Avoid Moving to Dallas Texas Unless You Can Handle These 12 Facts!
All right, so today we're going to get into those, some of those pros and cons. Some of those deep dive things about helping you understand if moving here to Dallas is right for you. Do you need to avoid moving here to Dallas because maybe you hadn't really thought very clearly about what it was going to take when you moved here.
So, let's talk about those 12 facts that you may want to know before moving here. Now, number one on our list is the fact that Texas is still a pretty red. Yes, I know I'm getting into a little bit of the politics right here from the get-go, but of course a lot of people moving here are moving from all over the country and people are moving from states that are historically known for being bluer than red.
Texas is a Conservative State
Well, here in Texas, no matter how hard people have tried and the amount of people that are moving here, Texas is still holding true to being a red state. Yes. Some of the cities and some of the areas in the Dallas Metro are a little bit bluer than others, but for the most part we are still voting red, and Texas is still trying to hold tight to those more conservative values here.
So, if that's something that you're looking for and you don't really love everybody being so conservative, then maybe moving here to Dallas isn't going to be the right fit. Obviously, that is not the case everywhere. And we do feel that Dallas is a lot more inclusive no matter your political preferences, it's a little bit more red.
People love their guns, they love hunting, and they love those kinds of things that give you that, give them the freedoms that they're looking for.
Great Economy in Texas, But May Not Pay the Best
Number two is a big reason why a lot of people are relocating here and it's for the jobs. Dallas has a very strong job market. So, a lot of people are looking to relocate here, not necessarily with a job, but also in hopes to find a job. Now, if you're coming from a state where you are used to making a lot of money, the median salary here in the Dallas metro area is around $65,000. So, if you're used to making, let's say, six figures and you're not a doctor, maybe moving here to the Dallas area isn't going to be a right, the right fit for you because what you could be making in the six-figure range coming from another state, the median salary here in the Dallas area is only $65,000. And if that's not something that's going to cut it for you and you're just thinking, I kind of thought the salary ranges might be a little bit higher, then maybe you don't want to move here to Dallas. It does not mean that we don't have some great jobs and some high pay and some high paying jobs, and it doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of opportunities here in the Dallas metro area, especially if you're looking for a fresh start and looking to get into a great company that may have. Upward mobility of giving you that job growth that you're looking for. Dallas could be the right fit for you, but you know, not everybody thinks that $65,000 is enough money. Yes. Straight out of college. That's going to be a great job for a lot of people. But we have talked to a few people moving here who have said, you know what? I didn't realize that, you know, the median., um, the median salary here was as low as it was, and that was obviously their opinion of where they came from. But we wanted to touch on that so that you knew that maybe the salaries here in Texas aren't going to be what you're used to base on where you are coming from.
Schools In Texas not Top Ranked
Number three on the list are our schools. Yes, a lot of people relocating here want some fantastic schools, but technically in the state of Texas, Texas is ranked number 27 in the entire country for their public education. Granted here in the Dallas area, we do have a lot of great schools.
In fact, the number one school here in the entire state of Texas is in Dallas. Granted, it is a private school for the talented and gifted, but we do have a lot of other great schools here in the Dallas Metro area. No matter what it is that you're looking for your kids, we do obviously never want to steer anybody.
So, we like to tell our clients, go to places like great schools.org and niche.com to truly do a little bit more analyzing and researching of your own to find out which schools might be right for your kids. But here in the Dallas area, we do have a lot of very good schools that a lot of people do love.
But overall, the state of Texas is only ranked number 27. So, a lot of people are put off by that and get a little bit leery. When they do move here, thinking that they can only move into a certain area, into a certain school district, but that doesn't necessarily always have to be the case. You, like I said, you just do your research, and you know, there have been a lot of great schools here in the area.
One of the big draws of moving here to the Dallas Fort Worth area has been because of Covid and where a lot of other states and school districts throughout the country still had a lot of massive lockdowns and mask mandates. We didn't really have that so much here in the state of Texas, so even though some of these areas may not have as great of a school system, That has definitely been a draw for some people that we have talked to about moving here to Texas, knowing that it was a little bit more open and welcoming to people moving from out of state, and people didn't feel quite so shut down and isolated based on where they're coming from.
