Guide to Living in Carrollton, TX
If you’re planning on moving to Carrollton, Texas, whether for a change of scenery or for new job opportunities, then this guide to living in the city will help you fin your feet!
We’ll start by taking a quick look at Carrollton’s history before moving on to some of the more nitty-gritty factors you’ll need to know.
A Brief History of Carrollton, TX
Carrollton’s first settlers arrived in the area back in the 1840s, though the name was only officially established in 1878.
Most of the local historians believe, after purchasing the land from The Peters Colony, they decided to name the new settlement after their hometown in Illinois.
Many of them were farmers who were drawn by the area’s rich soils.
In fact, there’s a popular story that tells us one of the earliest settlers came to inspect the land while searching for new prospects.
He took a soil sample back home with him to convince his family he’d found the perfect area. Hundreds of settlers then came together to establish the colony.
According to the 1850 Federal Census for Dallas County and surrounding areas, most of them were fairly nomadic until they established roots in what is now North Texas.
Settler homes were originally quite small, averaging at 168 square feet. Today, Carrollton’s homes have a median size of 2,247 square feet!
Carrollton, TX Real Estate
Carrollton was named the 19th Best Place to Live in the United States by Money Magazine, is consistently ranked as one of Relocate America’s Top 100 Places to Live, and is one of Nerdwallet’s Top 10 Cities for Young Families.
The median property value in Carrollton at the moment is around $319,890 at $151 per square foot. That’s somewhat expensive, but the property value differs from one neighborhood to the next, the size of the plot, and whether the home has any special features.
Make sure you discuss your budget and housing needs (such as proximity to schools, for example) with a reputable real estate agent. They’ll be able to help you find the perfect home within your means!
Neighborhood Breakdown
To help give you a better idea of what to expect once you move to Carrollton (and perhaps help you create a shortlist of neighborhoods to talk to your real estate agent about), here’s a quick look at the 6 best neighborhoods (with thanks to NeighborhoodScout.com).
City Center
Carrollton City Center’s median property price is only $160,490, though do bear in mind it’s a densely populated neighborhood.
Most of the housing is also either studio to medium-sized apartments, though there are also a few single-family homes.
Cemetery Hill Rd/Rosemeade Pkwy
The real estate is considerably more expensive in this area, with a median price of $220,796.
However, this urban neighborhood is less densely populated than the City Center is, though the housing is quite similar.
E Belt Line Rd/Josey Ln
E Belt Line Rd/Josey Ln’s neighborhood is more comfortably priced at a median of $163,849, but as an urban area, most of the real estate is divided between small to medium single-family homes and high-rise apartment complexes.
Muscogee Trl/Hopi Dr
If your pockets are considerably deeper, the Muscogee Trl/Hopi Dr suburban neighborhood is a great place to live.
Most of the homes have been built within the past 2 decades, but they do retail at a median price of $465,183.
N Josey Ln/Rosemeade Pkwy
N Josey Ln/Rosemeade Pkwy’s real estate has a median price resting more or less midway between that of the Cemetery Hill Rd and E Belt Line Road neighborhoods that border it: $193,290.
However, the homes tend to average toward the 3 to 4 bedroom size.
Route 121/Huffines Blvd
Last, but not least, we have the Route 121/Huffines Blvd neighborhood. This is another suburban area in Carrollton, with numerous apartments and single-family homes.
The real estate here has a fairly high median listing price of $369,235.
Carrollton, TX Restaurants
Eating out can be expensive these days – but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want to know where the best restaurants are!
Here’s a list of Carrollton’s top 10, with links to their TripAdvisor pages:
- Mena’s TexMex Grill (4.5/5) – 2810 E Trinity Mills Road
- Babe’s Chicken Dinner House (4.5/5) – 1006 W Main Street
- Eggsellent Cafe (4.5/5) – 1016 Hebron Parkway
- Zocados (4.5/5) – 1628 Hebron Parkway
- Cane Rosso (4.5/5) – 1301 S Broadway Street
- Breakers Korean BBQ & Grill (4/5) – 3044 Old Denton Road
- Chilli Thai (4/5) – 1012 W Hebron Parkway
- Amici Signature Italian (4/5) – 1022 S Broadway Street
- La Hacienda Ranch (4/5) – 3300 N Interstate 35e
- The Island Spot (4/5) – 2661 Midway Road
Climate
Carrollton has a BestPlaces.net climate comfortability rating of 7.1/10. This is very good – and just goes to prove the Lone Star State is far more than wide, expansive prairies with a blazing noon sun and dusty tumbleweeds.
While there are an average of 230 sunny days in Carrollton (better than the US average of just 205), the summer high temperature is a comfortable 95 degrees Fahrenheit in July.
August isn’t far behind, and is considered one of the least comfortable months in terms of average temperatures.
October, April, and May, on the other hand, are considered the most comfortable, while January experiences the lowest temperatures in the year (about 36 degrees).
Most years, there’s about 37.8 inches of rain and 1.1 inches of snow. All told, there’s some form of precipitation about 75 days of the year.
This makes Carrollton a great city for hosting a good old Texan BBQ beside the swimming pool. Summer patios are a very popular part of the home for those who aren’t living in an apartment complex.
