AnswerIn Dallas, the median household income is $67,760. To rank in the top 20%, you need to earn more than $144,065. Top 5%: $427,000.
Median: $67,760 · Top 20%: $144,065 · Top 5%: $427,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates
Dallas income percentile [2026]
Where Dallas, Texashouseholds rank by income — sourced from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates, covering roughly 1,299,553 residents.
In Dallas, TX, the median household income is $67,760. The bottom 20% earns under $28,898; the top 20% threshold is $144,065; the top 5% starts at $427,000. Median rent is $1,403/month and the median home value is $295,300. A $100,000 household income ranks at roughly the 65th percentile locally.
Key stats for Dallas
Income percentile breakpoints
- 20th percentile (bottom quintile)
- $28,898
- 40th percentile
- $53,809
- Median (≈ 50th–60th percentile)
- $83,701
- 80th percentile (top 20%)
- $144,065
- 95th percentile (top 5%) — estimated
- $427,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates. City-level p60 is used as the “median-ish” row because ACS quintile upper limits bracket the household median near p60 for most big US cities. The Census Bureau top-codes its top-5% figure at $250,001 for high-income cities, so the 95th-percentile value here is estimated by fitting a Pareto tail to Dallas's lower (un-top-coded) quintile breakpoints. Treat it as a modeled upper-tail benchmark, not a published ACS figure.
Local economic context
Dallas-Fort Worth is the Texas metro that has most aggressively transformed its income distribution in the last decade. AT&T is headquartered downtown and still the anchor, but the bigger story is corporate relocation: Toyota North America's HQ in Plano brought a wave of senior engineering and supply-chain comp, Charles Schwab moved its HQ to Westlake, Caterpillar moved its HQ to Irving, and the Wall Street South migration pulled a Goldman campus to Uptown plus JPMorgan, Fidelity, and Bank of America operations. American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth near DFW. Healthcare is enormous — Texas Health Resources, Baylor Scott & White, and UT Southwestern Medical Center. Tech has a real, if second-tier, footprint: Oracle moved its HQ here in 2020 before re-relocating, and Dell is an hour down I-35 in Round Rock/Austin. The housing story is better than Austin's but worse than Houston's: a 3BR single-family in Lakewood, Bluffview, or a decent Plano or Frisco subdivision runs $650K-$1.1M, and the suburban new-construction ring (McKinney, Prosper, Celina) has been one of the most aggressive price-run-up zones in the country. Property taxes at 2.2-2.5% of assessed value bite hard. Commute reality is I-635 LBJ, the Dallas North Tollway, and US-75 Central Expressway — plus the endless sprawl up to Frisco and McKinney. DART light rail exists but serves a narrow ridership. Cost-of-living caveat: BEA RPP for DFW is roughly 102% of national, meaningfully more expensive than Houston or San Antonio, though still a real discount to NYC, LA, or SF — zero state income tax stays the headline advantage.
What this income feels like
Top 20% in Dallas buys you a 4BR in Plano, Frisco, or Richardson with a pool and two SUVs, or a smaller 3BR in Lakewood or Lower Greenville if you want to stay in the city. You Costco-run, you do Topgolf on weekends, and you complain about the Dallas North Tollway tolls stacking up. Property-tax appraisal season is the annual event that makes homeowners miserable. Childcare runs $1,400-$1,900/month, and good public schools are a real suburban selling point — which is most of why people move to Frisco and Prosper in the first place.
Top 20% reality check
- You can own a 4BR with a pool in Plano or Frisco on a single top-20% income, a standard of living that requires $350K+ household income in LA or Seattle.
- Your Collin or Dallas County property-tax bill on a $750K house runs $17K-$20K a year, the Texas trade-off that erases part of the zero-income-tax advantage.
- A $200K household income clears top 20% in DFW but feels middle-of-the-pack in Highland Park or University Park, where $3M-$6M single-families define the neighborhood.
Cost-of-living reality
The median gross rent in Dallas is $1,403/month, or roughly 24.8% of the median household income on an annualized basis. The national rent-burden average is about 30%, and anything north of that is treated as rent-burdened by HUD. Dallas's median home value is $295,300, a price-to-income ratio of 4.4× — healthy markets run 3–4×, expensive coastal markets routinely exceed 6×. Mean one-way commute is 26.0 minutes, which compounds the real cost of living here for anyone not working remote.
Nearby cities
Dallas community discussions
Local subreddits where cost-of-living and income questions get answered by residents. External links, open in a new tab.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good income in Dallas?
In Dallas, TX, the median household income is $67,760. Earning above $83,701 puts you in the top 40%, and clearing $144,065 places you in the top 20%. A "good" income depends on household size and housing choice, but $144,065 is a useful upper-middle-class threshold for this city.
How does Dallas's median income compare to the US?
Dallas's median household income of $67,760 is about 13.7% lower than the US median of $78,538 (ACS 2023 5-year, matched to the city vintage). Raw comparisons understate local cost-of-living; Dallas's median rent of $1,403 and median home value of $295,300 are the relevant offsets.
What percentile is $100K in Dallas?
A household income of $100,000 ranks at roughly the 65th percentile in Dallas. That is interpolated from the local ACS quintile breakpoints: p20 $28,898, p40 $53,809, p60 $83,701, p80 $144,065, p95 $427,000.
Is Dallas expensive to live in?
Median gross rent in Dallas is $1,403/month, which is 24.8% of the median household income on an annualized basis — compared to the national rent-burden average of about 30%. The median home value is $295,300, a price-to-income ratio of 4.4× (healthy markets run 3-4×, expensive markets 6×+).
How is this calculated?
Figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-year estimates for Dallas, Texas. Income percentiles are city-level approximations derived from ACS B19080 household income quintile upper limits, interpolated from the local median and distribution. Rent burden uses B25071 (median gross rent as % of household income) and mean commute uses B08303.
Methodology & data sources
Calculations on this page use published benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between published cells. Figures are in current-year USD unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.