Best Dallas suburbs ranked on home prices, tax and rail

Dallas suburbs compared: typical home values

Zillow Home Value Index (Zillow's typical home value: the middle of the market, all home types, smoothed and seasonally adjusted), September 2026. City figures cover each city's limits.

How we ranked the best Dallas suburbs

We rank eleven suburbs on four checks you can verify in the table below, and Plano is first because it's the only one that passes all four. We're a Plano site, so the scoring is set out in full: change a check and you can re-rank them yourself.

1. Rail into Dallas: the city is a DART member.
2. Monthly cost: a typical home costs under $4,000 a month (10% down, 30 years at Freddie Mac's 7.4% average, plus 2025 property tax before exemptions). That line splits the ten suburbs with a tax figure five and five.
3. Tax rate: the 2025 combined rate (city, school district and county, from the adopted rates in Republic Title's 2025 DFW guide) is under $1.80 per $100.
4. District rating: the main school district's 2025 Texas Education Agency rating, as published in the report we used, is a B or better.

Ties go to the lower monthly cost. Two limits, so you can weigh them: only three districts' ratings were in that report, and an unpublished rating scores nothing, which favors the districts we could confirm. And the rates are the 2025 ones, so every city is compared on the same year.

Two things the table shows. Only three suburbs have rail into Dallas, and all three are among the five cheapest here. And tax rates vary far less than prices: in Collin County they run from about $1.63 to $1.95 per $100, while typical values run from $437,432 to $760,369. So the real choice is price and rail against a newer house, and the tax rate rarely decides it.

Rates are before exemptions and leave out special districts such as MUDs and PIDs, which can add to a bill in newer subdivisions. For comparison, the City of Dallas has a typical value of $303,442 and a 2025 Dallas County rate of about $2.23. Look up any rating we couldn't show on the TEA's TXschools.gov. Plano's adopted 2026 total is $1.702984 per $100 (Collin CAD), almost unchanged from 2025, with the math on our Plano property tax page.

Dallas suburbs that pass the most checks

All three suburbs at the top are DART members, the 13 cities that fund DART with a 1% sales tax. Rail is the check the northern suburbs can't buy their way into.

1. Plano

The only suburb here with rail, a typical home under $4,000 a month ($3,810), a 2025 rate under $1.80 ($1.71 in Collin County) and a published B (82) for its district. It also has the Legacy campuses of Toyota, JPMorgan Chase and Liberty Mutual, with AT&T's headquarters coming, so a Plano job can mean a short drive. Drop the rail check and Plano still leads with three. The catch: it isn't the cheapest (four suburbs cost less a month), and the houses are older, with little new construction. Our Plano neighborhoods by price page is the next step.

2. Carrollton, the cheapest rail suburb

The cheapest way onto a DART line in this group: $3,136 a month on a typical $396,178 home, with Silver Line service. Carrollton spans three counties, so the same city can pass or fail the tax check: about $1.67 per $100 on the Denton County side and $2.02 on the Dallas County side. It ranks second either way. If Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD rates a B or better, a Denton-side Carrollton home would pass all four checks too and, being cheaper, would top this ranking, so look the rating up before you rule Carrollton out. The catch: confirm the county on every address before you trust a tax estimate.

3. Richardson

Rail and the second-lowest monthly cost of the rail suburbs ($3,521), and one of only two cities in the ranking where values rose this year (+0.65%). Its five-year gain, 19.83%, beats Plano's. The catch is the two checks it fails: about $2.18 per $100 in the Dallas County part ($1.88 in Collin) and a C (79) for Richardson ISD in 2025. Some Richardson addresses are in Plano ISD instead, so check each one.

Dallas suburbs in Collin County without rail

These three pass two checks each and none has rail. They're the place to look if you'll drive anyway and want a newer house.

4. McKinney

The cheapest Collin County suburb here at $472,867 ($3,635 a month), with a 2025 rate of about $1.75, and values fell 5.11% this year, which gives you room to negotiate. The catch: it's the farthest of these from Dallas and outside DART.

5. Allen

About $10,000 below Plano at $487,619, down 5.05% this year, with a 2025 rate of about $1.77. So you get Plano's price with more room to negotiate. The catch: no rail, and a longer drive to Dallas than from Plano.