Carrollton, TX Population
Carrollton has a rather high population density of 3,587 people per square mile. Considering the city is also considered a “suburb” of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, this isn’t all that surprising.
As per the latest consensus (updated March 2019), the city has a population of 131,240.
There’s an average of 2.8 household members, which is a little higher than the national average (2.6), with 55.8% of the city’s population currently married.
38.6% also have children, while 14.1% have children but are single. 10.9% of Carrollton’s residents have also been divorced.
Carrollton is still a majority-white city (42.6%), but there’s also a large, vibrant community of residents who claim Hispanic Ethnicity (32.4%).
The black community is much smaller at just 8.7%, which is out-sized by those identifying as Asian (13.8%). A further 0.3% of the population are First Nation (Native American), while another 0.1% identify as “Other”.
The city is also fairly average in its divide between males and females: 49.1% identify as males, while the remaining 50.9% identify as females.
These are only 0.01% different from the national figures, with slightly more female residents.
Carrollton is also slightly younger than the US average of 37.8 at 36.9 years-old.
Economy
Only 3.2% of Carrollton’s population is unemployed, which is better than the 3.7% national average.
The local job market also grew 3.3% over the past year and experts believe it will continue to grow another 43% over the next 10 years.
Compared to the national average (33.5% projection), this makes Carrollton a great economic hub.
At the same time, the city also has a fairly high Sales Tax rate at 8.3% – a whole 1% higher than the US average. Income Tax, on the other hand, is a very favorable 0%.
That non-existent income tax is great, especially as the average income in the city is $32,336 per year and the median household income is $62,282 per year.
This is especially favorable once you consider the fact the national averages are lower, at $28,555 and $53,482 a year respectively.
However, bear in mind Carrollton’s cost of living index (see next section) remains higher than the US average.
More of Carrollton’s residents work in the retail trade than in any other industry (12.3%). Manufacturing comes second at 10.9%, while health care and social assistance (8.5%) comes in third.
Cost of Living in Carrollton, TX
Anytime you move to a new city, you need to pay close attention to its cost of living index.
BestPlaces.net measures the local cost of living against a national average of 100. As mentioned in the previous section, Carrollton’s is higher – 105.1.
Don’t let that scare you off, though. 5.1% is not all that much, especially considering the higher income rates and lack of income tax.
Here’s a quick look at some of the different factors that make up Carrollton’s cost of living index:
- Grocery – 100.8 (only slightly more expensive than the national average)
- Health – 100.1
- Housing – 123.6 (for comparison, the average cost of living in Texas for this metric is 98.9, only slightly lower than the national average)
- Utilities – 99.6
- Transportation – 93.6 (most residents tend to drive solo, but if you’re able to walk, carpool, or use public transport, then transport is considerably cheaper)
- Miscellaneous – 95.3
All in all, the biggest factor that makes Carrollton a comparatively expensive city to live and work in is housing costs.
However, as mentioned in an earlier section, there are some areas in Carrollton that have housing costs more in line with the national and state averages.
Ultimately, depending on where you choose to live, how much you earn, and how you budget your finances, Carrollton, TX can be a very affordable place to live.
If you’re hoping to spruce up your home, but you feel Carrollton’s cost of living might get in the way, then worry no more. At Cre8stone, we offer a very budget-friendly solution!
Transportation in Carrollton, TX
Carrollton’s transportation costs are very reasonable. However, just in case you were wondering whether you’d really be able to benefit from them, here’s a more in-depth look:
- 82% of Carrollton’s population drive alone in their own car to and from work
- 9.4% carpool with friends, family, and/or colleagues
- 5.1% of the population works from home (this is a growing trend worldwide, with companies starting to recognize the value of remote workers, including more people starting their own online business)
- 1.7% use mass/public transport
- 1.3% walk
- 0.1% use a bicycle to commute to and from work
Only 1.2% of the population can get to and from work in less than 5 minutes (one-way), but only 1.1% take longer than 90 minutes to do so.
In fact, on average, most of Carrollton’s workforce only takes an average of about 25 minutes to make a one-way commute.
This isn’t much better than the national average (between 26 and 27 minutes), but it still means you can expect to have an extra couple of minutes to yourself every day.
Best Place to Live?
We mentioned (and linked to) BestPlaces.net a few times in our guide to living in Carrollton, TX.
One of the reasons is we found the site to be more accurate than a few others that are also popular.
At Cre8tstone, we’re a big fan of accuracy. And it seems the folks at BestPlaces.net are fans of Carrollton!
Here’s how they ranked the city for a few positions (in the US):
- The Best Cities for Thanksgiving (#4)
- The Best Cities to Relocate to in America (#4)
- Best Cities for Teleworking – Extra Large Metro Areas (#8)
- Best-Rested Cities 2011 (#9)
- Most Romantic Cities for Boomers (#9)
- Best Airports to Make a Connection (#9)
- Most Secure Large Cities in the US (#10)
- America’s Most (and Least) Stressful Cities (#10)
- Fiscally Fit Cities Report (#11)
- Most Energetic Cities (#12)
- Cities on the Edge of Greatness (#15)
To be fair, a lot of these rankings seem to be for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Area as a whole rather than just for Carrollton. And there were a few negatives as well – but we prefer to focus on the positives in life.