Houston Vs. Dallas Which city is better?

Today, we’re going to find out which Texas City is better, Dallas vs Houston. Dallas and Houston are both the main cities and the respected metro areas in the Lone Star State. Dallas is somewhat towards the northeastern part of Texas, while Houston is down there near the Gulf of Mexico. Houston was incorporated into a city in 1837, while Dallas was almost 20 years later in 1856. So they’ve been around a while.

So without any more introduction, let’s find out which ones are best in Dallas versus Houston. 

Round 1

Crime, neither of these cities are doing great when it comes to crime, they both get graded F by areavibe.com The question is how big F does each one have? Let’s take a look at the overall crime rate in Dallas is 44 percent higher than the national average, which that’s not good, especially for such a prosperous city. The overall crime rate in Houston is 90 percent higher than the national average, which if you know anything about math, that’s worse.

In Dallas, 10 people out of every hundred thousand become a victim of a crime every single year, while down the road, about 15 out of every one hundred thousand. Dallas is far better, it is cleaner, much safer, and much more organized because of heavy zoning laws in Big D.

Round 2

Schools. Both cities do all right when it comes to educating the kids. Now, I know that sounds weird to some of you. it’s rare to find a school that doesn’t have a 50 percent dropout rate with a matching teen mom rate in the schools. But yes, Texas is doing it right. Using the proficiency score averages, the average test scores for Dallas, Texas schools is sixty-five percent.

And that’s not that bad. The average student-teacher ratios fifteen to one in Dallas, Texas. An average of seventy-four percent of the kids have completed the eighth grade and an average of seventy-two percent have completed high school. Not terrible. Now Houston schools average test scores. Sixty-eight percent, just a touch better. And the average student-teacher ratio is seventeen to one, which isn’t great. I mean, it’s good, but it’s not as good as Dallas. So they’re one for one on this. Seems like an average of seventy-five point eight percent of the students have completed the eighth grade and an average of seventy-three point two have completed high school. So again, really close.

We’re going to call that round a draw.

Round 3

Commute time. Dallas and Houston both rank pretty bad when it comes to commute time out of two hundred fifty cities in the US that they ranked. These two came in in the fifties. Houston was one fifty-fifth with an average of a twenty-seven point three minute commute time. Well, not too far down the list was Dallas at one fifty-seventh with a twenty-eight point eight-minute commute time. Just a little bit worse.

Not much of a difference on time, but truck drivers were pulled in twenty seventeen and they said that Dallas metro area was the worst traffic in Texas. Another study in twenty eighteen ranked twenty Texas cities by how bad their drivers were. And Dallas and its suburbs took six of the top ten spots. But the Houston metro area city of Portland was ranked number one. The city of Houston drivers were ranked 17th. Houston as better drivers and a tad better commute time advantage Houston round for reputation and pop culture.

Round 4

Traffic, Both have very bad traffic but Dallas is so much cleaner and loaded with more outdoor areas you can really enjoy. Houston is a humid swamp with no zoning laws.

Round 5

 Jobs and housing

This one is easy with these two. Houston isn’t doing terrible. The income per capita in Houston is three percent lower than the national average, and the unemployment rate in Houston is only eight percent higher than the national average. Like all cities, Houston has some run-down parts. They got some really rundown parts. The poverty level in Houston is 46 percent higher than the national average.

Now, Dallas is a different story. People in Dallas are making good money because the income per capita in Big D is equal to the national average. The unemployment rate in Dallas is one percent lower than the national average. That’s a solid number. They do have a little higher poverty because, you know, like all places, they got some rundown areas, too. It’s 50 percent higher than the national average, but it’s a big city, Houston’s big city.

Dallas’s average home price is about two hundred and forty-nine thousand dollars. That’s you know, if you’re from L.A. or New York or San Francisco or something like that, that’s like dirt cheap. But here, that’s a good number. Houston’s average home price is two hundred and thirty-three thousand, and it’s about a 16000 dollar difference. But still, the fifth round goes to Dallas.

Round 6

Climate-The advantage here has to go to Dallas. Don’t get me wrong, both cities are in Texas and it definitely gets hot in Dallas in summer, but the humidity in Houston makes the heat there much more miserable.

Round 7

Economy-Houston is a diverse economy but is still very dependent on the energy sector. When things are good in Oil and Gas things are good in Houston. When Oil and Gas is down, the economy in Houston slows down. Dallas is a more diverse economy and seems to weather most economic ups and downs pretty well. If your work in any way is related to the energy sector of the economy, then know that Houston is the center of that universe and probably where you want to be. DFW fluctuates around 21–23 Fortune 500 companies including 3 of the top 10. There are more high tech jobs in DFW than Austin, but no one ever talks about it.

Round 8

People-Both cities have extremely diverse populations and no doubt you can find plenty of folks who share similar cultural, ethnic, religious, and political views as yourself in either location. People in Houston really like to tout its diversity, but if I based diversity on the people who live within walking distance to my house, I would personally find DFW much more diverse. Houston may be statistically more diverse, but I also feel Houston is more geographically segregated. That is, however, just one individual’s experience.

Dallas has a better nightlife. The metroplex has better breweries and distilleries. Dallas has access to some nice lakes which is/can be a nice plus. If you have kids Dallas has Six Flags which is nice. Both are decent sports cities, but I would give Dallas the edge as they have more professional teams (NHL), and better college ball.

Both metro areas are growing significantly, and I think long term will grow. I think Houston is closer to the stereotype that Northerners have for Texans. Dallas is more a city of transplants from the Midwest. Lot of technology, banking telecom, etc.