Aerial Drone clip over downtown Dallas, Texas. (adamkaz/Getty Images)
The tech bros and Hollywood expats may have their eyes fixed on Austin and the Interstate 35 corridor as they ditch California for the Lone Star State, but that isn’t the only place people are moving to in Texas. North Texas has seen a large influx of new residents in recent years, with Crandall ranked the hottest ZIP code in the state. Still, if you’re looking for new beginnings in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, it’s going to cost you.
The DFW area has seen a steady population increase, rising from 7.6 million residents in 2020 to around 8.5 million in 2025. Be it Taylor Sheridan’s TV shows, basketball stars Cooper Flagg and Paige Bueckers, or even Keith Lee’s barbecue reviews, people are moving to the DFW and they’re staying. However, the metroplex is made up of numerous cities, none of them equal when it comes to cost of living.
So, which one is the most affordable? SmartAsset.com published its report outlining what residents in major Texas cities would need to live “comfortably.” The results vary by location.
Frisco, McKinney and Plano are almost identical in their numbers. All three say single adults need a salary of $109,242 to live comfortably, while families of four need a salary of $230,464. Where they lack is in the median household incomes. Frisco has a median household income of $145,444, McKinney has $124,177 and Plano has $115,901.
Fort Worth and Arlington, meanwhile, have median household incomes of $82,503 and $74,388, but single adults need salaries of $97,552 to live comfortably. That number increases to $217,235 for working families of four.
Lastly, Irving, Garland and Dallas each say single adults need salaries of $96,970, while working families of four need $214,490 to live comfortably. Their respective median household incomes are $84,849, $75,797 and $74,323, according to SmartAsset.
If you’re curious where Austin and San Antonio rank in terms of affordability, read more here.
This article originally published at How much you need to live ‘comfortably’ in Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.