So, knowing that Texas was open and knowing that Texas had a lot more opportunity to be able to enjoy the outdoors, brought a lot of people into the area, and that granted, like I said, that is always based. The feedback we're getting when people reach out to us so that we can help them, you know, determine that best area that they're looking to move here when moving to the Dallas Fort Worth area. So, number three could be the education part of it.
Weather In Texas Can Get Extreme
Number four on our list is the weather. It is always a huge topic of conversation when people are looking to move here. In fact, we just had a tornado blow through town again and do a little bit of damage, but we had a couple clients personally reach out right after that happened because they had seen it on the news wanting to know how bad it was.
We had no injuries, it did do some damage to some of the buildings in the area, especially in the city of Grapevine. But granted, we got super lucky with when that storm blew, blew through. But it does happen. It happens a little bit, and thankfully this time it didn't do major damage except to a couple of buildings. A few homes had some roof damage and things like. Um, trees obviously torn down and debris in the roadways, but for the most part, we don't have any significant damage where these tornadoes have been blowing through and completely decimating entire neighborhoods. And on top of those tornadoes, we are always going to have. The crazy weather of storms and lightning and thunderstorms, which, you know, we always talk about can scare you half to death. Um, the hail that comes through, but also just some of these extreme temperature swings, especially in the wintertime. Where it can be 80 degrees and next thing you know, it is dropped down to a wind chill of zero, and you know, those of us Texans who live here now and maybe aren't quite used to these huge, um, fluctuations in the temperature can be a little bit, you know, put off how ridiculous the weather can be here. But also, you know, people are like, do we have four seasons? Well, here in Texas, we have a lot of beautiful, gorgeous trees, and we do have four. But for the most part, I'd say we have, you know, eight months of summer, a couple weeks of fall where the leaves change and we move right into winter for a couple months where you know, the temperature can go back up to 70 or 80 degrees and feel quite wonderful and then spring hits and you get that for a couple of weeks before the heat and the humidity set in again, and the humidity and the heat out here if you are tired. You know, the bugs and the things that you get with that heat. You're going to have it for a lot longer here in the Dallas area, just because our temperatures are so high. Um, granted, I'm probably exaggerating just a little bit. I have been known to do that. But the heat and humidity here, you have it throughout the year for more months than you will, than you will get in some of the other areas, especially if you're moving up north a little.
Property Taxes are High
Number five on our list, which is always a great topic to discuss with people, is our property taxes. Property taxes here in Texas can be quite high based on where you are living. The property taxes are ranked 45th in the entire country for, um, for how high our property taxes are. So, when you're thinking, you know, out of 50 states, and we are ranked number 40. There really aren't much worse places to go. Yes, people say that it counteracts a little bit with our no state income tax, but nobody likes getting those crazy high property bills and having to pay that bill either monthly or annually just knowing what it's going to cost on your property taxes. So yes, it's a huge chunk out of what you need to expect to pay every year when owning a home.
But we do have a few ways that you can decrease those property taxes like the homestead exempt. Or if you are a senior citizen or you're a disabled veteran, but for the most part, the everyday person that moves in and gets their primary residence, you do get a slight break on those property taxes. But those are also going to be determined based on where you live, whether it is the city, the county, and the school district you live in.
They can all vary all throughout the DFW area as well as the entire state of Texas based on how crazy high those property taxes are Going to.
Dallas Metro is HUGE
Number six on our list, which not everybody even realizes, is the fact that the Dallas Metro area is a huge, massive city, and with the Dallas area being so flat and being able to build in every direction, Dallas is just continuing. To grow in every direction. Right now, the square mileage of the entire DFW area, which is the Dallas Fort Worth metro area is about, is over 9,000 square miles. So, I think it's roughly 9,286 square miles as of the last person that pulled those numbers. And we are continuing to grow. So you know, how large the entire DFW metro is, we are standing at a population now of around 7.4 million people here in the Dallas Metro.
