30 years or less

Paying down a mortgage in Fort Worth is easier than most U.S. metros

Monthly mortgage payments only eat up 20 percent of a Dallas-Fort Worth homeowner's gross pay, the report found.

Whether a homeowner's mortgage is for 15 or 30 years, paying off such a large debt can be an arduous process. But luckily for homeowners living in the Fort Worth area, paying off a mortgage is much easier than most other metropolitan areas in the country, according to a new report by SmartAsset.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington earned No. 13 in SmartAsset's new study analyzing the top 40 large U.S. metros where it's easiest to pay off a mortgage. Rankings were determined based on the principal and interest payments for conventional 30-year fixed rate mortgages issued in 2023, relative to the median income of new homeowners.

Leading the nation as the No. 1 easiest metro to pay off a mortgage is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

According to the study's findings, the median property value of a home in the Metroplex is $475,000, while principal and interest payments amount to $2,464 per month. Those monthly mortgage payments represent only 20 percent of a DFW homeowner's gross pay. (SmartAsset also determined that the median income of new homeowner in the area comes out to $148,000 a year.)

The report also reflects on the different life changes that can happen while paying off a house, such as starting a new job, starting a family, or even large economic events.

"After you qualify and buy the home, you could spend 30 years paying off your mortgage loan...So it’s important to have a strong emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses," the report's author wrote. "You may also decide to pay off your mortgage early, even when having the opportunity to invest those extra funds elsewhere."

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land ranked as the No. 2 easiest metro for paying off a mortgage, followed by San Antonio-New Braunfels as No. 5. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown rounded out the top 10 with the lowest interest rates for new homeowners in 2023, at just 6.5 percent, the report found.

The top 10 U.S. metros where mortgages are easiest to pay off are:

No. 1 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
No. 2 – Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
No. 3 – Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan
No. 4 – Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio
No. 5 – San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
No. 6 – St. Louis, Missouri-Illiniois
No. 7 – Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wisconsin
No. 8 – Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland
No. 9 – Cincinnati, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
No. 10 – Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas

The report used data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act for 2023, where median loan sizes and median interest rates were used to determine the monthly principal and interest calculator with SmartAsset’s mortgage calculator. This monthly mortgage payment (which excluded PMI, property taxes, and home insurance) was then compared with the median incomes of new homeowners.

The full report and its methodology can be found on smartasset.com.

real estate reports smartasset rankings dallas fort worth arlington

T-Shirt News

Fort Worth clothing brand Dickies to relocate HQ to California

Dickies

Dickies T-shirt

After more than a century, workwear clothing brand Dickies is leaving Fort Worth for new headquarters on the West Coast. It will be moving from its current space at 500 Taylor St., at the top floor of The Tower, to California, with an estimated completion date of late spring 2025.

The company is relocating to Costa Mesa, home of its parent VF Corp, the footwear and apparel firm that owns brands such as Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Jansport, and Eastpak; VF Corp acquired Dickies in 2017.

"By co-locating Dickies with our Vans team in Costa Mesa, we will create an even more vibrant campus where creativity and best practice sharing can thrive through greater collaboration and connections – creating a dynamic and innovative environment similar to our other VF co-branded offices," says a Dickies representative in a statement, according to NBC 5.

According to Dickies, about 120 employees at the headquarters will be affected, but not those working at the local distribution facility, warehouses, and stores.

"We are deeply grateful for our Dickies associates’ dedication and hard work and want to recognize the camaraderie and commitment they have shown to the brand," the Dickies representative said in a statement. "Our priority is to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and care throughout this process. We will provide resources and assistance to help them navigate the next steps in their careers."

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker chimed in on the relocation decision, stating that it's an example of a Fort Worth success story.

"While we understand companies are sometimes forced to make difficult budget decisions under new leadership, we think VFC will find – as others have – that Fort Worth, Texas is ultimately a more competitive place to do business,” Parker said in a statement.

Established in Fort Worth in 1922, Dickies brand impact, which was first founded by C.N. Williamson and E.E. "Colonel" Dickie, will still be felt, even after it leaves the city: In 2017, it gained naming rights to the 14,000 square-foot Dickies Arena next to the Will Rogers Memorial Center, and later opened in 2019.

According to the company, the California move will be managed over an "extended transition period." It's expected to be completed by May 2025.

"While this was a tough call, we are confident this change will help us revitalize Dickies so we can carry on the brand’s heritage for years to come," said the company representative.

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