Famous for its sunshine, cowboys, and barbecue, Dallas is a pretty awesome place to call home. Of course, like with any city of this size, living here comes with some big city prices. If you want to experience all that Dallas has to offer but want to save a few bucks, check out these 10 affordable suburbs.
Nestled in the southern part of Dallas County, Duncanville is known for being home to Joe Pool Lake. Ever since the completion of this reservoir, the local area has been on the rise. Duncanville offers great sports nearby to camp and fish, so if you love being outside in the summer sun, this affordable suburb might be the spot for you.
Thanks to high incomes and lower rent in the area, The Colony steals the No. 2 spot on our list of affordable Dallas suburbs. One thing that makes this suburb especially appealing is the huge effort the local government has invested in developing The Colony’s economic standing and local community in recent years. With tons of new businesses joining an already thriving economic culture in the area, The Colony is sure to be thriving suburb for many years.
Founded as a frontier post in 1852 and only 15 miles south of Downtown Dallas, Lancaster is one affordable suburb that can’t be missed. The cost of living here is especially low, even when compared to other options on this list. For instance, the housing costs rank the second cheapest. With affordable living, a 600 acre park system, and several unique museums like the Cold War Air Museum, Lancaster is one town with plenty of curb appeal.
. An eastern suburb of Dallas, Mesquite’s booming population of over 140,000 residents delivers more of a big city feel without the prices. Not only does it have all the amenities you’d expect in a town this size, Mesquite is also home to two universities and its own airport.
Home to the cheapest median home price on our list, Balch Springs is a great place to commute into Dallas while you’re saving on your mortgage, especially if you can land a salary more representative of what you might find in downtown Dallas. Plus, there are less than 25,000 residents here, making it perfect for people who love that small town vibe.
It’s easy see why Garland was ranked by CNN and Money Magazine as one of the top 100 places to live in the country a few years ago. Not only is this suburb home to the Granville Arts Center complex and over 2,800 acres of parks, it’s also connected to the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) making it easy to get downtown.
Another affordable Dallas suburb that’s located on the Joe Pool Lake, Cedar Hill is a great place to get outside and get moving. With Cedar Hill State Park nearby and a growing number of shops, stores, and restaurants in the area, Cedar Hill will be a great alternative option to for years to come.
An inner-ring suburb of Dallas, Farmers Branch is super close to the city. While homes are quite a bit pricier in this area, the average local income is relatively high and Farmers Branch’s close proximity to downtown makes it easier to find a job that pays well. It’s also home to several huge employers like JPMorgan Chase Investment Service, IBM, and GEICO.
With over 175,000 residents calling Grand Prairie home, it’s surprisingly how affordable this suburb actually is. Not only is cost of living significantly lower than Dallas, the homes are also some of the most affordable on our list. There are a few attractions that make this suburb unique, like the huge Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, known for hosting tons of concerts throughout the year, and Lone Star Park, a horse track with a grandstand capable of seating 8,000.
Another huge Dallas suburb, Irving makes the cut for this list thanks to it’s low rent, with residents paying an average of 26.4 percent of their income each month (the national average is well over 30). Aside from cheap rent, Irving is also home to several universities, including the University of Dallas, and it’s conveniently located by the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
To create this list of affordable Dallas suburbs, we took a look at the following criteria:
After collecting these numbers, we averaged those scores into one overall score and the places with the 10 lowest scores made up our list of the 10 most affordable Dallas suburbs. For this list, we sourced data from AreaVibes, business listings, and the 2013 U.S. Census American Community Survey. Want to see how all of Dallas’s 30 suburbs stacked up? Take a look at the table below: 
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