- Dallas median gross rent: $1,599 ± $34 MOE for 2024 renter-occupied units paying cash rent.
- Renters occupied 57.8% of homes; 49.8% of renters with a computed ratio spent at least 30% of income on gross rent.
- Dallas and Plano share the 103.1 metro RPP; it does not measure a price difference between the cities.
- The city estimates are population benchmarks, not live 2026 price quotes or a required salary.
Dallas: lower median rent does not remove rental pressure
Renting is central to the Dallas housing picture: the ACS counts 310,458 renter-occupied homes out of 537,317 occupied homes. Its 57.8% renter share contrasts with 43.2% in Plano. If you are considering a Dallas rental, the renter-specific figures below are more relevant starting points than the combined owner-and-renter housing-cost median.
Dallas's median gross rent is $305 below Plano's in these estimates, yet its measured rent-burden share is higher: 49.8% versus 45.8%. A lower citywide rent median therefore does not establish that rent takes a smaller share of residents' income. The cities contain different households and rental homes; this comparison does not identify the cause of the difference or predict your own budget.
Dallas's $74,323 median household income describes all households, including owners. Dividing the renter-only rent median by that all-household income median would mix populations. Use your own take-home pay and a property's actual rent when checking a potential move.
Dallas and Plano: the city housing comparison
Both columns use 2024 ACS one-year estimates. The ± amounts are the Census Bureau's 90% margins of error (MOE), not forecast ranges. The percentages are calculated from published housing counts; this table does not calculate margins of error for those derived shares.
| Measure | Dallas city, Texas | Plano city, Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,326,093 ± 76 MOE | 292,615 ± 1,029 MOE |
| Median gross rent — units paying cash rent | $1,599 ± $34 MOE | $1,904 ± $54 MOE |
| Median monthly housing costs — occupied units | $1,582 ± $26 MOE | $1,947 ± $67 MOE |
| Median household income — all households | $74,323 ± $2,841 MOE | $115,901 ± $6,425 MOE |
| Median owner-occupied home value | $340,400 ± $11,363 MOE | $541,700 ± $16,995 MOE |
| Renter share of occupied homes | 57.8% | 43.2% |
| Rent burden at 30% or more | 49.8% 147,208 of 295,661 renter households with a computed ratio | 45.8% 22,046 of 48,165 renter households with a computed ratio |
The $305 rent gap subtracts the two published medians. It is not a quote for equivalent apartments or a promised saving from moving. The gross-rent median covers renter-occupied units paying cash rent and includes contract rent plus certain tenant-paid utilities. The tenure counts also include renter households paying no cash rent, so the populations differ. Housing stock, household mix and lease timing can differ; no statistical-significance test is supplied here.
Source: Census ACS tables B01003, B19013, B25003, B25064, B25070, B25077 and B25105 for 1600000US4819000 (Dallas) and 1600000US4858016 (Plano). Renter share divides renter-occupied by occupied units. Rent burden sums the B25070 bands at 30% or more and excludes households whose ratio was not computed. The primary downloads are linked in the methodology below. Open the Plano housing profile for its interpretation.
Official cost-of-living snapshot for Dallas
FinanceFirst rebuilt this page from two government datasets with different jobs. The Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parity compares broad price levels across places, with the United States equal to 100. The Census American Community Survey supplies local median housing and household-income estimates. Neither dataset tells a particular person what they must spend.
BEA reports comparable price levels for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area, not for Dallas alone. The city-specific rent, income and home-value figures below use the Census geography Dallas city, Texas. Keeping those geographic units separate prevents a metro average from being mislabeled as a city-only price.
U.S. = 100
ACS cash-rent units
Median, occupied units
Computed renter ratios
| Component | RPP | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| All items | 103.1 | Broad goods-and-services price level |
| Goods | 102.8 | Durable and nondurable consumer goods |
| Housing services | 117.9 | BEA housing-services component |
| Utilities | 90.7 | Water, sanitation, electricity and gas |
| Other services | 99.7 | Services other than housing and utilities |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, MARPP, 2024. United States = 100. Bars share a 0–220 scale.
The highest component is housing services at 117.9; the lowest is utilities at 90.7. That spread is why applying one overall index to rent, utilities or groceries can give a misleading personal estimate.