Dallas is continuing to grow and in fact, when we first moved here, we moved from the Phoenix area and I thought, you know, we're moving to Dallas. Dallas is a big city and Phoenix is a big city. Well, no, Dallas was considerably bigger than the Phoenix area. So just realizing quiet, you know, how massive Dallas is and truly reaching out to us. You know, that's why we're here. That's why we ask people to reach out to us because we want you to find the perfect location for you because of the size of, uh, the Dallas Metro area, you do not want to go and move to the north end when you need to. You know, commuting every day over maybe to the Fort Worth area and just truly realizing, you know, how we can help find the best fit for you based on the construction and the traffic and everything going on, just because of the size so that you don't move into the wrong area.
So, we do always recommend reach out to us, a local real estate agent who knows the areas and knows you know, how the crazy traffic and the commuting is to make sure that we can help you find that perfect fit for you and your family.
Not Much Public Transportation
Number seven on our list is the lack of public transportation. Yes, we have buses. Yes, we have the Dart light rail system, but if you don't move to the right area and actually have, you know, access that is easy for you to get on the public transportation to get where you need to go, and you're moving somewhere, say like up in the Frisco area or Prosper. Or even over into the South Lake Keller area, your chances of having the Dart Light rail system easily accessible is just probably not going to be that great if that's something that you have always relied on. Because we have had people moving here, you know, I mean, say you're moving from DC or New York and you're able to hop on the metro or the subway and just realizing, you know, I don't like driving. I don't like driving in the traffic. I don't want to have to, you know, be stuck in traffic all the time. I'd rather just have, you know, public transp. Well, we really don't have a ton of that here. Granted, you can move in certain areas in Plano or in Richardson or even Dallas to be able to hop on the public transportation and get where you need to go. But for the most part, we do still recommend that you have a car when moving here to the Dallas area. Because being totally dependent on the public transportation is not going to be super feasible like you may be coming from. And if that's something that you're looking for and you don't really want a car, um, maybe Dallas isn't really the right place for you because yes, you can get by and not have to use your own personal vehicle. But we do always recommend that you probably do because our public transportation just is not as extensive as some of the areas throughout the.
Unending Construction
Number eight on our list of why you need to avoid moving here to the Dallas area is the amount of construction that we have going on. Yes, we talk about it all the time, how Dallas is just continuing to grow. It's continuing to grow in every direction, and yes, it is growing with new construction homes.
But also, that's just showing that our infrastructure needs to, needs to continue to be worked on to help accommodate all these other areas that are continuing to grow. Because the more homes being built is the more traffic, because people moving in and needing to commute all throughout the DFW area and when that happens, then they realize, you know what? Our freeway isn't quite as big as we need it to. Well then, they start construction to expand it even further. In fact, when we first moved here, the 6 35 freeway was under construction. They were building this big, doubled decker freeway with the toll roads that were down below and the regular freeway lanes up above. And I didn't think, I don't think anybody thought that freeway was ever going to be done. And when that whole section got done, then they expanded even further down the 6 35 and started working on that. But it doesn't matter which road you go on; we have been traveling down on multiple freeways towards Fort Worth and there's tons of construction there.
The 35 West Freeway seems to be under construction nonstop. The 388 highway up north down at Borders, Frisco in plan. Is a complete nightmare that nobody loves dealing with right now. And that's going to be a while because there has been so much growth going on up there and the construction is just taking forever.
So, no matter where it is that you're looking to move here in the Dallas area, tons and tons of construction and it could be a total nightmare.
Texas is Flat
number nine on our list is the lack of scenery here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. If you've moved to Dallas and you've thought, you know, maybe I could see a little bit of a mountain, maybe there's a beautiful view looking out my window. Well, all we really got here is a whole bunch of trees, and if you're living in just your standard neighborhood filled with trees and homes, you really can't see the sunset.
You can't see the sunrise. You might see some beautiful clouds in the sky, but for the most part, there's no real scenery to look at. In fact, for the longest time I couldn't remember which end was north, south, east, or west because there was nowhere to look around unless I knew for sure I was driving north. Half the time, I'm driving in and amongst the trees and I'm just not totally knowing exactly where you're going because there really isn't a whole lot of scenery. Granted, you can be out on the lake for example, or you can be flying into Dallas, and you see some beautiful green trees all along, you know, the water or you know, looking down from the sky.
