Dallas · Apartment types
Dallas Studio Apartments
In short
A studio puts living, sleeping and cooking in one main room, with a separate bathroom. The U.S. Census counts it as a home with 0 bedrooms. This guide, updated October 2026, explains the layouts that go by other names and what to check before you lease a studio in Dallas.
Updated October 2026 · Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2024 Subject Definitions and the Texas Property Code, checked October 2, 2026
What counts as a studio
A studio puts living, sleeping and cooking in one main room, with the bathroom behind its own door. There is no separate bedroom.
That is also how the U.S. Census Bureau counts it. Its American Community Survey tells a household in an efficiency or studio apartment to report 0 bedrooms, and classifies any housing unit with only one room as having no bedroom (ACS Subject Definitions, 2024). So when you see Census rent figures for “no bedroom” units, those are studios and other homes with no separate bedroom.
Listings use several names for close relatives of the studio. Tell them apart before you compare prices, because the layout changes how the space works day to day.
- Efficiency. Often another word for studio. Some listings use it for a smaller unit with a kitchenette instead of a full kitchen, so ask which appliances come with it.
- Alcove studio. The main room has an L-shaped nook for the bed, so sleeping can sit partly out of view of the living area.
- Convertible or flex. A larger open unit where a partition, curtain or bookcase can carve out a sleeping area. Ask whether the community allows a partition and who installs it.
- Junior one-bedroom. A small unit with the sleeping area set off by a partial wall, a sliding panel or glass. It may be listed as a one-bedroom, so check whether that area has its own window and a door that closes.
Judging the space
Square feet alone will not tell you whether a studio works. Two units of the same size can live very differently, depending on where the doors, windows and kitchen fall.
- Measure what you own: bed, sofa, desk, dining table. Sketch them onto the floor plan before the tour.
- Find the wall the bed would go against. It should not sit in the path from the front door to the bathroom.
- Count the closets. In one room, storage decides how tidy the whole home looks.
- Notice where the kitchen faces. If it looks at the bed, cooking smells and the hum of the refrigerator share your sleeping space.
- Look at the light: a long wall of windows, or a single window at one end?
- Ask whether the unit has washer and dryer connections, or where the laundry room is and when it is open.
If you work from home, decide where the desk goes and what a video call would show behind you. It is often the question that settles it.
Smoke alarms in a one-room home
Texas has a rule written for exactly this layout. When a unit is designed to use a single room for dining, living and sleeping, the smoke alarm must be located inside that room (Texas Property Code, section 92.255).
The landlord must also confirm the alarm works when you take possession, by testing it with smoke, with its test button or by the maker’s recommended procedure (Texas Property Code, section 92.258). After that, the landlord does not have to supply batteries for a battery-operated alarm that worked on day one, so ask at move-in what kind yours is.
With the stove a few steps from the bed, also ask whether the range hood vents outside or only filters and recirculates the air.
The full monthly cost
A studio usually rents for less than a one-bedroom in the same community, but the gap differs from building to building and floor to floor. Ask for the price of both plans on the same day. Now and then a special on the larger plan closes most of the difference.
A smaller space can mean smaller cooling bills, but ask which utilities you would pay and what similar units have averaged. If the community pays them for you, our all bills paid guide explains what is usually included and what to confirm in the lease.
Many communities check your income against the rent. Our rent calculator shows the monthly rent a given income fits under the common three-times-rent rule, and it fills in the budget on our request form for you.
Lease questions that matter more in a studio
- Furniture. Are loft beds, wall beds or room dividers allowed? Anything that attaches to a wall may need written approval.
- Parking. Does a studio come with a parking space, or only the larger plans? Is there a charge for one?
- Storage. Can you rent a storage unit or bike rack in the building, and what does it cost each month?
- Pets. The pet rules are the same for every plan, but think about where a crate or litter box would go before you sign.
- Growing out of it. If you need more space later, can you transfer to a larger unit in the same community before the lease ends, and what does a transfer cost?
Studios we can point you to
This list only includes communities we work with that have confirmed to us they lease studios, each with the date we last checked. If none are confirmed right now, you will not see any here. Ask us, and we will call around for the area you want.
Starting with a neighborhood? The Dallas page links to every Dallas neighborhood we cover. Tell us the address you commute to, and we will check which studios keep that trip short.
Studios on our list
Alta Park Central
built 2024 studio to 2 bedrooms
from $1,395 a month (listed October 9, 2026)
11 weeks free on a 12-month lease
Ask us first
studios 565–667 sq ft from $1,395
Oakhouse
built 2024 studio to 3 bedrooms
from $1,185 a month (listed October 9, 2026)
Ask us first
studios 536–554 sq ft from $1,185
The Storey
built 2024 studio to 2 bedrooms
from $1,340 a month (listed October 9, 2026)
2 months free on a 12-month lease + a same-day offer
Ask us first
studios 600–600 sq ft from $1,340
Dallas Urby
built 2022 studio to 2 bedrooms
from $1,760 a month (listed October 9, 2026)
3 months free on a 12-month lease
Ask us first
studios 500–516 sq ft from $1,760
Rents and specials change often. These figures come down 30 days after the date shown. If that date is more than 30 days old, contact us for today’s price and special.
Your move or cash
Lease through us at a participating community, on a lease of 12 months or more, and choose 3 hours of moving with 2 movers and a truck, or cash: $400 if you found the place and registered it with us first, $200 if we search for you. Under $1,200 rent: $200 cash.
- Participating communities only.
- Rewards apply only at participating communities.
- Check with us first.
- Before you visit, call or apply, ask us. We confirm in writing whether your community participates and what your reward is.
- We pay when the community pays us.
- Cash is sent after the community pays our fee, usually 30 to 90 days after you move in.
Sources
Sources on this page were checked on October 2, 2026.
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