These Are The 10 Best Neighborhoods In Dallas, TX For 2018

Swipe left for slideshow. Article continues below.

Do you like your neighborhood? Is it friendly, and where everyone knows their neighbors? No matter if you live in the sticks or in an apartment building in downtown Dallas, you have a little pocket that you can call home. And each neighborhood is different.

Smaller neighborhoods usually have obvious benefits — less crime, a slower pace of life, and a lower cost of living. But not all Dallas neighborhoods are created equal. Some are better than others. But which ones?

Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in Dallas are the best. If you’re in one of the places we’re about to highlight, odds are you know you’ve got it made.

Here are the best neighborhoods in Dallas for 2018:

Read on to see how we determined the places around Dallas that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Dallas.

If you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Texas check out:

How do you determine the top neighborhoods in Dallas for 2018?

In order to rank the best neighborhoods in Dallas, we had to determine what criteria defines a ‘best’.

Using crime, census, and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:

High incomes
Low unemployment rates
Low crime
High home prices
High population densities (A proxy for things to do)

These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Texas

We limited the analysis to neighborhoods with over 1,000 people.

We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 27 in each category, where 1 was the best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a best neighborhood index.

And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest best neighborhood index the ‘Best City Neighborhood In Dallas.’ We’re lookin’ at you, University Park.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the best places Dallas has to offer. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from best to worst.

1. University Park

Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY-SA 4.0

Population: 23,680
Median Income: $186,166
Median Home Value: $877,464

University Park began as a cluster of homes surrounding the fledgling Southern Methodist University, which was founded in the then-rural Dallas County in 1915. The university supplied these homes with utility service until 1924, when the growing population could no longer be supported by the school’s utilities. In response, the areas homeowners first sought annexation into the town of Highland Park, but were refused due to the high cost that would have been required to provide the necessary utility and safety services. Shortly thereafter, Dallas also refused a request for annexation on similar grounds.
More on University Park: Real Estate | Data

2. City Center District

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Population: 1,437
Median Income: $75,244
Median Home Value: $249,300

The City Center District is an area in north-central downtown Dallas, Texas. It lies south of the Arts District, north of the Main Street District, northwest of Deep Ellum, southwest of Bryan Place and east of the West End Historic District. The district contains a large concentration of downtown commercial space which prior to 1950 had been concentrated along Main Street. The district also contains remnants of Theatre Row, the historical entertainment area along Elm Street which contained theatres such as the Majestic Theatre.
More on City Center District: Real Estate | Data

3. Oak Lawn

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Population: 48,387
Median Income: $74,996
Median Home Value: $248,449

Oak Lawn is a neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, defined in Dallas City Ordinance 21859 as Planned Development District No. 193, the Oak Lawn Special Purpose District. The unofficial boundaries are Turtle Creek Boulevard, Central Expressway, the City of Highland Park, Inwood Road, and Harry Hines Boulevard. It is over 12 square miles in area. Officially it is bounded by the City of Highland Park, the North Central Expressway, Stemmons Freeway, Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and other roads. The district is within the boundary defined by the City of Dallas law, excluding any existing planned development districts within.
More on Oak Lawn: Real Estate | Data

4. Highland Park

Population: 8,612
Median Income: $194,497
Median Home Value: $958,376

Highland Park is a town in central Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is among the five wealthiest locations in Texas, and the most affluent suburb of Dallas. The population was 8,564 at the 2010 census. It is located between the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Route 75, 4 miles north of downtown Dallas.
More on Highland Park: Real Estate | Data

5. North Dallas

Source: Wikipedia User | CC BY 2.0

Population: 40,259
Median Income: $117,553
Median Home Value: $401,650

North Dallas is an area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas. The phrase ‘North Dallas’ is also sometimes used to include any suburb or exurb north of Dallas proper within the metropolitan area. The majority of North Dallas is located in Dallas County, while a small portion is located in Collin and Denton Counties. North Dallas generally includes areas of Dallas north of Northwest Highway, along with Lake Highlands and areas of Dallas north of IH-635 known as Far North Dallas. The area has strong social and economic ties to the Dallas enclave of Park Cities, and two inner suburbs of Dallas, Richardson and Addison. It is the wealthiest part of Dallas, but has its adjacent, yet scattered rough parts, as well.
More on North Dallas: Real Estate | Data

