Where Section 8 and Buyer Power Align: Dallas ZIPs with the Best Investment Potential

If you’re trying to figure out where to invest in Dallas right now, you’re not alone. Every week we hear the same questions from investors: Which suburb is heating up? Where are rents strongest? How do I avoid buying into a neighborhood that looks good on paper but turns into stubborn vacancy? The truth is, nobody can perfectly predict the future. Markets shift, policies change, and demand ebbs and flows. But the data does leave us with signals. At SolMidas we’ve built a way to read them. Our Opportunity Index, a 0–100 score that blends buyer leverage, leasing speed, voucher coverage, builder saturation, lease activity, and home age, is designed to cut through the noise. It does not guarantee the perfect investment, but it does highlight the ZIP codes where cash flow and long-term durability are most likely to align. In other words, if you’ve been stuck on the question of where, this is what the data says today.

Fort Worth South (76123) — Opportunity Index 81

Fort Worth’s southern flank has carved out a dependable niche for investors. Voucher math is strong (0.96% coverage on ~$319K listings), sales and leases both cycle in the mid-40s for days on market, and closed leases (27 in the past period) confirm consistent absorption. The average home year is 2007 — modern enough to dodge the heavy maintenance of older stock — and builder penetration (39%) remains contained compared with outer-ring boomtowns.

Employer anchors reinforce the case. Alcon Laboratories’ nearby expansion and Texas Health Southwest continue to drive stable, middle-income employment. Add in commuting access to Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth plant, one of the largest defense employers in Texas, and you have both tenant demand and economic durability. For investors who want balance — solid Section 8 math, manageable vacancy, and jobs to back it all up — 76123 earns its top ranking.

North Fort Worth / Alliance (76179 & 76052) — Opportunity Index 77–76

Together, 76179 and 76052 represent the Alliance growth corridor, and their numbers reflect it. Homes here are newer than the Fort Worth average (2008 and 2015 respectively), voucher math is solid (0.80–0.83%), and lease activity is heavy (56 and 31 closed leases). Days on market are reasonable, in the 40s, and while builder penetration is around 42% in both, absorption has kept pace.

The real story is employment. Alliance is the beating heart of Fort Worth’s logistics and aerospace economy: Amazon, FedEx, and UPS hubs dominate the landscape, MTU Maintenance recently committed 1,200 jobs, and Bell Textron continues to expand its rotorcraft assembly. Wistron’s AI manufacturing footprint adds another 800+ skilled positions. For landlords, this translates into sticky, long-term demand from working families who want proximity to steady paychecks.

DeSoto / Glenn Heights (75104) — Opportunity Index 75

What drives 75104 higher is the rare mix of leverage and speed. Buyer Power comes in strong (1.56), vouchers cover 0.82% of median home values, and leases move fast at 25 days on average. Sales are slower (57 DOM), but the housing stock — averaging early 1990s — is mature without being too old, and builder penetration is negligible (2.2%).

Job demand flows in from two directions. To the north, Methodist Charlton and the University of North Texas Dallas campus support both healthcare and education tenants. To the south, the Inland Port keeps thousands employed across distribution hubs in Wilmer and Lancaster. This combination of fast lease-ups, solid rent coverage, and economic underpinnings makes DeSoto/Glenn Heights one of the most stable south Dallas plays right now.

Arlington Southeast (76018) — Opportunity Index 74

Arlington’s 76018 submarket wins on speed and leverage. Buyer Power is high (1.91), vouchers cover 0.85% of ~$319K listings, and leases average just 27 days. With homes built around 1990, the stock is older but still attractive to tenants — especially given the zero builder penetration in this pocket, but resale homes are few and the good ones tend to go very fast (some within a couple days!).

This is a classic commuter zone. Tenants here are within reach of General Motors’ Arlington Assembly Plant (over 5,000 jobs) and American Airlines’ corporate base in Fort Worth. Arlington’s university and healthcare sectors provide additional tenant pipelines. For investors, it’s the speed that shines: leases don’t sit, vacancies don’t linger, and rent checks keep flowing.

