Property crime / 1,000

34.09

Violent crime runs roughly 1.7x the national median rate; property crime runs roughly 1.9x the national median rate, with wide variation by neighborhood

Source: NeighborhoodScout, Dallas TX crime statistics (accessed September 2026)

Getting around Dallas

Dallas was built around cars first, and most residents still drive for daily errands, but DART's light-rail network gives commuters near a station a real alternative for reaching downtown, Uptown or the airport. The system runs more track miles than any other light-rail network in the US, though stations sit far apart once you're out in the suburbs, so it tends to work best paired with a car rather than replacing one outright.

• DART Light Rail

  Four color-coded lines (Red, Blue, Green, Orange) covering roughly 93 miles of track across Dallas and its suburbs — the longest light-rail system in the US by mileage

• DART Bus

  Local and express bus routes filling in the gaps between rail lines across the city and inner suburbs

• Trinity Railway Express (TRE)

  Commuter rail connecting Downtown Dallas to Downtown Fort Worth, with a stop serving DFW Airport

• McKinney Avenue Trolley (M-Line)

  A free vintage streetcar looping through Uptown and into the edge of downtown

Major roads: I-35E; I-30; I-45; I-635 (LBJ Freeway); US-75 (Central Expressway); Dallas North Tollway.

Airports near Dallas

• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)

  international

  ~20 miles / 30-45 minutes from downtown Dallas by car depending on traffic

  DART Orange Line runs directly from Terminal A to downtown Dallas in about 50 minutes, with trains roughly every 20 minutes; rideshare typically runs 30-40 minutes

• Dallas Love Field (DAL)

  domestic

  ~6 miles / 10-15 minutes from downtown Dallas by car

  DART Green Line's Inwood/Love Field station sits near the terminal with a short walk or shuttle connection; primarily a Southwest Airlines hub serving domestic routes

Moving permits in Dallas

What to sort before you move

1. Confirm which school district actually covers your target address — Dallas ISD, Highland Park ISD, and Richardson ISD boundaries can sit blocks apart
2. Budget for Texas's above-average property taxes even though there's no state income tax to offset them
3. Compare DART-served neighborhoods against car-dependent ones before locking in a commute
4. Check with Dallas Parking Management if your move will need a curb or loading-zone permit
5. Avoid scheduling a move during peak summer heat if your belongings or movers are heat-sensitive
6. Decide between DFW and Love Field based on which airlines and routes you'll actually fly
7. Verify any household-goods carrier is FMCSA-registered before booking, especially for a long-distance move

How Dallas compares

Dallas sits in the middle of Texas's big-city price range: cheaper than Austin on rent, close to Houston, and a step above San Antonio, while offering one of the state's deepest corporate job markets.

• Austin, TX

  1BR rent delta: Dallas's 1BR benchmark (~$1,648) runs below Austin's tech-driven rents

  Austin's 2-bedroom HUD benchmark trends toward $2,000+ versus Dallas's $1,931, keeping Austin the pricier of the two despite cooling off its 2022 peak

• Houston, TX

  1BR rent delta: Rents run broadly close between the two metros

  Houston's 2-bedroom benchmark clusters closer to $1,500-1,600, somewhat below Dallas's $1,931, though Houston's metro-wide range varies unusually widely by ZIP code

• San Antonio, TX

  1BR rent delta: San Antonio runs meaningfully cheaper across the board

  San Antonio's 2-bedroom benchmark sits closer to $1,450-1,500, well below Dallas, reflecting its lower overall cost of living and larger military presence

Moving to Dallas: FAQ