Best PlacesDallas County, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dallas County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dallas County ranks 772nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $88,822, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are civic engagement, thin health care access, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Dallas County
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.
The best areas in Dallas County
The parts of Dallas County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Dallas
More adults hold degrees, streets are more walkable, and biking is better.
Addison
Local pay stretches further, though fewer households have young kids.
Carrollton, Coppell & Farmers Branch
Incomes run higher, though homes cost more.
Garland & Rowlett
Schools score higher.
Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill & Duncanville
Fewer homes sit empty, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Mesquite
Crime runs higher and commutes are longer.
Irving
Fewer residents vote and health care is harder to reach.
Lancaster
Health outcomes score lower and heat risk is higher.
Balch Springs & Seagoville
Dallas County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Dallas County's strengths and weaknesses
Dallas County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit, big-city access, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is civic engagement, near the bottom of the country. Thin health care access and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Dallas County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
Where Dallas County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 8% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dallas County
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dallas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,822, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 County's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 9 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 County
Dallas County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dallas County.
Who works in Dallas County, and how
Work in Dallas County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dallas County
Dallas County has more parkland per resident than 74% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dallas County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dallas County growing, and who is moving in?
Dallas County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Dallas, TX metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dallas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dallas County, month by month
Dallas County sees roughly 134 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs March, April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 58° |
| July | 97° | 87° | 79° |
| October | 82° | 70° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Dallas County
Dallas Love Field sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 8.2 million passengers in 2025, with 91 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dallas County
Schools across Dallas County average a C, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- School For The Highly GiftedA+ · 93% proficient
- Bradfield ElA+ · 82% proficient
- Lakewood ElA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- William B Travis Vanguard Acad Of Academically TagA+ · 89% proficient
- Coppell Middle EastA+ · 81% proficient
- School For The Talented & Gifted In Pleasant GroveA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- School For The Talented And GiftedA+ · 98% proficient
- School Of Science And EngineeringA+ · 98% proficient
- Highland Park H SA+ · 88% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dallas County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dallas County 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 County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dallas County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dallas County
Is Dallas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dallas County ranks 772nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dallas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $374,000. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $88,822 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Dallas County safe?
Dallas County is safer than 27% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $503 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dallas County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 38. That works out to about 134 pleasant days a year, more than 85% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dallas County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dallas, Addison, and Carrollton, Coppell & Farmers Branch. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Dallas County good for families?
Schools beat 45% of counties, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $883 a month.
Is Dallas County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 91% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Dallas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dallas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dallas County 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 County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dallas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dallas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dallas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dallas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dallas County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.