More and more people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Dallas to avoid all the hustle and bustle.
So the question arises: what suburbs of Dallas are the worst?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Dallas ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Dallas area if you will. Realistically, you can only expect some of the suburbs to live up to Dallas proper, although Southlake certainly tries.
We examined the 78 biggest suburbs of Dallas to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Texas lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Dallas in terms of quality of life.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 worst suburbs around Dallas for 2024
- Wilmer
- Seagoville
- Hutchins
- Balch Springs
- Terrell
- Lancaster
- Cockrell Hill
- Palmer
- Ferris
- Duncanville
Now don’t freak out.
What’s the worst suburb of Dallas? Wilmer ranks as the worst suburb of Dallas for 2024 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.
Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Texas check out the best places in Texas overall or the worst.
And remember, there are some good places to live around Dallas too.
The 10 Worst Dallas Suburbs To Live For 2024
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We’ll get the ball rolling with Wilmer, the absolute worst place to live around Dallas according to the data.
And in the world of worst rankings, Wilmer beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the 6th worst in the Dallas area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.
But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Wilmer.
You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.
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Population: 18,658
Median Income: $65,300 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.3% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $275,237 (9th lowest)
More on Seagoville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Welcome to Seagoville. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.
This city is 16.1 miles to Dallas. Income levels here are the 7th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $65,300 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.
But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.
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Population: 5,633
Median Income: $39,929 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (45th highest)
Median Home Value: $242,690 (5th lowest)
More on Hutchins: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Back up the highway we go for the third worst Dallas suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Hutchins on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.
In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Dallas suburbs.
But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.
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Population: 27,322
Median Income: $58,680 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.6% (2nd highest)
Median Home Value: $231,297 (3rd lowest)
More on Balch Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
If you live in Balch Springs, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 3rd lowest Dallas suburb for median household incomes.
Not only that, but this is the 2nd worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Dallas. Remember, we looked at 78 cities for this study.
Balch Springs is about 10.2 miles to downtown.
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Population: 18,001
Median Income: $61,513 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.6% (18th highest)
Median Home Value: $267,314 (6th lowest)
More on Terrell: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Terrell has the distinction of being a Dallas suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.
All snarkiness aside, Terrell has the 6th lowest home values in the metro Dallas area, where the median price is $267,314. The median income is $250,001.
Terrell has an unemployment rate of 5.65% which ranks 18th worst.
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Population: 40,958
Median Income: $65,323 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $278,981 (11th lowest)
More on Lancaster: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Lancaster has 40,958 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)
Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 14.712216858522096%.
7. Cockrell Hill
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Population: 3,799
Median Income: $49,810 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.8% (highest)
Median Home Value: $217,279 (2nd lowest)
More on Cockrell Hill: Crime
Ah, Cockrell Hill. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Dallas.
It’s the place with the most out of work residents in the Dallas metro area (8.79%).
8. Palmer
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Population: 2,685
Median Income: $81,310 (23rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.2% (9th highest)
Median Home Value: $236,251 (4th lowest)
More on Palmer: Crime
Palmer is a city about 26.3 miles from Dallas, but Dallas probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Palmer has the 2most uninsured people, 23rd worst incomes, and has the 9th highest unemployment rate (7.22%) in the entire Dallas metro area.
Homes only cost $236,251 for a reason. That’s cheap for Dallas standards.
9. Ferris
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Population: 2,785
Median Income: $62,036 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 0.8% (78th highest)
Median Home Value: $267,485 (7th lowest)
More on Ferris: Crime
If you absolutely have to live near Dallas, then Ferris might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Dallas suburb.
About 0.83% of residents are out of work.
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Population: 40,288
Median Income: $66,601 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.6% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $280,157 (13th lowest)
More on Duncanville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Rounding out the ten worst Dallas suburbs to call home is Duncanville.
Located 13.3 miles outside the city, Duncanvilles is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 6th highest unemployment rate (7.62%), and poverty is far above the area average.
Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Dallas for 2024
To figure out how bad a Dallas suburb is to live in, we used Saturday Night Science to identify the kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.
Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2018-2022, this is the criteria we used:
- High unemployment rate
- Low median household incomes
- Low population density (no things to do)
- Low home values
- A lot of high school dropouts
- High poverty
- High rate of uninsured families
We defined a suburb as any town within 30 miles of Dallas.
We also limited the analysis to places with over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 78 suburbs to evaluate around Dallas.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 78 in each category, where 1 was the “worst.”
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index, the “Worst Suburb near Dallas.” We’re looking at you, Wilmer.
We updated this article for 2024, which reflects our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Dallas.
Summary: The areas around Dallas where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2024
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Dallas with Wilmer casting itself ahead of the pack.
The worst suburbs of Dallas are .
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Dallas aren’t all bad. Southlake takes the cake as the best place to live around Dallas.
