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?
Lake Highlands resident. Can confirm it feels very safe. But catalytic converter theft hit our street twice last year so property crime is still a thing.