Best PlacesDallas City, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dallas City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dallas City ranks 42,204th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dallas City
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Dallas City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dallas City ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Cheap childcare$659 a month, better than 72% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 95 pleasant days a year, better than 64% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 64% of towns
Where Dallas City ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dallas City
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dallas City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,026, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Dallas City's effective rate of 1.24%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dallas City
Dallas City runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dallas City.
Who works in Dallas City, and how
Work in Dallas City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Dallas City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dallas City.
What the weather is like in Dallas City, month by month
Dallas City sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 85° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Dallas City
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dallas City
Schools across Dallas City average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Prairie North Elementary SchD · 21% proficient
- Carthage Primary SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Nauvoo Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carthage Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- West Prairie Junior High SchoolF · 11% proficient
- West Central Middle SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Illini West High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Hamilton High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- West Prairie Senior High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dallas City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dallas City measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Dallas City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dallas City
Is Dallas City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dallas City ranks 42,204th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dallas City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,084. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $62,026 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Dallas City safe?
Dallas City is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $347 per resident a year.
Compare Dallas City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dallas City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dallas City represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Dallas City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dallas City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dallas City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dallas City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dallas City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dallas City detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.