But for the most part, there's not a whole lot to look at. In fact, there's some beautiful parks. If you go in a neighborhood, you see beautiful parks with beautiful trees in these tree line streets. And granted that's pretty, but for the most part, being able to go out and watch the sunset Up on the edge of the mountain or being able to have some of these beautiful views no matter where it is that you are out in some of these neighborhoods. But for the most part, um, the scenery is kind of boring. You get some beautiful trees and that's just kind of what you look at. So, I remember growing up and realizing that you had the beautiful mountains off in the distance and in the mornings, you could see this beautiful sunrise coming out. And just a lot of great areas that, you know, just we're beautiful to look at. And. for the most part. You don't have a whole lot of that. Yes, we do love the trees here, but for the most part, that's about all you're going to get.
Nightlife is not Like Vegas or New York
number 10 on the list is the fact that Dallas really isn't a 24 7 city. Even if you're in downtown Dallas and you can go out and go enjoy some of the great bars, restaurants, go hear a band at night. For the most part, everybody's going to shut down at a certain time. If you really need, you know, 24 7, if you want to go listen to music all night long, I mean, you're not going to find that here. The only thing you're probably going to find 24 7 is a Whataburger or WAB as a lot of these teenagers like to call it. In fact, I didn't know what WAB was for the longest time, but Whataburger, that's, you know, maybe you're going to get that 24 7 if you need the late-night munchies, but almost everything really does close every single night. Granted, on the weekends, it might stay open a little bit later. But everybody does have a cutoff. People don't like going out and partying all night long here in the Dallas area. So, if that's what you're used to, I mean, especially in LA and New York. Say you're coming and you realize, man, I can be out all night. There's always a great band somewhere I can go. Well, I mean, there's some great areas to go to, but we don't really have 24 7 access, getting whatever, you need all throughout the city, because most places really are going to close.
DO NOT Move to the Wrong Place
number 11 on our list, which we touched on just a little bit, is knowing the right place to live. Because if you don't know where it is that you want to move here in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and you're just thinking, I heard Prosper was a great city to live in, I want to move there. Well, unless you really do your research and truly know where it is that you're looking to move, because maybe you are moving here and you do get to work 100% remotely and you do want a great area, but maybe there's a lot of things in a certain area within the Dallas Metro that you, that might fit you better.
And again, that's why we say reach out to us because depending on what it is that you're looking for, whether it is commuting for a job or being able to have access to. For your kids, whether you're a, you know, a senior and you're retired, and you do like being able to go out and do things, there's going to be some better areas for you based here in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
So, finding that truly right place so that you don't move somewhere and that you get disappointed that you moved, that you moved into an area that just really wasn't a right fit for you. That is always why we say recommend calling us, reaching out to us and letting us know what those true needs and wants are from. So that you really do have the best option for moving here when you're ready.
Dallas Cowboys Country
Now number 12 on our list, which is kind of a little bit of a bonus that we wanted to throw out there, is the fact that when you move here to the Dallas Fort Worth area, you are moving in to cowboy country.
Now, I'm not talking about your cowboys with your boots and your hats and your rodeos. I'm talking about your Dallas Cowboys football team, because maybe you might not be into football. Maybe that's, maybe you're not even into sports at all, but moving here to Dallas, everything is cowboys, and you will see them on the TV in all kinds of events and promotions, everything is about the Cowboys. In fact, every morning you, they are talking about the cowboys, whether it's Jerry Jones, whether it's some of the players, whether it's what they're doing, or even the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, they're always talking about the cowboys.
Granted, if you've never been to a Cowboys football game, and even if it's not your thing, it's probably something that you're going to want to check out. And if you still could care less about doing that, it doesn't mean that your neighbors and your kids and your kids' friends won't be completely obsessed with the Cowboys.
And like I said, not everybody is a huge Cowboys fan, but when you move here, you just got to realize that you are in cowboy country and it's just something that is widely known all throughout the Dallas Fort Worth area.
So, if there are any questions that you have and anything that maybe sparked your interest of, shoot, I am not moving to Dallas, because that would drive me. Or maybe you're a little bit more excited about making that move here. That's why we say reach out to us, give us a call, shoot us a text, send us an email, let us know how we can answer those questions so that when you make that move here to the Dallas Fort Worth area, it can be that much easier. And until next time, take care.