6. Frisco

Frisco ISD scored an A (90) in 2025, the highest district rating in our table, and its 2025 rate, about $1.68, is lower than Plano's. It also has more new construction. The catch is cost: $4,883 a month on a typical $640,131 home, about $1,073 more than Plano, and no rail. Our comparison of Plano and Frisco works through that trade-off.

Dallas suburbs that pass one check or none

These five cost more than $4,000 a month on a typical home. Each still has a reason you might pick it.

7. Murphy

The lowest 2025 combined rate in the ranking, about $1.63 per $100 using the Plano ISD rate the guide lists for Murphy (Plano ISD serves part of Murphy). The catch: $4,398 a month on a typical $579,553 home, and no rail.

8. Flower Mound, a Denton County suburb

Flat this year (-0.02%), with a 2025 Denton County rate of about $1.69 and Lewisville ISD. It makes sense for a job near DFW Airport. The catch: no rail, and a Plano or Richardson job means a drive across the north of the metro.

9. Coppell, the airport suburb with rail

The strongest five-year gain here apart from Southlake, 26.92%, and DART's Silver Line serves it, though Coppell isn't a member city. For an airport or Las Colinas job it's the rail option. The catch: a 2025 Dallas County rate of about $1.96 per $100, so $4,785 a month on a typical home.

10. Prosper

The highest typical value in Collin County here, $760,369, and the highest 2025 rate in our table, about $1.95. That makes it $5,974 a month, the most of any suburb we could price. Read our new construction near Plano guide before you buy a new build there.

11. Southlake, the priciest suburb here

The top of the market at $1,318,423, up 4.57% this year and 37.49% over five. We haven't listed a tax rate because the 2025 guide's Tarrant County line for Southlake looks misprinted, so it can't pass the cost or tax checks; ask the Tarrant Appraisal District. The catch: price, and it's the farthest suburb here from the Collin County job centers.

Monthly cost of a typical home in ten Dallas suburbs

Rates and prices pull in different directions, so here they are as one monthly figure. Each row uses the city's typical value, 10% down, a 30-year loan at Freddie Mac's 7.4% average and the 2025 tax rate before exemptions. Insurance, HOA dues and mortgage insurance are left out because they depend on the house and the lender.

What the monthly figures show about Dallas suburbs

Richardson's higher rate costs about $87 a month more in tax than Plano's on a typical home, but its lower price more than covers it. Frisco's lower rate saves little against a price that adds almost $900 a month in principal and interest. Between Carrollton and Prosper the spread is about $34,000 a year, so the suburb you pick is a bigger money decision than the house you pick inside it. To run a specific Plano price with the homestead exemption, use the Plano property tax estimator.

Best Dallas suburbs for your budget and commute

The ranking is for someone who wants all four checks. If you only need some of them, here's the pick for each budget, commute and taste, with the catch.

• Under $450,000 and a Dallas office: Carrollton, or the east side of Plano near Parker Road Station. The catch: Carrollton's tax depends on the county, and east Plano's houses are older.
• About $500,000 and a Legacy or Collin County job: Plano. The catch: older housing, so budget for the inspection.
• A newer house for under $490,000, and you'll drive: McKinney or Allen, both down more than 5% this year. The catch: no rail and a longer drive to Dallas.
• New construction and the top-rated district in our table, with $640,000 or more: Frisco. The catch: about $1,073 a month more than Plano.
• A job near DFW Airport or Las Colinas: Coppell for the Silver Line, Flower Mound for the lower rate. The catch: Coppell's $1.96 rate.
• The lowest tax rate: Murphy. The catch: you pay it back in price.
• $1.3 million and up: Southlake, or Willow Bend and Lakeside on Preston inside Plano, at about the same price and closer to Legacy.

Whichever you pick, look up each address in the school district's own finder, never the listing.

Cost of living in the Dallas suburbs

Texas has no state income tax, so the big variables are the house, the property tax and the commute. The Plano cost of living breakdown shows how those add up for one suburb, and the same method works for the others.

Wealthy Dallas suburbs by home value

By typical home value, the highest here are Southlake ($1,318,423), Prosper ($760,369), Frisco ($640,131) and Coppell ($608,310). Inside Plano, Willow Bend ($1,379,001) and Lakeside on Preston ($1,321,232) are comparable to Southlake. Home values are the only measure this site uses for that question.