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 benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between tabulated cells. Figures are in the dollars of each dataset's reference year unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.