Garland, TX
What Garland is actually like
Garland's origin is a genuine local legend: two rival rail-line settlements, Duck Creek and Embree, feuded for years over which would host the post office, and after a fire and dueling lawsuits, a U.S. congressman brokered a compromise by creating an entirely new, neutral town between them. The post office moved there and was renamed Garland in December 1887, after Augustus Hill Garland, the sitting U.S. Attorney General — chosen, according to local lore, partly because he'd never actually set foot in Texas. The city incorporated in 1891 and grew as a rail-connected agricultural and cotton-ginning town before manufacturing took hold: Byer-Rolnick's hat factory (later Resistol) moved to Garland in 1938, eventually earning the city an official "Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas" designation in 2013, and Wingstop was founded here in 1994.
Garland is one of the few DFW cities with its own municipal electric utility: Garland Power & Light was founded in 1923 and today serves roughly 85% of the city as a not-for-profit, city-owned utility — the 4th-largest municipal utility in Texas — meaning most Garland residents don't get Texas's usual deregulated retail electric choice. Historic Downtown Garland Square, anchored by the Atomic-Age Plaza Theatre, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, while Firewheel Town Center, an open-air New Urbanism-style shopping center that opened in 2005, anchors newer retail growth toward Lake Ray Hubbard, a 22,745-acre reservoir shared with Rowlett and Rockwall. Garland is also one of the more diverse cities in the Metroplex — no racial or ethnic group holds a majority, and it has the 16th-largest Vietnamese American population of any U.S. city.
Home values in Garland
The typical home value in Garland currently runs $283,276, per Zillow — down 3.3% year-over-year as of August 2026.
Getting around
DART's Blue Line runs two stations in Garland — Downtown Garland and Forest/Jupiter — continuing north to its terminus in Rowlett. Most residents outside those station walksheds commute by car via I-635, I-30, or TX-78.
Garland FAQ
Why doesn't Garland have electric-provider choice like the rest of Texas?
Garland Power & Light is a city-owned municipal utility serving about 85% of Garland, similar to Denton's or Austin's city-owned power — Texas's deregulated retail electric market doesn't apply to municipal utilities, so most Garland residents can't shop competing electric providers the way most of the rest of the Metroplex can.
Has Garland really been hit by major tornadoes?
Yes, twice on record: an EF4 tornado in December 2015 killed 10 people and destroyed roughly 600 homes and businesses across Garland and Rowlett, and an earlier F4 tornado in 1927 killed 15-17 people, including the city's mayor.
Is Garland on DART rail?
Yes — the DART Blue Line runs through Garland with stations at Downtown Garland and Forest/Jupiter, continuing north to a terminus in Rowlett and southwest toward downtown Dallas.
What's Garland known for besides being a Dallas suburb?
A genuinely diverse population with no single majority group and the 16th-largest Vietnamese American community of any U.S. city, historic hat manufacturing (Resistol/Byer-Rolnick, earning the city an official "Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas" title in 2013), Wingstop's founding here in 1994, and lakefront recreation along Lake Ray Hubbard.
Nearby alternatives*We're not ranking these — every neighborhood has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.
Richardson
About 15 miles northwest, a similar distance into Downtown Dallas. Zillow puts Richardson's typical home value at $438,611, well above Garland's $283,276.
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