Thinking about moving to Dallas?
Join the club. The Dallas area, including Fort Worth and the surrounding suburbs, gain nearly 300 new residents every day. Dallas is home to the annual State Fair of Texas, the birthplace of the frozen margarita, and is one of the top three cities in the U.S. for job growth.
Living in Dallas
Many if not most of the people who live in Dallas actually live in one of its dozens of suburbs. But that’s changing as young people and empty nesters return to the core. Dallas proper is in the early days of a promising renaissance as old neighborhoods become new again. Read our guide to top Dallas neighborhoods, then consult our list of best Dallas realtors to help make your search easy.
Weather
One of the best things about Dallas is its moderate weather. Autumn is pleasant, with cool-not-cold temperatures prevailing until the end of the year. Winter spawns a cold snap or two, a dusting of snow and freezing rain. This inevitably paralyzes a city unaccustomed to extreme weather, shutting down roads and sometimes electric power, too.
Spring can be crazy since North Texas is on the tornado circuit; massive rainstorms are not uncommon. But for the most part, April through June is bliss. Then comes summer. If you like it hot, you’re in luck: Through most of July and August, temperatures loiter around 100 or higher.
Summer average (June – Aug): 96°F high, 77°F low
Winter average (Dec – Feb): 55°F high, 36°F low
Economy
Things are going swell in Dallas, with high-profile corporate relocations such as Toyota adding a layer of icing onto what is already a very sweet cake. In the second quarter of 2015, Dallas had the biggest increase in employment in the country at 4.2 percent; it’s at an all-time high. Dallas is headquarters for 300 companies that employ more than 1,000 people globally, and is home to 21 Fortune 500 countries, including seven of Forbes’ largest privately held companies.
Major employers include Exxon Mobil, American Airlines, JCPenney, D.R. Horton, Texas Instruments and Dr Pepper Snapple Group. A technology cluster north of Dallas in Richardson comprises the “Telecom Corridor,” home not only to tech companies such as AT&T, Fujitsu and Samsung Mobile but also headquarters for Fossil, Blue Cross Blue Shield and more.
Unemployment rate: 4.0% (as of November 2015)
Average weekly wages for all industries: $1,154 (second quarter 2015)
Quality of Life
One of Dallas’ best traits is the ease of living, including a traffic situation that’s far less punishing than other major cities. Dallas has a budding public transit system, with 62 rail systems and two more planned. Ridership on the network, which includes buses, DART light rail, and Trinity Railway Express commuter rail to Fort Worth, clocks in at more than 220,000 passengers per day. Recent bright spots include the opening of a station at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, allowing travelers to take a train from downtown to the airport in about 50 minutes.
Speaking of the airport, it’s one of the area’s big perks, putting major cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles within easy reach via nonstop flights.
The cost of living is at 95.8 percent of the national average and housing remains cheaper than cities on either coast. Add the fact that there’s no personal income tax and Dallas feels eminently more affordable than many other cities.
