Best PlacesDallas, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dallas, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dallas ranks 1,005th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dallas
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' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dallas ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 89% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 79% of cities
Where Dallas ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 1% of cities
- Short commute39.2 minutes each way, better than only 1% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Dallas
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dallas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,215, 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' effective rate of 0.83%, 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 6 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
Dallas runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dallas.
Who works in Dallas, and how
Work in Dallas centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Dallas
Dallas has more parkland per resident than 75% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Dallas and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dallas, month by month
Dallas sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 44° | 37° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Dallas
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 30 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 51.5 million passengers in 2025, with 278 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dallas
Schools across Dallas average a C+, better than 35% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Burnt Hickory Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Kemp Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Roland W. Russom ElementaryB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sammy Mcclure Sr. Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Lena Mae Moses Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- East Paulding Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Harrison High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Hillgrove High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Paulding County High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dallas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dallas 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Dallas suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dallas
Is Dallas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dallas ranks 1,005th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and a strong job market, and lowest on biking and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dallas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $333,030. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $102,215 median income, cost of living beats 75% of cities.
Is Dallas safe?
Yes, Dallas is safer than 76% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $227 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dallas?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 37. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 56% of cities.
Is Dallas good for families?
Schools beat 35% of cities, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $919 a month.
Compare Dallas with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dallas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dallas 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dallas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dallas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dallas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dallas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dallas 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.