More money in Big D

Dallas deemed one of the most affordable places to live and work in 2019

Dallas skyline featuring Margaret Hunt Bridge and Trinity River

It pays to live and work in Dallas.

DreamPictures/Shannon Faulk/Getty Images

A new study indicates you can sock away some cash if you live and work in Big D.

The study, done by BusinessStudent.com, puts Dallas at No. 22 among the country’s 25 most affordable places to live and work for 2019. Four other Texas cities appear in the top 25:

Fort Worth (No. 7)
College Station (No. 18)
Irving (No. 21)
Houston (No. 24)

Noticeably absent from the top 25 are Austin and San Antonio.

“Making a high salary is great,” BusinessStudent.com points out, “but if rents are so high that you have very little disposable income left over, are you going to be able to put money away for a rainy day?”

“Obviously,” the website adds, “a person’s individual cultural and social tastes should also be considered, but from a purely financial standpoint, it would be wise to consult this list ... before you begin your next job or home search.”

To come up with its list, BusinessStudent.com examined salaries for 100 business-related jobs on Indeed.com and compared them with the average rent of a two-bedroom apartment listed on Rentjungle.com. In the top three positions on BusinessStudent.com’s affordability list are Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lexington, Kentucky; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The study found that in Dallas, residents had 79 percent of their salary left after paying rent. The average salary ($82,609) and average rent ($1,422) in Dallas were considerably higher than in nearby Fort Worth or Irving.

Fort Worth residents have it the best in Texas, with 82 percent of their salary left after paying rent. That’s based on an average annual salary of $75,797 and average monthly rent of $1,108. In Irving, 79 percent of the average annual salary ($77,527) was left after paying rent ($1,327 a month).

In College Station, 80 percent of the average salary ($55,086) remained after paying rent ($906 a month). Houston, like Dallas and Irving, also checked in at 79 percent of the average annual salary ($79,579) left after paying the average rent ($1,401).

E-Cigarette News

Dallas City Council places restrictions on vaping in public

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Man vaping

Vaping will now be banned exactly like smoking, thanks to a new ordinance from the Dallas City Council.

At their December 11 meeting, the council passed an ordinance to ban vaping in all the same areas where smoking is not allowed. It'll go into effect on December 11, 2025 — giving everyone a year to get into compliance.

Proposed by City of Dallas Environmental Commission (EVC) and the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS), the ordinance amends the definition of “smoking” in the Dallas City Code to include the use of vaping devices.

The ordinance does not ban vaping — it only bans where you can vape: no vaping in all indoor and enclosed spaces; within 15 feet of building entrances; and on park property. The ordinance also bans marijuana smoking in those same places.

In addition, the amendment requires restaurants, hotels, fitness centers and other businesses to update their signage to clearly state that both smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited.

The ordinance already earned widespread support from health organizations such as the Dallas County Health and Human Services, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association. These organizations, along with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all raised concerns about the health risks of direct and second-hand exposure to vaping aerosols, particularly for vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

Dallas is not the first city to impose such a ban: San Antonio enacted a similar ban in October. Theirs goes into effect on January 1, 2025.

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