Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Dallas's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Dallas?
Your $100,000 in Dallas has the same purchasing power as $94,375 in the average US city. You'd need $5,625 more here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Dallas's cost index of 106, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Dallas, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously no state income tax and you don't actually need a car, plus 1 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Texas is one of the handful of US states with no state income tax on wages, so the only income-tax bite on a paycheck in Dallas is federal. For a household earning $100k, that's a tangible four-figure difference every year compared to a comparable salary in California or New York.
Dallas's Walk Score is 80/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change. Transit Score comes in at 53/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Dallas's Bike Score is 82/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
Reasons are pulled from Dallas's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Now and then. Dallas's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 40°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Dallas's winter average of about 40°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Dallas averages about 96°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 9. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 9 or colder should survive a typical winter in Dallas. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Dallas sits at about 486 feet (148 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Officially, Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, but most of the action lands between mid-August and mid-October. For Dallas, that's when to keep half an eye on the National Hurricane Center forecast cone — and when an actual evacuation plan is worth having in the drawer if you're in a low-lying or coastal neighborhood.
Higher than average. Dallas reports about 4,624 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
Roughly average. Dallas's cost-of-living index is 106, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Yes — Dallas is one of the more walkable US cities. A Walk Score of 80/100 means most daily errands can be done on foot in most neighborhoods. Transit Score is 53 out of 100. Many residents go car-free comfortably.
Roughly $74,172 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Dallas runs about $1,305/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.