Moving is never easy! That is not enough just to choose a state but the city. If you decided to start a new life in Texas, you’re welcome. Today we are going to compare Houston vs Dallas. Both cities have extremely diverse population 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 people in DFW are much more diverse. Living costs (including real estate) in both cities are comparable. Houston is a more diverse and less segregated city than Dallas. Compared to Dallas, Houston has a slightly better quality/variety of restaurants, museums, parks, and performing arts.
Houston | Dallas | |
Politics | Houston has a number of suburbs, but the actual City of Houston is definitely the 800 lb gorilla that controls and influences most of what happens in the region. For the most part Houston’s city government seems to work pretty well. | DFW by contrast is really a conglomeration of almost 40 different unique independent communities. Dallas proper is actually only the third-largest city in Texas with a population of 1.3M. While Dallas city politics itself is pretty dysfunctional, it is easy to find a community in DFW that fits you and that you rarely need to venture outside of. |
Climate | It definitely gets hot in Dallas in summer but the humidity in Houston makes the heat there much more miserable. | |
Traffic | Both cities are large and have a lot of traffic. Houston is on a grid and is pretty easy to get from place to place because everything goes east-west or north-south, but there are not a lot of secondary options to the major freeways and so EVERYONE uses the same routes. | Dallas is more difficult to navigate because major streets and freeways go in different directions and you have to know what streets take you where you want to go, but once you know your way around there are a lot of secondary options to get from one place to another. |
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 are 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. |
Housing costs | Houston still has huge amounts of land and if you go out from the city center far enough, you will always find areas where they are building new homes, supply and demand tends to keep prices more in check in Houston, so the advantage goes to Houston. | Dallas is one of the fastest-growing areas in the US. Lately, it feels like nothing but an influx of large companies moving employees to DFW by the thousands, to the point they can’t build housing fast enough. Housing costs tend to be slightly higher in DFW than in Houston. |
Kemal Hasan, 35
Dallas is much more colder than Houston during the winters (average 15° more cooler in Dallas). Dallas is slightly less humid than Houston (average 10% less humidity in Dallas). The hot summers “feels like temperature” are about the same for Dallas and Houston (Dallas summer temperatures are slightly higher than Houston which offsets with slightly higher humidity in Houston for the “feels like temperature” index).
Dallas is the 3rd largest city in TX whereas Houston is the largest. However, Dallas-FW is the largest metro area in TX whereas Houston is the 2nd largest. Dallas area feels more like a never ending suburb with countless small cities, whereas Houston area has denser populations and a greater variety of neighborhoods. Dallas has strong zoning laws which gives it a perceived cleaner look but sometimes can be inconvenient, on the other hand Houston’s zoning laws are very laxed and tuned to laissez-faire. Dallas’s economy is more diverse than Houston’s economy where the dominant industries are the oil & gas, healthcare, trade, and manufacturing sectors. Living costs (including real estate) in both cities are comparable.
Houston is a more diverse and less segregated city than Dallas. Compared to Dallas, Houston has slightly better quality/variety of restaurants, museums, parks, and performing arts. Houston has a few lakes and is nearby the Gulf of Mexico and its beaches, whereas Dallas is landlocked but has many lakes. Unlike Dallas, Houston has a port, and offers vacation cruiselines. Gardening in Houston includes sub-tropical plants such as palm trees and citruses, but not in Dallas. Dallas and Houston traffic congestion rates are about the same. Crime rate in Dallas is slightly less than Houston. Houston has more consulates of other countries than Dallas. Houston is more forested whereas Dallas has more grasslands. Dallas-FW area has slightly more highly rated K-12 schools than Houston, but greater Houston area offers slightly better universities/colleges.
Houston or Dallas, it all comes down to your personal preferences and source of income. Both are great cities!
My personal preference is Dallas, but that is mostly because I live in a small community that I really like and rarely have to leave. Your opinions may be different.
Anthony Hughes, 36
There are advantages to both sides. Houston has some nice features that Dallas lacks and vice versa. But the question address some advantages Dallas has over Houston.
Dallas has better rail Transit. It has 95 miles of Metro Rail, actually Light Rail in character, and 60 some-odd rail stops, mostly in Suburban areas but actually maybe 20 or 30 walkable neighborhood stops. Dallas has two streetcar lines to serve areas better outside the downtown Loop but still Urban and nature and walkable in nature. The Dallas-Fort Worth area also has three Suburban train lines, to connect to more remote Suburban areas or to downtown Fort Worth.
Dallas has more of the Four Seasons climate. It’s not uncommon to have a little bit of snow during the winter, and there is definitely some cooler weather or cold weather. Dallas summers are hotter, but the extreme humidity you find in Houston you’re not going to find in Dallas. In fact in the late afternoon in summertime Dallas when the temperature is rather High, the humidity will be very low.
Dallas has more developed Urban walkable neighborhoods around its downtown core compared to Houston. Uptown Dallas is a rather large area that blends into some other walkable neighborhoods, the Deep Ellum district is a pretty exciting place to go for nightlife, and south of the downtown you have the Bishop Arts District which is really a lot of fun to reach on a street car. In addition to that Dallas has several walkable Urban neighborhoods that are connected to the central Urban core by transit lines such that you can take a train to one of them and get out and walk to where you want to go.
If you get tired of the vibe of Dallas which is unusual for Texas, you can go to nearby Fort Worth which is really also part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and enjoy a more texan atmosphere. In fact Fort Worth is a great place to go and visit for culture as well as Cowboys.
This is a purely subjective View, But Central Dallas looks visually more stunning to me that Houston does. The the downtown tall buildings are a light show of Their Own, and the bridges across the Trinity River are unusual and attractive. And it’s my personal view that downtown Dallas seems to have a better variety of urban spaces, but I think that Houston would probably give you an argument on that subject.
The McKinney Avenue Streetcar is a fun ride and it goes through a very comfortable and very compact neighborhood. The streetcars of cells her 100 years old, beautiful antiques, and the whole package adds up to a really fun experience.
If you are moving to Texas, you may be wondering which city is the best for you: Houston or Dallas. Both cities offer great quality of life, culture, entertainment, and job opportunities. However, there are some differences to consider. Houston is a more diverse and less segregated city than Dallas, and it offers a slightly better quality and variety of restaurants, museums, parks, and performing arts. If you are looking for a reliable moving company in Houston, Houston movers can help you with your move. They provide professional, efficient, and affordable moving services to ensure that your move is stress-free and seamless.
So, now that you know what to expect from both cities, will your new home be in Houston or Dallas? So whatever the reason for your moving to Houston or Dallas may be, choosing the right company to relocate can make your life easier. If you have already made your choice our team of professionals is ready to provide all the necessary services your unique relocation requires. Let us be the mediators that can help you to coordinate your fast and easy move to a new life. Get a free moving quote, use our moving cost calculator or contact us to know all the details.
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