6. Bluffview

Source: Wikipedia User | CC-BY-SA-3.0

Population: 15,844
Median Income: $104,853
Median Home Value: $397,060

Bluffview is an upscale neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas. It is bounded by Lovers Lane on the south, Midway Road on the west, Northwest Highway on the north, and Inwood Road and the Devonshire neighborhood on the east.
More on Bluffview: Real Estate | Data

7. M Streets

Population: 33,031
Median Income: $66,103
Median Home Value: $233,388

More on m Streets: Real Estate | Data

8. Preston Hollow

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL

Population: 84,560
Median Income: $81,315
Median Home Value: $233,488

Preston Hollow is a neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas. It is bordered on the south by the city of University Park, Texas, an upper-middle-class enclave within Dallas.
More on Preston Hollow: Real Estate | Data

9. Far North

Source: Public domain

Population: 159,307
Median Income: $69,113
Median Home Value: $184,217

Far North Dallas is the section of the city of Dallas, Texas which extends north of the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway. Far North Dallas is part of North Dallas, however is viewed as a distinct area. The area has strong social and economic ties to two inner suburbs of Dallas, Richardson and Addison.
More on Far North: Real Estate | Data

10. Near East

Source: Flickr User dustin.askins | CC BY 2.0

Population: 11,417
Median Income: $67,570
Median Home Value: $125,000

East Dallas, also referred to by the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce as the Lake & Garden District, is an expansive area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas that border nearby suburban cities to the east. Such as Garland, Mesquite, and Balch Springs, Texas.
More on Near East: Real Estate | Data

Putting A Bow On Our Analysis Of Dallas

If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Dallas where crime is low and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious, here are the worst places in Dallas:

South Boulevard-Park Row
Cedar Crest
Southeast Dallas

For more reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Neighborhoods In Dallas

Rank	Neighborhood	Population	Home Prices	Crimes Per 100k	Unemployment Rate
1	University Park	23,680	$877,464	1,665	3.5%
2	City Center District	1,437	$249,300	1,665	3.9%
3	Oak Lawn	48,387	$248,449	1,665	2.7%
4	Highland Park	8,612	$958,376	1,665	4.2%
5	North Dallas	40,259	$401,650	1,665	3.1%
6	Bluffview	15,844	$397,060	1,665	4.8%
7	M Streets	33,031	$233,388	1,665	4.1%
8	Preston Hollow	84,560	$233,488	1,665	5.7%
9	Far North	159,307	$184,217	2,351	5.8%
10	Near East	11,417	$125,000	3,517	0.7%
11	Oak Cliff	33,089	$150,839	3,883	4.9%
12	Northeast Dallas	230,414	$167,714	3,252	5.7%
13	Farmers Market District	1,317	$297,300	1,665	5.2%
14	Lake Highlands	51,491	$72,412	5,060	5.3%
15	Cockrell Hill	4,202	$77,550	6,247	5.8%
16	Winnetka Heights	63,990	$87,095	5,853	6.9%
17	Northwest Dallas	2,036	$88,800	5,879	10.5%
18	Southwest Dallas	101,142	$92,203	5,541	6.8%
19	South Dallas	28,912	$62,562	6,215	7.0%
20	Love Field Area	11,200	$72,838	5,961	5.7%
21	Eagle Ford	27,727	$105,038	5,461	8.5%
22	Urbandale-Parkdale	25,152	$77,543	5,992	7.4%
23	Five Mile Creek	6,637	$74,483	6,355	6.0%
24	Wolf Creek	34,106	$70,518	5,919	8.0%
25	Southeast Dallas	131,956	$70,073	6,256	7.1%
26	Cedar Crest	60,991	$61,713	6,448	7.3%
27	South Boulevard-Park Row	25,688	$63,947	6,215	8.5%