Houston VS Dallas young family (Plano, Irving: 2015, HOA, transfer)

[WRM20]

I have friends and family in the Dallas area, and have visited many times. Ft Worth is a great town, but Dallas always seemed like a plastic city full of plastic people.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by WRM20

I have friends and family in the Dallas area, and have visited many times. Ft Worth is a great town, but Dallas always seemed like a plastic city full of plastic people.

Dallas isn’t that overall. There’s just a subset of the population that is.

[Jeohnny]

Dallas has the green building. END OF STORY!

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Ive lived in both.

Dallas is a bit more expensive than Houston but not much.

So question about this. Statistically, this is true. From my understanding, it would seem the reason Dallas is slightly more expensive is due to Houston being about twice larger geographically. This makes areas in far north Houston, Alief and closer to Cypress naturally cheaper. To me this makes the difference between the COL. So an urban neighborhood in both cities seem to be about the same. Of course, Houston is also twice larger population wise, so the difference isn’t going to be huge, but it isn’t huge regardless as you mentioned. So it seems this is where the gap is.

Any input?

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

So question about this. Statistically, this is true. From my understanding, it would seem the reason Dallas is slightly more expensive is due to Houston being about twice larger geographically. This makes areas in far north Houston, Alief and closer to Cypress naturally cheaper. To me this makes the difference between the COL. So an urban neighborhood in both cities seem to be about the same. Of course, Houston is also twice larger population wise, so the difference isn’t going to be huge, but it isn’t huge regardless as you mentioned. So it seems this is where the gap is.

Any input?

Looks like its still true even when Fort Worth is included.

Sperling's scores cost of living by metro area with the higher numbers having higher costs of living. They use a 100 point scale where 100 is the national average. Higher than 100 means higher than the national average and lower than 100 means lower than the national average. These are what they came up with:

Houston/the Woodlands/Sugar Land cost of living: 100.6
Average cost of house: $210,799
Houston had only one metric higher than the national average
Transportation: 122.3

Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington cost of living: 103.9
Average cost of house: $236,615
DFW had three metrics higher than the national average:
Housing: 102.3 (which includes renting)
Utilities: 100.8
Transportation: 116.3

If we break down cost of living by the cities and suburbs of the metro area (again on the 100 point scale where 100 is the national average) it looks like this:

Piney Point Village: 349.6
Highland Park: 277.6
Bunker Hill Village: 252.4
University Park: 250.6
Hedwig Village: 241.3
Southlake: 164.3
Frisco: 120.0
Sugar Land: 114.6
Richardson: 114.5
The Woodlands: 112.9
Plano: 109.3
Cypress: 108.8
McKinney: 107.9
Pearland: 106.4
Missouri City: 104.3
Katy: 104.2
Desoto: 103.3
Cedar Hill: 102.2
Dallas: 101.6
Arlington: 100.6
Irving: 100.6
Fort Worth: 99.8
Garland: 99.5
Lancaster: 97.7
Houston: 96.5
Pasadena: 91.2
Baytown: 84.2

[BakersDozenSupply]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

Looks like its still true even when Fort Worth is included.

Sperling's scores cost of living by metro area with the higher numbers having higher costs of living. They use a 100 point scale where 100 is the national average. Higher than 100 means higher than the national average and lower than 100 means lower than the national average. These are what they came up with:

Houston/the Woodlands/Sugar Land cost of living: 100.6
Average cost of house: $210,799
Houston had only one metric higher than the national average
Transportation: 122.3

Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington cost of living: 103.9
Average cost of house: $236,615
DFW had three metrics higher than the national average:
Housing: 102.3 (which includes renting)
Utilities: 100.8
Transportation: 116.3

If we break down cost of living by the cities and suburbs of the metro area (again on the 100 point scale where 100 is the national average) it looks like this:

Piney Point Village: 349.6
Highland Park: 277.6
Bunker Hill Village: 252.4
University Park: 250.6
Hedwig Village: 241.3
Southlake: 164.3
Frisco: 120.0
Sugar Land: 114.6
Richardson: 114.5
The Woodlands: 112.9
Plano: 109.3
Cypress: 108.8
McKinney: 107.9
Pearland: 106.4
Missouri City: 104.3
Katy: 104.2
Desoto: 103.3
Cedar Hill: 102.2
Dallas: 101.6
Arlington: 100.6
Irving: 100.6
Fort Worth: 99.8
Garland: 99.5
Lancaster: 97.7
Houston: 96.5
Pasadena: 91.2
Baytown: 84.2

These measurements make Houston's COL look higher when you compare alike suburbs.

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by BakersDozenSupply

These measurements make Houston's COL look higher when you compare alike suburbs.

Not at all. It makes Dallas look higher than it actually is. Piney Point and Bunker Hill are TINY compared Highland Park, University Park, and Southlake.

What it says to me is that DFW has a lot more upper middle class and Houston has a lot more lower middle class. Both have a lot of upper class and lower class.

[usc619]

Something to keep in mind when dealing with Texas property tax racket, DFW rarely has MUD taxes and most of the Houston area does. Avg tax rate in DFW is around 2.2%, compared to the 3 plus % you'll be paying in the Houston Suburbs.

[Redlionjr]

Originally Posted by usc619

Something to keep in mind when dealing with Texas property tax racket, DFW rarely has MUD taxes and most of the Houston area does. Avg tax rate in DFW is around 2.2%, compared to the 3 plus % you'll be paying in the Houston Suburbs.

I also feel like I see more HOA fees in Houston suburbs than I do DFW suburbs. Could be wrong though

[As Above So Below...]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

I also feel like I see more HOA fees in Houston suburbs than I do DFW suburbs. Could be wrong though

I feel like HOA fees are extremely common in DFW. When we were looking for homes there I don’t recall even looking at one that didn’t have an HOA.