Dallas, TX

Dallas received 14 inches of rain in a single day in August 2022—producing freeway closures, neighborhood flooding, and emergency rescues across the metro. The city's flood score of 56, at the 66th national percentile, is moderate by national standards but reflects a real problem: flat urban drainage that concentrates stormwater rapidly when convective events exceed system capacity. Heat at the 90th national percentile is the primary ranked hazard: the extended 2023 North Texas heat wave drove record cooling demand and stressed grid infrastructure over multiple consecutive weeks. Our read: Lakewood's creek and lake proximity changes flood assumptions in ways that the moderate city-level flood score obscures. Old East Dallas's aging infrastructure raises runoff sensitivity that newer construction avoids. The North Dallas corridor's premium housing faces hail-related roof wear that shows up repeatedly in insurance claims histories—a cost variable that coastal-focused buyers often underweight when relocating to the market. Annual premiums range from $1,900 to $4,200. Flood insurance is not typically mandated in most Dallas zip codes, but creek corridors and low crossings deserve detailed review before any offer. Premiums can move quickly after severe-weather claim years—the city's convective-storm frequency makes underwriting volatility a recurring feature, not an anomaly. Hurricane exposure at the 20th national percentile is minimal; this is not a Gulf Coast story. The actual Dallas risk calculus is urban heat, flash-flooding creek corridors, and hail-driven roof wear. Buyers using a coastal template to evaluate this market are solving the wrong problem and building the wrong budget model.

— Open Data Collective