Your monthly budget in Dallas.

Dallas had 1,326,093 residents in 2024, a median household income of $74,323 and a median gross rent of $1,599 a month, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. A lot of those incomes come from finance. Dallas-Fort Worth has more than 380,000 people working in financial services, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures cited by Financial Planning, and Goldman Sachs is building a Victory Park tower for about 5,000 employees, scheduled to open in 2028, according to CoStar.

Salaries in that world are often steady and predictable, with a bonus once a year. The surprises in Dallas come from the other side of the ledger. Texas has no personal income tax, so the state collects elsewhere: property taxes that move each year, a sales tax on most purchases and an electricity market where you sign your own contract. None of these are hidden, but they do not appear on a paycheck, so they are easy to underestimate.

This page is for the salaried Dallas worker who has a clear number on the offer letter and a vague sense of the month: the bank operations analyst in Uptown, the young associate who just signed a lease in Deep Ellum, the family that bought in Lake Highlands and watched the mortgage payment rise. By the end you will know where the Texas costs sit in your plan and how much free money your salary leaves.

No income tax, so the bill arrives elsewhere

Your stub shows federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and benefits, and nothing for the state. That makes take-home pay easy to read. The costs the state relies on show up instead in your rent, your mortgage escrow and your receipts.

For a home inside the City of Dallas and the Dallas school district, the 2025 rates published by the taxing units add up to about $2.23 per $100 of taxable value: the Dallas ISD at about 99 cents, the city at about 70 cents, Dallas County at 21.55 cents, Parkland Hospital at 21.2 cents and Dallas College at about 10.7 cents, according to the Dallas County notice of tax rates and the City Secretary’s office. Your exact rate depends on your address and exemptions. Sales tax in Dallas is 8.25%, according to the Texas Comptroller.

The escrow jump

If you own a home, your payment includes an escrow share for taxes and insurance. When the appraisal district raises your value or a premium goes up, the lender recalculates, and the payment rises even on a fixed-rate loan. Some lenders also bill an escrow shortage.

Treat the escrow analysis letter as a budget event. Enter the new payment the month it starts, and if there is a shortage bill, decide whether to pay it at once or spread it with a savings goal.

Choosing your own power bill

Dallas is in the part of Texas where you choose a retail electricity provider. The Public Utility Commission of Texas runs Power to Choose, the official site that lists plans from licensed providers. Fixed-rate plans with 12, 24 or 36-month terms are common, and many carry early termination fees. Comparing on your own July and August usage, not the sample figures, gives a more honest number for the plan.

The fixed list in Dallas

• Rent, or the full mortgage payment with escrow, plus renters insurance.
• Electricity on your chosen plan, with the summer peak in mind.
• Car payment, insurance, gas and tolls on the Dallas North Tollway or the President George Bush Turnpike.
• Phone and internet.
• Student loans and credit cards.
• Childcare or tuition.

Each one goes into Monthly with an amount and a due date. Reminders arrive in advance, and installments move forward month by month.

Weekends priced in advance

A Mavericks game, the State Fair in the fall, brunch on Lower Greenville, a day at White Rock Lake that ends at a patio. In Monthly the weekend reserve is an amount you choose at the start of the month, kept separate from the rest of the plan. State Fair season and holiday parties can get their own higher number, decided before they start.

Example one: a bank operations analyst who rents

The figures in both examples are illustrative. Tyler is an operations analyst at a bank with a $72,000 salary. After federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare, health insurance and a 5% retirement contribution, he takes home $4,350 a month.

Fixed costs: rent for a one-bedroom in Uptown $1,650, renters insurance $20, electricity on a 12-month fixed plan $130 averaged over the year, car payment and insurance $560, gas and tolls $190, phone and internet $125, student loan $290. Total: $2,965. Weekend reserve: $350.

$4,350 minus $2,965 minus $350 leaves $1,035 of real free money.

His lease renewal offer came in at $1,760. In a test month, his free money drops to $925. Moving to a comparable unit across town would cost about $600 in movers and deposits, so he negotiated a smaller increase and put the $600 he would have spent into a savings goal instead.

Enter your take-home pay and your lease renewal offer, and see what each option leaves you →

Example two: a homeowning family after an escrow change

Monica and Andre own a house in Lake Highlands. Monica is a compliance manager taking home $5,900 a month; Andre works in IT support for a hospital system, taking home $3,800. Combined: $9,700.

Fixed costs: mortgage with escrow $2,850, electricity $210 averaged, water and trash $110, two cars with insurance $980, gas and tolls $300, phone and internet $170, daycare $1,250, credit card payment $300. Total: $6,170. Weekend reserve: $450.

$9,700 minus $6,170 minus $450 leaves $3,080.

Then the escrow analysis arrives: the payment rises to $3,120, and there is a $1,100 shortage. With the new payment, free money is $2,810. They set up a savings goal for the shortage and fund it with $370 a month for three months, which still leaves $2,440 free during that time. Monica’s year-end bonus, whenever and however large it is, will go to the goal for next year’s escrow rather than to the monthly plan.

Free money, not just a balance

Monthly is a free, manual budgeting app for the web and Android. It does not connect to your bank, does not move money and does not give investment advice. You enter income, fixed costs, installments and debts, and it shows what is left. Savings goals live under Patrimonio with amounts, dates and logged contributions. The how-it-works page shows the setup order, and if you are comparing Texas cities, the guide for Austin covers a very different rent picture.

Real free money and your next step

In Dallas the paycheck is the simple part. Real free money appears once property taxes in your rent or escrow, the electricity contract and the summer peak are written down as fixed bills and subtracted, along with a weekend reserve, from the salary you are sure of. The bonus then becomes a choice instead of a rescue.

Set up your month in Monthly with your real escrow and power bill, and see what your Dallas salary leaves →