Forney (75126) — Opportunity Index 73

Forney is a tale of strength versus saturation. On the positive side, vouchers cover 0.89% of ~$316K homes, the housing stock is new (2015 average), and lease activity is strong (74 closed leases). But supply is heavy: 111 resale listings, 154 builder listings, and builder penetration at 114%. Sales and leases are also slower (70 and 49 DOM). Forney also leads Dallas in the number of available 3-4 SFH on Section 8 - over 100 units listed for lease (!). This leads us to believe Forney is a longer term play but perhaps in 1-2 years to minimize vacancy.

The long-term offset is jobs. Amazon’s Forney Fulfillment Center added over 1,000 stable roles since opening in 2021, and Terrell’s east corridor continues to pull in new logistics facilities. Forney may feel heavy now, but investor math still works, and in markets with this much employer-driven demand, oversupply tends to be temporary.

Notable Mentions & Risers

Mesquite (75181) — Opportunity Index 59

Voucher coverage is excellent (0.97%) and Buyer Power solid (1.27). But builder pressure (158%) and lease times (81 DOM) weigh on performance. Still, proximity to the Southern Dallas Inland Port keeps long-term demand durable. A mature favorite among Section 8 tenants.

Anna (75409) — Opportunity Index 71

Voucher coverage (0.92%) and newer stock (2010) make this northward-growth play attractive. Builder penetration (156%) tempers the short term, but population push north of McKinney underpins the longer story. Section 8 demand, as of late, has been increasing anecdotally.

Royse City / Fate / Josephine (75189) — Opportunity Index 68

Coverage at 0.86%, healthy lease absorption (35 closed leases), and new suburban demand make this cluster promising. Builder activity (266%) needs watching, but for eastward expansion, these suburbs are where early investors may see the most upside. I like Royse City for its potential as well as neighboring Fate.

Final Word

Every investment carries risk. Fort Worth South offers balance, Alliance delivers growth tied to employers, DeSoto and Arlington win on speed, and Forney is about playing the cycle. By breaking the market down ZIP by ZIP — and weighing not just MLS data but also the employers driving blue-collar paychecks — the path forward becomes clearer. At SolMidas, we believe opportunity lies where data, demand, and resilience meet, and right now these are the ZIPs where the numbers point.

Zipcode	Builder Penetration	DHA Value	Avg Listed Price	Voucher Coverage	Home Age	Buyer Power	Voucher Power	Home Age Score	Lease Speed	Builder Score	Lease Activity	Opportunity Index
76123	39.2%	$3,069	$319,318	0.96%	2007	0.7	0.85	0.8	0.8	1	0.7	0.81
76179	41.7%	$2,714	$338,175	0.80%	2008	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	1	0.85	0.78
75068	22.8%	$3,074	$356,787	0.86%	2009	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	1	1	0.77
76052	42.9%	$2,808	$339,273	0.83%	2015	0.7	0.7	1	0.7	1	0.7	0.76
75104	2.2%	$2,624	$319,064	0.82%	1992	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.3	0.75
76018	0.0%	$2,714	$319,538	0.85%	1990	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.9	0.6	0.5	0.74
75040	3.4%	$2,079	$290,003	0.72%	1973	0.9	0.7	0.5	0.8	0.8	0.5	0.73
75098	3.7%	$2,853	$335,946	0.85%	1991	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.73
75126	114.1%	$2,817	$316,038	0.89%	2015	0.9	0.7	0.9	0.7	0.1	1	0.73
76227	72.4%	$2,894	$342,768	0.84%	2014	0.7	0.7	0.9	0.7	0.5	1	0.73

Sources: MLS Resale & Lease Data (2025), AffordableHousing.com Active Listings, DHA/Tarrant Housing Payment Standards.