Is it Cheaper to Rent? This Study Says You Need to Make at Least $97K to Buy a Home in Dallas

Everything is bigger in Dallas, including your mortgage payment. If you want to buy a home in Dallas, one recent study says that you need to earn at least $97,000 to afford a home in Big D.

According to a recent study from GoBankingRates, the average home value in Dallas is $331,957 as of March 2024, which means that the average monthly mortgage is $2,022. Extrapolate that further, and the total monthly cost of living for a Dallas homeowner is about $4,059. Keep that math and, according to the study, you need to make at least $97,419 to buy a home in Dallas.

But is renting that much cheaper?

According to the numbers, which are pulled from the US Census, Zillow, and the Federal Reserve, not by much. The average rent cost in Dallas is $1,710, which comes out to a total monthly housing cost of about $3,747.

“With average mortgage payments 38 percent higher than average apartment rents as of year-end 2023, many U.S. households are continuing to rent rather than buy a home,” CBRE wrote in a recent report. “Even though the premium to buy a home may come down over the next several years based on home-price, interest-rate and rent-growth forecasts, it is expected to remain high enough to keep today’s renters renting for longer.”

According to GoBankingRates, it’s cheaper to be a renter in Austin. According to their numbers, a mortgage will set you back $3,485 a month in the Texas capital, whereas a rent check will be $1,730. However, due to the cost of living in Austin, the total monthly cost of living for a homeowner in Austin is $5,538. That means you need to make at least $132,914 to live there.

Other Rankings

Not planning to buy a home in Dallas? In the study, Fort Worth has an average monthly mortgage cost of $1,866 requiring an annual income of $93,914; El Paso has an average monthly mortgage cost of $1,355 requiring an income of $76,411; and Arlington has an average monthly mortgage cost of $1,954 requiring an income of $95,945.