Income growth outpaced increases in housing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth last year, bucking a trend seen in some other large Texas metros like Austin and Houston, according to newly released U.S. Census estimates.
Median incomes in North Texas neared $93,000 last year — a 3.7% growth rate that outperformed the state average and was matched only by San Antonio when compared against the state’s four largest metros in 2024 inflation-adjusted dollars.
D-FW’s median monthly rents and homeowner costs were the second most-expensive in the state, but the wage growth may help with the region’s growing affordability issues.
Earlier census estimates show housing costs for renters and owners outstripped wage growth in D-FW between 2022 and 2023.
D-FW Real Estate News
“The wage growth picking up — that helps bring affordability back,” said Ted Wilson, the principal of Dallas-based new home market research firm Residential Strategies Inc. “For the Texas miracle to continue, we’ve got to keep housing affordable.”
The cost of owning a home
Homeowners with a mortgage in North Texas paid $2,491 in owner housing costs in 2024. That’s a 2.6% increase from 2023, but below rates in the Austin and Houston metros.
One of the country’s largest housing markets, D-FW saw median home values hit $389,500, up from nearly $385,000 a year earlier.
Households in D-FW with a mortgage numbered 1.12 million, nearly 10,000 more than in 2023. Incomes and home values were even higher among this group.
Median income for mortgage holders rose to $137,001, up 4.6% year over year. Home values also jumped among this group, hitting $414,600 — up from $399,300 last year.
Sriram Villupuram, a finance and real estate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, said incomes increasing at a faster rate than costs associated with homeownership bucks a trend in North Texas.
“For a long time, that was not the case,” he said. “I think that is a glimmer of good news.”
However, Villupuram warned that income gains may be eaten away by inflation.
Monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage increased 7.8% in Houston, 3.5% in Austin, and 1.5% in San Antonio.
The median monthly owner housing cost in Texas was $2,211 in 2024, up 3.7% year-over-year. Monthly owner costs include mortgage payments, insurance, taxes and utilities.
Median housing costs for these households rose 6.7% statewide to $2,211 per month — well above the national increase of 3.8%. Their median income grew to $124,452, a 6% increase.
Home values also climbed. The median value of a mortgaged home in Texas reached $353,300, compared with $341,300 a year earlier.
Household incomes in Texas rose slightly. The statewide median household income was $79,721 in 2024, a 2.2% increase. The national median reached $80,002, up 2.0%.
Despite those gains, analysis shows Texas households would need to earn more than $44,000 above the current median to afford buying a home under typical mortgage standards.
“We actually see that there are several southern states that are among the greatest growing in that measure”, said Jacob Fabina, an economist at the U.S. Census Bureau.
“It’s a growing area, so you know, higher down payments, higher mortgage costs as a result”.
North Texas renters and rent hikes
Renters make up a growing share of households in North Texas, and they continue to spend a large portion of their incomes on rent.
The metro’s number of renter-occupied housing units topped 1.2 million in 2024, up 15,000 from the prior year. Median rents rose to $1,718, a $70 increase. The nearly 2% rise outpaced the statewide average.
Austin and Houston saw rents drop, while San Antonio saw rents rise nearly 3%.
Nearly 43% of renters in the D-FW spent 35% or more of their income on housing, a slight decrease from 44.3% the previous year.
Households are considered cost-burdened when they spend more than 30% of their income on rent, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Dallas-Fort Worth governments approved nearly 72,000 new homes and apartments in 2024 — the most in the nation, according to Construction Coverage. The region outpaced Houston, New York, Phoenix and Atlanta to claim the top spot.
Still, the region is experiencing a housing shortage. The estimated housing deficit in D-FW hit 49,204 in 2023 — that’s the number of families “doubling up” by living with non-relatives, minus the units available to buy or rent, according to the most recent data from Zillow.
As of 2022, the city of Dallas had a 39,900 unit gap in affordable rental housing. The shortage is expected to grow to 76,100 units by 2035, driven by a loss of 54,000 unrestricted affordable housing units, according to data from the Child Poverty Action Lab.
Bryan Tony, the executive director of the Dallas Housing Coalition, said the group’s goal over the next few years is to create more housing type diversity within city limits to address affordability issues.
“We need to create more housing opportunities, and that’s what we’re hoping will happen here in the next couple of years,” he said.