How Dallas compares with Texas
| Measure | Dallas | Texas | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| BEA all-items RPP | 103.1 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area | 97.1 Texas | 100.0 United States |
| Median gross rent | $1,599 ± $34 MOE | $1,475 ± $8 MOE | $1,487 ± $3 MOE |
| Median monthly housing costs | $1,582 ± $26 MOE | $1,465 ± $6 MOE | $1,435 ± $2 MOE |
| Median household income | $74,323 ± $2,841 MOE | $79,721 ± $564 MOE | $81,604 ± $128 MOE |
| Renter share of occupied homes | 57.8% | 37.7% | 34.7% |
| Rent-burdened renter households | 49.8% | 52.7% | 51.8% |
The local all-items RPP is 6.0 points higher than Texas; median gross rent is 8.4% higher; and the calculated rent-burden share is 2.9 percentage points lower.
Those comparisons are signals to investigate, not a single affordability score. The local price index describes Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area, while the housing figures describe Dallas city, Texas.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 1-year table B25070. FinanceFirst calculation excludes renter households for which the ratio was not computed. Bars share a 0–100% scale.
Compare actual Dallas and Plano housing options
The same metro RPP produces the same hypothetical price basket for both cities, so it cannot choose between two homes. Build a comparison from the actual options instead:
- Match the housing need: compare the same household size, bedroom count, move date and acceptable commute. Record which utilities are included rather than treating the ACS gross-rent median as a listing.
- Compare complete housing costs: enter quoted rent or ownership payments, utilities, insurance, parking and recurring fees. Keep deposits and moving costs separate from the recurring monthly amount.
- Use the same household: enter your take-home pay, debt payments, transport, childcare, healthcare and savings needs on both sides. The city household-income median is not your pay offer.
- Test the result: change the uncertain inputs, such as rent renewal or commuting costs, before deciding. The $305 difference between city medians should not be entered as an automatic saving.
Use the monthly take-home-pay budget calculator to organize each option, then compare the Texas benchmarks in the complete state comparison for wider context.
Related places to compare next
The pages below use the same 2024 BEA and ACS methodology. Same-state cities are included first when available, followed by places with the closest all-items RPP—not by a subjective “best place” ranking.
- Arlington, TX: 103.1 RPP
- Garland, TX: 103.1 RPP
- Irving, TX: 103.1 RPP
- Plano, TX: 103.1 RPP
- Phoenix, AZ: 103.3 RPP
What this page can and cannot answer
| Useful for | Not sufficient for |
|---|---|
| Comparing broad price levels in the same year | Quoting a current apartment or home |
| Seeing whether housing differs from the overall index | Calculating a universal salary requirement |
| Starting a relocation research checklist | Predicting future prices or investment returns |
| Checking local medians from a consistent public source | Deciding whether a move is right for a specific household |
Methodology and primary sources
Price values use BEA table MARPP, lines 1–5, for 2024. Census values use the 2024 ACS one-year detailed tables B01003, B19013, B25003, B25064, B25070, B25077 and B25105 for geography 1600000US4819000. Displayed indexes and percentages are rounded to one decimal; the two-city rent gap subtracts published median gross rents, not matched property quotes. FinanceFirst does not derive a salary requirement or household budget from the metro RPP or city medians.
- BEA downloadable metropolitan RPP data
- BEA regional price parity methodology
- Census 2024 ACS table-based summary files
- ACS table B25064: median gross rent
- ACS table B19013: median household income
- ACS table B25077: median owner-occupied home value
- ACS table B01003: population
- ACS table B25003: housing tenure
- ACS table B25070: gross rent as a share of income
- ACS table B25105: median monthly housing costs
Download the governed data: CSV or JSON with calculation notes and source URLs. These machine-readable files preserve the BEA and Census geography names so automated systems do not silently treat metro and city measurements as identical.
Data period: 2024. Page research date: August 22, 2026. Government agencies may revise estimates; this page should be reviewed when a newer annual release becomes available.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dallas more expensive than the U.S. average?
Is $1,599 the current asking rent in Dallas?
What salary do I need to live in Dallas?
Update log
September 22, 2026: Added a city housing interpretation and a direct Dallas–Plano comparison with Census margins of error and population limits. Replaced the shared hypothetical price baskets with a workflow for comparing actual housing options. This is an editorial revision using the existing 2024 data; the source research date remains August 22, 2026.
August 22, 2026: Replaced the prior mixed-source monthly-cost template with official 2024 BEA and Census data; separated city and metro geography; removed unsupported salary, rent, tax, savings and future-price claims; and added reproducible calculations and primary-source links. A second article-by-article quality pass added Census margins of error, population, housing costs, tenure, rent burden, state and U.S. comparisons, two accessible charts, three transparent scenarios, related-place links and downloadable structured data.
