People ask "is Dallas safe?" but that question is meaningless without context. Every city has safe and dangerous areas. Here are the numbers.
Dallas (population ~1.35M):
- Overall violent crime rate: 7.8 per 1,000
- Safest neighborhoods: Lake Highlands (2.1), Far North Dallas (1.8), Preston Hollow (1.5)
- Most dangerous: South Dallas/Fair Park (18.4), Pleasant Grove (14.2), West Dallas (12.8)
- Property crime rate: 42.3 per 1,000
Fort Worth (population ~980K):
- Overall violent crime rate: 6.2 per 1,000
- Safest neighborhoods: Southlake-adjacent areas (1.2), Alliance/North Fort Worth (1.8)
- Most dangerous: Stop Six (16.7), East Rosedale (13.1), Polytechnic Heights (11.4)
- Property crime rate: 35.6 per 1,000
Arlington (population ~400K):
- Overall violent crime rate: 4.8 per 1,000
- Safest neighborhoods: Mansfield-border areas (1.9), North Arlington (2.3)
- Most dangerous: Southeast Arlington (9.8), Central Arlington near Division St (8.2)
- Property crime rate: 31.2 per 1,000
Key takeaway: The zip code matters more than the city. A house in Lake Highlands (Dallas) is statistically safer than most Fort Worth neighborhoods.
Sources:
- NeighborhoodScout — neighborhood-level crime data
- Dallas PD, Fort Worth PD, Arlington PD — annual crime reports
- FBI UCR 2024 — city-level data
- Census Bureau — 2024 population estimates
Where do you live and does this match your experience?