In a recent comparison of North Texas cities, Arlington has emerged as a beacon of affordability, boasting lower city property taxes and utility rates. A report published by the City of Arlington reveals that residents enjoy perks like some of the lowest residential and commercial water rates in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area.
The city's fiscal frugality extends to its garbage and recycling fees, which are fiercely competitive with neighboring communities. Arlington's residents pay an average of $1,956 annually for combined city property taxes, water and sewer fees, and trash and recycling fees. This figure stands in stark contrast to higher costs in other cities, such as Fort Worth's average of $2,149 and Irving, Richardson, Plano, and Garland, where residents pay upwards of $2,700. Notably, Mansfield residents are billed an average total of $3,043, suggesting that Arlington has judiciously managed to keep living expenses in check.
Drilling down into the details of water rates, Arlington charges $40.92 per 10,000 gallons of residential water use, which beats out several other cities, such as Mansfield at $50.38, and Euless at a hefty $80.03. Even more, the city's residents benefit from a property tax rate of $0.5998 per $100 of assessed value, lower than those in Mansfield, Kennedale, Dalworthington Gardens, Fort Worth, and Dallas. And when looking at the tax levy per capita, Arlington, at $652, is considerably lower than the over $1,000 figures seen in Dallas and Fort Worth.
On the staffing side, Arlington boasts a lean but effective operation. The city's full-time employees total 3,003, a figure that translates to just 76 employees per 10,000 residents. This speaks to an efficient city structure, prompted perhaps by outsourcing certain services, like garbage collection and median mowing, to reduce staffing needs. Public safety has been a beneficiary of this approach—Arlington's police and fire departments have seen increases in staffing, with 91 new police officers and 172 new firefighter positions added since 2009.
The benefits cascade beyond just the financial. Residents enjoy a healthy median household income of $73,519 and an unemployment rate that dips below the state and federal levels at 4.1%. Housing prices remain in reach, with a median square foot cost of $182 and a median home sale price standing at a reasonable $330,000. These figures nestle closely to those of Fort Worth and are far more affordable than the likes of Dallas, where the median home sale price jumps to $428,000, or Plano's hefty $540,000 mark.