- Southlake
- University Park
- Highland
For more Texas reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Texas
- Cheapest Places To Live In Texas
- Most Dangerous Places In Texas
- Best Places To Retire In Texas
- Richest Cities In Texas
- Safest Places In Texas
- Worst Places To Live In Texas
Detailed List Of The Worst Dallas Suburbs
Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Values |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wilmer | 5,370 | $63,003 | $181,973 |
2 | Seagoville | 18,658 | $65,300 | $275,237 |
3 | Hutchins | 5,633 | $39,929 | $242,690 |
4 | Balch Springs | 27,322 | $58,680 | $231,297 |
5 | Terrell | 18,001 | $61,513 | $267,314 |
6 | Lancaster | 40,958 | $65,323 | $278,981 |
7 | Cockrell Hill | 3,799 | $49,810 | $217,279 |
8 | Palmer | 2,685 | $81,310 | $236,251 |
9 | Ferris | 2,785 | $62,036 | $267,485 |
10 | Duncanville | 40,288 | $66,601 | $280,157 |
11 | Mesquite | 149,439 | $69,649 | $272,912 |
12 | Garland | 244,026 | $71,044 | $297,145 |
13 | Combine | 2,609 | $90,313 | $398,946 |
14 | Grand Prairie | 197,279 | $76,626 | $317,988 |
15 | Cedar Hill | 48,733 | $84,132 | $315,422 |
16 | Arlington | 393,469 | $71,736 | $312,016 |
17 | Glenn Heights | 16,445 | $87,686 | $330,758 |
18 | Crandall | 4,028 | $101,829 | $304,136 |
19 | Irving | 254,962 | $76,686 | $337,139 |
20 | Waxahachie | 41,801 | $80,044 | $351,165 |
21 | Richland Hills | 8,513 | $73,601 | $275,336 |
22 | Desoto | 55,882 | $81,736 | $323,250 |
23 | Watauga | 23,509 | $88,775 | $279,226 |
24 | Farmers Branch | 35,985 | $88,282 | $372,175 |
25 | Euless | 60,360 | $77,403 | $347,693 |
26 | Hurst | 40,053 | $71,275 | $328,991 |
27 | Kennedale | 8,590 | $112,646 | $385,086 |
28 | Lakewood | 63,142 | $65,531 | $476,344 |
29 | Lewisville | 125,028 | $82,006 | $395,721 |
30 | Little Elm | 48,241 | $110,218 | $426,402 |
31 | Forney | 25,269 | $102,107 | $338,581 |
32 | Richardson | 118,063 | $94,362 | $436,131 |
33 | Lake Dallas | 7,682 | $72,386 | $339,586 |
34 | Pantego | 2,529 | $84,125 | $355,589 |
35 | Addison | 17,026 | $78,153 | $462,821 |
36 | Carrollton | 132,284 | $95,380 | $410,598 |
37 | Fate | 19,010 | $121,935 | $369,189 |
38 | Red Oak | 14,853 | $105,309 | $339,153 |
39 | Ovilla | 4,077 | $109,130 | $468,881 |
40 | Shady Shores | 2,811 | $149,333 | $547,569 |
41 | North Richland Hills | 70,114 | $88,656 | $360,470 |
42 | Rowlett | 63,291 | $110,954 | $381,572 |
43 | Wylie | 57,063 | $109,465 | $411,646 |
44 | Sunnyvale | 7,873 | $152,632 | $638,548 |
45 | Hackberry | 2,862 | $112,981 | $390,109 |
46 | Bedford | 49,455 | $80,924 | $366,367 |
47 | Midlothian | 35,460 | $119,323 | $443,526 |
48 | The Colony | 44,323 | $106,518 | $403,361 |
49 | Grapevine | 50,763 | $107,165 | $517,910 |
50 | Plano | 284,948 | $105,679 | $503,025 |
51 | Mansfield | 73,680 | $112,465 | $423,311 |
52 | Dalworthington Gardens | 2,437 | $108,750 | $515,114 |
53 | Oak Point | 4,957 | $104,120 | $447,635 |
54 | Fairview | 10,354 | $103,219 | $640,850 |
55 | Talty | 2,568 | $128,864 | $537,296 |
56 | Hickory Creek | 4,906 | $138,584 | $489,358 |
57 | Mckinney | 196,160 | $113,286 | $506,871 |
58 | Sachse | 27,829 | $127,888 | $443,583 |
59 | Rockwall | 47,859 | $114,799 | $440,779 |
60 | Copper Canyon | 2,125 | $135,938 | $890,304 |
61 | Parker | 5,573 | $202,727 | $1,011,628 |
62 | Allen | 105,444 | $121,259 | $506,564 |
63 | Lavon | 4,939 | $122,889 | $366,648 |
64 | Mclendon-Chisholm | 3,755 | $167,750 | $714,461 |
65 | Murphy | 20,880 | $152,847 | $583,866 |
66 | Flower Mound | 76,630 | $154,471 | $582,405 |
67 | Heath | 9,771 | $211,522 | $701,027 |
68 | Frisco | 202,075 | $144,567 | $650,075 |
69 | Double Oak | 3,039 | $187,115 | $769,545 |
70 | Trophy Club | 13,251 | $183,125 | $662,834 |
71 | Keller | 45,320 | $162,094 | $603,388 |
72 | Colleyville | 25,876 | $196,298 | $825,914 |
73 | Lucas | 7,746 | $205,288 | $1,003,546 |
74 | Highland Park | 8,840 | $249,923 | $2,475,526 |
75 | Coppell | 42,513 | $143,817 | $591,824 |
76 | Highland | 19,267 | $166,429 | $877,307 |
77 | University Park | 25,179 | $250,001 | $2,037,260 |
78 | Southlake | 30,779 | $250,001 | $1,122,373 |
ummm Fort Worth suburbs are not Dallas suburbs, this is wrong.