Budget-friendly abodes

5 Dallas-Fort Worth cities raise the roof as top places for affordable homes

This charming five-bedroom home in Arlington is listed for just $348,300.

Photo courtesy of Realtor.com

Good news for bargain-minded homebuyers: Five of the best 25 big cities in the United States to buy an affordable family home are right here in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Personal finance website SmartAsset analyzed data for 100 of the largest U.S. cities to come up with its list of the top 25 cities for purchasing an affordable family home. Arlington ranked sixth in the country, claiming the No. 1 spot in DFW. Plano came in at No. 7, Garland at No. 12, Fort Worth at No. 16, and Irving at No. 22.

Chesapeake, Virginia, ranked first overall.

Other Texas cities in the top 25 were El Paso (No. 14), Laredo (No. 15), Lubbock (No. 19), and Corpus Christi (No. 23).

SmartAsset published its study July 8.

Data that SmartAsset considered for the ranking included percentage of homes with at least two bedrooms, five-year change in homeownership rate, down-payment-to-income ratio, housing costs as a share of income, and high school graduation rate.

Arlington ranked 15th best overall for its down-payment-to-income ratio, at 0.60. In other words, a 20 percent down payment on the median-value home in the city makes up only 60 percent of the median household income. Arlington also ranked in the top 15 for housing costs as a percentage of income (21.93 percent) and high school graduation rate (90.5 percent).

Ranking and review website Niche.com puts Arlington at No. 45 on its list of the best places to buy a house in the U.S. and ranks it 11th among the most diverse U.S. cities. Realtor.com praises Arlington as a “thriving city” cozily situated between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Plano, the other Texas city in the top 10, scored especially well on a couple of fronts, according to SmartAsset’s analysis. Data shows 96.8 percent of students in Plano graduate from high school, the highest number for any city in the study. In addition, Plano ranked well for low rates of property crimes and violent crimes.

Niche.com ranks Plano as the fourth best city to buy a house in the country and the fifth best city to live in the U.S. Home improvement website BobVila.com lauds Plano as one of the 12 best cities for first-time homebuyers, describing the city as “a sprawling financial and commercial hub … with vast parkland and an eclectic food scene.”

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Dallas Got Robbed

The richest small town in Texas is surprisingly not in Dallas

Facebook / City of Bellaire, Texas

Houston neighbor Bellaire is the richest town in Texas.

A survey of affluent small towns has found one town in Texas to be at the top of the list, but shockingly, it is not in Dallas. The town of Bellaire, a small enclave within the Houston metro area, has earned the top spot as the richest small town in Texas for 2025. Boo.

The report, "The Richest Small Town in Every State," from GoBankingRates, selected one city from each state, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to determine the 50 richest small towns based on their median household income.

Describing Bellaire as a "small town" might be a misnomer. It's located less than 10 miles from downtown Houston and is fully surrounded by the City of Houston. It's really more of a wealthy enclave within Houston, with a population of just over 17,000 residents.

Those affluent citizens earn a median $236,311 in income every year, which GoBankingRates says is the 11th highest household median income out of all 50 cities included in the report.

The average home in this city is worth over $1.12 million, but Bellaire's lavish residential reputation often attracts properties with multi-million-dollar price tags.

Bellaire also earned a shining 81 livability score for its top quality schools, health and safety, commute times, with an abundance of exceptional local amenities.

Those include conveniently located grocery stores, coffee shops, diverse dining options, and spacious parks.

It's not the first time that Bellaire has caught the eye of GoBankingRates, which previously ranked it as the No. 23 wealthiest suburb in America, and it's been named on similar lists comparing the richest American cities.

Dallas can take comfort in the fact that a different survey found Lewisville to be of the cities attracting the most high-income households, meaning those that make more than $200,000. However, census data places the most recent median income in Lewisville at $85,002 — so it's nowhere close to catching up to Bellaire.

suburbs houston bellaire affluent households