What Heath is like
Heath is the quiet city on the south side of Rockwall, laid out along the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard with the largest lots and lowest density of any town in the county. The city describes itself as a premier outdoor recreation lifestyle community, and the numbers back the picture: 9,769 residents at the 2020 Census spread over 12.4 square miles, or about 790 people per square mile, half the density of Rockwall next door. The Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate is 11,671, and the city cites a 2025 regional estimate of 10,464.
The area was known as Black Hills from 1840 and took its name from John O. Heath, who settled here in 1846. The community was called Willow Springs from 1854 until 1886, when it became Heath. Like Rockwall, it grew up along the National Road of the Republic, the 1840s route from the Red River to the Peters Colony. Heath incorporated in 1959 with a population in the hundreds; it counted 520 people in 1970, 2,108 in 1990 and 4,149 in 2000. The lake came in 1969, and its waters covered the old Barnes Bridge Road.
Life on the water
Lake Ray Hubbard is a City of Dallas reservoir of about 21,671 surface acres, impounded in 1968 on the East Fork of the Trinity River. Heath's public access is Terry Park at 599 Terry Lane, reached by Ridge Road (FM 740) and Smirl Drive (FM 1140). The park has a two-lane boat ramp with two courtesy docks, trails, a pavilion with grills, a playground and a sunset swing bench. Texas Parks and Wildlife lists the ramp as city-operated with no fee.
Rush Creek Yacht Club has been on the lake since 1969. The city calls it a landmark for yacht racing in the Southwest, and it runs a junior sailing program. Buffalo Creek Golf Club is a public course designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish that the city's mayor has described as consistently ranked among the top public courses in the Dallas area.
Parks, trails and events
Towne Center Park at 1000 Festival Street is the city's gathering place, with an event lawn and pavilion, multi-use sports fields, a baseball field, basketball and pickleball courts, food truck spaces, a splash fountain, playgrounds and a nature walk. The Reserve Nature Trails cover more than 70 acres off Chris Cuny Parkway, Heath Paw Grounds is a dog park of more than three acres on Laurence Drive, and Antigua Bay Park is a small neighborhood park on Scenic Drive. The city is building out a citywide trail system to link them.
The calendar is short and well attended: the Heart of Heath 5K on Easter Saturday, the Independence Day parade and Independence Day in the Park on July 4, Heath Night Out on the first Tuesday in October, and Christmas in Heath on the first Saturday in December. Heath holds a Scenic City certification and a Music Friendly Texas designation.
Schools
Heath is in Rockwall ISD. Rockwall-Heath High School is in the city at 801 Laurence Drive, with its ninth-grade campus at 2727 South John King Boulevard in Rockwall; the school earned an A in the 2024-25 state accountability ratings, and the district scored 89 and reports an A for 2026. Maurine Cain Middle School and Dorothy Smith Pullen Elementary sit on FM 3097, and Amy Parks-Heath Elementary (330 Laurence Drive) and Linda Lyon Elementary (2186 Trophy Drive) are inside the city. Fulton Academy, a private school for PreK3 through 12th grade, is at 1623 Laurence Drive. Zones change as the district grows, so confirm the campus for a given address.
Getting to Dallas
The city's own line is thirty minutes from downtown Dallas. Heath has no interstate of its own; drivers reach Interstate 30 through Rockwall via Ridge Road, or go west on FM 740 toward the lake and Dallas County. Census data puts the mean commute for Heath workers at about 35 minutes. The low density is a deliberate choice, and part of the trade is that most errands mean a short drive to Rockwall's I-30 corridor.
Who lives here
Census figures for 2020 to 2024 show a median household income of $220,828, the highest of the towns we cover, a 98 percent owner-occupancy rate, and a median value of $766,900 for owner-occupied homes. About 62 percent of adults hold a bachelor's degree. Households average three people, 29 percent of residents are under 18, and 16 percent are 65 or older. More than nine in ten residents lived in the same house a year earlier, which is the statistical version of what you notice driving through: people buy here to stay.
For buyers that means acreage lots, custom homes, waterfront and golf-course streets, and a market where few homes turn over in a given year. The live stats above come from our own listings and will often show small samples; that is the nature of Heath. The city's 2025 property tax rate is 0.27565 per hundred dollars of value, down from the year before.