City · Dallas County, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is a city in Dallas County, Texas, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area. It has 1,307,930 residents. Dallas, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 22 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,176 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #458 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on average weekly wage (high), new business applications (high) and distance to an emergency room (low). It ranks worst on income inequality (Gini index) (high), high school diploma or higher (low) and uninsured residents (under 65) (high).

22Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,176 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #458 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 1,307,930 (2020-2024)
Land area: 340 mi²
Density: 3,850.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4819000

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety15#13,293/15,637
Economy37#9,836/15,631
Housing31#10,260/14,977
Health48#8,156/15,609
Healthcare49#7,950/15,650
Environment6#14,565/15,453
Education33#10,555/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,820/15,650
Community21#12,420/15,651
Leisure & amenities53#7,396/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dallas, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Dallas County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Average weekly wage · high$1,780
96/100Texas $1,499United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDallas County value
New business applications · high22.9 /1k
94/100Texas 17.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauDallas County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.2 mi
90/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDallas County value
Distance to an airport · low10 mi
89/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDallas County value
Dentists · high97 /100k
86/100Texas 63 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDallas County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high96.2%
85/100Texas 82.3%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDallas County value

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.526
1/100Texas 0.478United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
High school diploma or higher · low81.1%
2/100Texas 86.0%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high25.5%
2/100Texas 19.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Property crime rate · high2,372 /100k
6/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationDallas County value
High ozone days · high9 days
8/100Texas 7 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDallas County value
Child poverty rate · high24.3%
9/100Texas 17.9%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
76.6% (2015-2019) → 90.9% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$52,580 (2015-2019) → $70,518 (2020-2024)
+34%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
New homes permittedWorsening
7.7 /1k (2021) → 5.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−29%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.6× (2015-2019) → 4.5× (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
29.3% (2015-2019) → 24.3% (2020-2024)
−5 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
46.8% (2015-2019) → 51.7% (2020-2024)
+4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Dallas, Texas improved on 8 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 2 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved8

Broadband+14 points76.6% → 90.9%
High school++3.6 points77.5% → 81.1%
Child poverty−5 points29.3% → 24.3%
Bachelor's++4.9 points33.4% → 38.2%
Household income+34%$52,580 → $70,518

Declined4

Price / income+1.0×3.6× → 4.5×
Rent / income+2.2 points28.7% → 30.9%
Rent burden+4.9 points46.8% → 51.7%
Transit use−1.6 points3.8% → 2.1%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Dallas, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.1 min2015-2019	25.7 min2020-2024	−1.4 min	Improved	64%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.4%2015-2019	38.2%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Improved	67%
Broadband subscriptions	76.6%2015-2019	90.9%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	77%
Child poverty rate	29.3%2015-2019	24.3%2020-2024	−5 points	Improved	68%
Effective property tax rate	1.55%2015-2019	1.45%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Little change	36%
High school diploma or higher	77.5%2015-2019	81.1%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Improved	73%
Home price to income ratio	3.6×2015-2019	4.5×2020-2024	+1.0×	Declined	23%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5372015-2019	0.5262020-2024	−0.012	Improved	61%
Median household income	$52,5802015-2019	$70,5182020-2024	+34%	Improved	64%
Poverty rate	18.9%2015-2019	16.7%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Improved	64%
Public transit commuters	3.8%2015-2019	2.1%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Declined	15%
Rent as share of income	28.7%2015-2019	30.9%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Declined	38%
Rent-burdened households	46.8%2015-2019	51.7%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Declined	38%
Unemployment rate	4.7%2015-2019	4.9%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	26.0%2015-2019	25.5%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	53%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Dallas, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dallas, Texas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Dallas, Texas itself moved +0 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,307,930 residents (±153)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

533,915 households (±3,299)

Dallas, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k17%88,336
$25k–50k19%100,129
$50k–75k18%95,747

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

533,915 households (±3,299)

Dallas, Texas
Texas share

Own42%226,615
Rent58%307,300

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+1.6 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

662,654 workers (±5,808)

Dallas, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone67%441,310
Carpool12%77,965
Public transit2.1%14,110

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Dallas County, the county holding most of Dallas's residents.

Dallas County has 71,182 employer establishments, 270 for every 10,000 residents (1.09× the US rate of 248; 1.24× Texas's), with 1,648,702 paid employees at an average annual pay of $80,015. The Census Bureau also counts 312,744 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 71,182; 312,744 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 270; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 1,648,702
Average annual pay: $80,015; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Dallas County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	6,867	26	1.25×About typical	94,638	$71,707	11,541
Restaurants and other eating places	5,390	20.4	1.11×About typical	110,804	$26,252	2,027
Lessors of real estate	4,048	15.3	1.25×About typical	37,117	$93,374	26,231
Specialty trade contractors	3,139	11.9	0.77×Fewer than typical	61,980	$72,103	24,766
Limited-service restaurants	2,514	9.5	1.19×About typical	51,478	$22,111	597
Offices of physicians	2,412	9.1	1.41×More than typical	24,101	$135,732	2,303
Legal services	2,360	8.9	1.66×More than typical	20,305	$160,257	2,888
Computer systems design and related services	2,293	8.7	2.01×More than typical	48,458	$123,287	2,893
Management, scientific and technical consulting	2,266	8.6	1.28×More than typical	34,193	$123,075	10,028
Full-service restaurants	2,092	7.9	1.03×About typical	51,472	$30,947	986
Construction of buildings	1,485	5.6	0.74×Fewer than typical	23,873	$126,571	10,676
Offices of dentists	1,476	5.6	1.39×More than typical	10,757	$54,647	807

Rank places for an industry Open Dallas County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 2,637,393 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $4.3B of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dallas, Texas: $3,284 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $4.3B; +30% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3,284; US $1,994
Sole-source: 81%; US 30%
Single offer: 1.1%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$3.3B76%
Defense Logistics Agency$448M10%
Department of Veterans Affairs$262.9M6.1%
Missile Defense Agency$107.1M2.5%
Department of the Air Force$67.3M1.6%
Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response$31.7M0.7%
Environmental Protection Agency$23.7M0.6%
Office of Personnel Management$18.9M0.4%

Top recipients

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION$3.3B78%
VETJET FUELS LLC$332.4M7.7%
HF SINCLAIR REFINING & MARKETING LLC$101.4M2.4%
CONTINENTAL ELECTRONICS CORP$56.7M1.3%
ESA SOUTH, INC.$45.9M1.1%

Spending by fiscal year

946.1MFY2017
1.9BFY2018
2.9BFY2019
3BFY2020
1.6BFY2021
2.3BFY2022
3BFY2023
2.2B

Top industries (NAICS)

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$3.3B76%
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing · 3241$433.8M10%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$93.8M2.2%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345$64.5M1.5%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$53.6M1.2%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415

Part of this section could not be loaded in time.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Dallas, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

Dallas, Texas's figures are part of those of Dallas County, TX, Collin County, TX, Denton County, TX, Kaufman County, TX and Rockwall County, TX ($28.5B in FY2026), never added to them: 15% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Dallas is mostly in Dallas County.

See federal money in Dallas County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Dallas, Texas is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX52

Other cities and towns in Dallas County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4819000

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends