Disclosure: This guide is published by Apartment List. Three of the tools reviewed (Apartment List, Kaleno, and Sunny) are Apartment List products. We've included competitor platforms because a useful comparison requires them. Our recommendations reflect product differences, not paid placement.
The median Dallas apartment rents for $1,329 a month, according to the Apartment List Rent Index for August 2026. Whether you're moving to Dallas for a job or your lease is ending across town, the search starts with the same choice: how much of it you want to do yourself.
You can browse listings on your own, answer a few questions and let a site match you, have an AI agent do the searching and tour booking, or hand the whole thing to an apartment locator. The locators in this guide are free to renters; the apartment community pays them when you sign.
The sites, apps and locators below each do one of those jobs well. Use the comparison to pick a starting point, then check a listing's availability, commute and written offer before you apply. Texas has its own rules on application fees and deposits, covered after the rent figures.
For a Dallas search, start with Apartment List if you want your budget cap, commute and must-haves to guide the search. It's free.
Add Zillow for different types of rentals, including houses and owner-listed homes, or let Kaleno, Apartment List's AI agent, find apartments, contact the buildings and book tours for you. Check Sunny for cash back on apartments you're considering; each listing shows the amount.
Dallas apartment locators cost renters nothing. The Urban Avenue and Smart City Locating use licensed local agents, and Stake, formerly UMoveFree, pays up to $200 cash back when you sign through it. For public housing and vouchers, DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas takes applications online at any time.
Apartment List publishes this guide. Apartment List, Kaleno and Sunny are Apartment List products; the others are not.
| Site | Best for | Search style | How to use it in Dallas | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apartment List | Personalized matching | Quiz-based matching | Set your budget and commute, then compare listings across Dallas and its suburbs | Free |
| Zillow | Different types of rentals | Browse and filter | Compare apartments, condos and houses in your search area | Free to browse; $35 shared application |
| Kaleno | An AI agent that searches for you | Describe what you want in plain English | Tell it your budget, commute and neighborhoods; it finds apartments and books tours | Free |
| Sunny | Cash back when you sign | Listings with cash back offers | Each Dallas listing shows its cash back amount; sign through Sunny and get paid after move-in | Free |
| Apartments.com | Listings from large property managers | Browse and filter | Review professionally managed buildings; paid ads appear first | Free |
| HotPads | Map-based searches | Map-first browse | Draw a boundary along the highway you'd commute on | Free |
| Zumper | New-listing alerts | Browse plus alerts | Set alerts for your preferred area and budget | Free |
| The Urban Avenue, Smart City, Stake | Guided local search with tours | Agent-assisted | Give your budget, then ask which properties the locator covers | Free to renters, per each service |
| DHA | Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers | Online application, weekly lottery | Apply online, then watch your email | Free |
Features and available apartments vary by market; platform information reviewed September 2026.
For a national comparison, see our guide to the best apartment search tools.
Apartment List asks about your budget, move date, commute and preferred amenities, then shortlists apartments that fit. You can set a hard budget cap, filter on a map, and get alerts when a building you're watching drops its price or posts a rent special, on the website or in the app. The map covers the suburbs too, so compare an address in Dallas with one in Irving or Garland at the same rent.
Zillow carries apartments in managed buildings and owner-listed condos, townhomes and houses. Confirm a unit is still available before driving out. Zillow's shared application costs $35 and covers applications and screening at participating rentals for 30 days, according to Zillow's help center; not every landlord accepts it, so ask first.
Kaleno is Apartment List's AI apartment-search agent. Describe what you want in plain English, including budget, commute and neighborhoods, and it finds matching apartments, contacts the leasing teams and books the tours. You review what it turns up and make the decisions.
Sunny is an Apartment List site that pays you cash back when you sign a lease on an eligible apartment and move in; each Dallas listing shows its amount. Payment comes through Venmo or a gift card after your move-in is confirmed and doesn't change the rent in your lease. Sunny also lists fees alongside rent. Read its eligibility rules before you contact a building; they cover how you first reach out and who's on the lease.
Apartments.com works with large property management companies, and its listings for their buildings carry floor plans and unit-level pricing. Paid ads appear first in its results, according to Apartments.com's help center, so scroll past them and use the filters, then confirm availability and charges with the property.
HotPads is part of Zillow Group and shows Zillow's listings on a map. Dallas spreads out along its highways. Draw your search area along the road you'd commute on, then check the drive from a specific address at the hour you'd make it.
Set Zumper alerts for rentals matching your area and budget. An alert gives you another way to spot a listing; confirm its price and availability with the property.
The Urban Avenue and Smart City Locating are free Dallas services whose licensed agents build a list from your budget and preferences and book the tours. The Urban Avenue notes that apartment communities pay for the service; if you're coming from a city where renters pay broker fees, that's the difference to know. Stake, formerly UMoveFree, covers Dallas-Fort Worth and pays up to $200 cash back on a lease signed through it. Ask any locator whether its list is limited to communities that pay it, and keep your own search running alongside.
DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas runs public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher program for Dallas. You can apply online at any time. DHA runs a lottery each week for openings at specific properties and emails you if you're selected, and an application stays active for up to 18 months. Applying is free.
According to the Apartment List Rent Index, median rent in Dallas was $1,329 a month in August 2026. Rents fell 1.5% from August 2025 and were flat from July 2026. The national median in the same release was $1,390, down 0.8% from a year earlier, which puts Dallas $61 below it.
| Dallas apartment size | Median monthly rent, August 2026 |
|---|---|
| One bedroom | $1,214 |
| Two bedrooms | $1,437 |
Source: Apartment List Rent Index, Dallas city, August 2026. Each median describes its own set of apartments.
At the August 2026 Apartment List citywide median of $1,329, a household paying that full monthly rent would need about $53,200 a year in gross income for rent to equal 30% of income. Against the $1,214 one-bedroom median from the same release, about $48,600. These rent-only calculations are illustrations, not income requirements for a particular listing. HUD's affordability measure also accounts for utilities. Put a specific apartment's asking rent into the Apartment List rent calculator, and see our Dallas cost of living guide for expenses beyond rent.
Ask who pays for electricity. In most of the Dallas area you pick your own electricity plan, and Oncor's delivery charge is added to whichever plan you choose. Our Dallas cost of living guide estimates about $120 to $150 a month at 1,000 kWh of use before taxes, and summer runs higher. Some buildings bill electricity through the property instead. Ask which a listing does and what a unit that size cost last summer. If you're setting up your own account, compare plans on Power to Choose, the Public Utility Commission of Texas's comparison site.
Ask for the tenant selection criteria before you pay an application fee. Texas law requires a landlord to make its written selection criteria available when it gives you an application, including what it can deny you for: criminal history, rental history, current income, credit history, or an inaccurate or incomplete application. Read them against your own record before you pay. If you're rejected and the landlord never made them available, it has to refund your application fee and any application deposit.
Give your forwarding address in writing when you move out. Under Texas law, a landlord has 30 days after you move out to refund your deposit or send a written description and itemized list of any deductions, but it doesn't owe you either until it has your forwarding address in writing. Hand it over with the keys and keep a copy. A landlord can't keep any of your deposit for normal wear and tear. If your lease makes the refund conditional on advance notice of your move-out date, that condition counts only if it's underlined or in bold in the lease. The lease sets the deposit amount.
Apartment List builds a shortlist from your budget, commute and other preferences. Cross-check Zillow for houses and owner-listed homes, and check Sunny for cash back on apartments you're considering. If you'd rather have someone build the list for you, Dallas apartment locators are free to renters.
Apartment List, Zillow, Apartments.com, Zumper and HotPads all offer mobile apps with saved searches and alerts. Apartment List's app matches on your budget, commute and amenities and alerts you to price drops and rent specials on saved listings; Zumper's sends alerts as new listings post; HotPads' opens on a map. Confirm price and availability with the property before you tour.
At the three in this guide, yes. The Urban Avenue and Smart City Locating describe their service as free, and Stake says it's free and pays up to $200 cash back when you sign through it. The apartment community pays the locator when you sign, so ask whether a locator's list is limited to communities that pay it, and, if a rebate is offered, how to make sure the locator is credited on your application.
The Apartment List Rent Index reports a median rent of $1,329 per month for Dallas as of August 2026. Its one-bedroom median was $1,214 and its two-bedroom median was $1,437.
Down year over year, and flat month over month. According to the Apartment List Rent Index, Dallas's median rent was $1,329 a month in August 2026, down 1.5% from August 2025 and unchanged from July 2026. Over the same year the national median fell 0.8%.
Using the Apartment List Rent Index's $1,329 Dallas citywide median for August 2026, rent would equal 30% of about $53,200 in annual gross household income. Against the $1,214 one-bedroom median, about $48,600. Those are rent-only illustrations, not a property's qualification rule. Check the rent on the listing you want, your electricity plan, and the property's own application requirements.
Apartment List can build a shortlist using your budget, commute and amenities, and its map lets you compare Dallas neighborhoods and suburbs. The service is free for renters.
Kaleno, Apartment List's AI apartment-search agent. Describe what you want in plain English and it finds apartments, contacts the leasing teams and books tours for you. Review what it finds alongside other options in your preferred areas.
No. Under Texas law, a city can adopt rent control only if it finds a housing emergency exists because of a disaster and the governor approves the ordinance. Your lease sets what happens to your rent at renewal, so read its renewal and notice terms before you sign.
Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers run through DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas, which takes applications online at any time and runs weekly lotteries. Applying is free. For income-restricted apartments outside DHA, ask a property's leasing office whether it has income-restricted units.
Rent and rent-change figures: Apartment List Rent Index, Dallas city and national, August 2026. Electricity estimate: Apartment List's Dallas cost of living guide, August 2026, citing Oncor delivery rates. Texas rental rules, 2025 Texas Statutes: tenant selection criteria (Property Code § 92.3515), security deposit refund (§ 92.103), deductions and itemization (§ 92.104) and forwarding address (§ 92.107), and rent control (Local Government Code § 214.902). Platform fees and sort order: Zillow's help center and Apartments.com's help center. Cash back terms: Sunny. Housing resources: DHA and Power to Choose. Platform features reviewed September 2026; availability and eligibility vary by property.
In unit laundry, Wine room, Patio / balcony, Hardwood floors, Dishwasher, Pet friendly + more
In unit laundry, Golf room, Wine room, Patio / balcony, Granite counters, Hardwood floors + more
