Dallas rental affordability in 2026

Typical rent in Dallas was $1,604 a month in September 2026, up 1.5% from a year earlier but still 0.7% below its August 2022 high of $1,615, according to RentDataNow data built on the Zillow Observed Rent Index. Keeping that rent at 30% of gross income, the usual affordability line, takes about $64,160 a year.

By that measure, Dallas is one of the easier big cities for renters. The median Dallas renter household earned $61,243 in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau, so a year of typical rent equals about 31% of it. Among the 50 largest US cities, only six come in lower. Typical rent is up 19.3% since 2021, from $1,345, while the city's median household income rose about 21% over a similar stretch, to $70,518. Our Rent Reality Score puts Dallas rent about 10% below where its own history says it should be.

Affordable on average doesn't mean affordable for everyone. About half of Dallas renter households, 49.8%, spent 30% or more of their income on housing in 2024, and 58% of the city's households rent.

Where you live inside the city changes the math a lot. Among the 38 Dallas zip codes with a full year of data, typical rent runs from $1,076 in 75243, near Lake Highlands, to $2,324 in 75202, downtown. Uptown's 75204 is $2,084 and Oak Lawn's 75219 is $2,085. The fastest gain among the central neighborhoods is in 75206, around Lower Greenville and the M Streets, up 6.2% to $2,046. Rent fell in 14 of the 38 zips, including Deep Ellum's 75226, down 3.0% to $1,583, and the Bishop Arts area's 75208, down 2.2% to $1,574.

Most of the suburbs to the north are pricier and have cooled. Typical rent is $1,840 in Frisco, down 0.3% in a year and 4.3% below its 2023 peak, and $1,741 in McKinney, down 1.6% and 6.1% below its 2022 peak. Plano is at $1,736. Irving, Garland, and Denton, at $1,595, $1,560, and $1,492, sit at or below the city's level.

Over the past 11 years, Dallas rent has usually been lowest in January and highest in July, a swing of about 1.7%, or roughly $27 a month on today's typical rent. For a closer look at neighborhoods, see Dallas rent prices by neighborhood, and for the suburbs, northern Dallas suburbs rent prices.

Sources

• RentDataNow Dallas rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, September 2026, with bedroom estimates based on HUD fair market rents and Rent Reality Score trend comparisons
• US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2024, for renter income and rent burden, and 5-year estimates, 2017-2021 and 2020-2024, for household income and tenure