Growing stature
4 Fort Worth neighbors flourish among most livable small cities in U.S. for 2022
The mound of accolades keeps piling up for Flower Mound.
The Dallas-Fort Worth town has been named by personal finance website SmartAsset as one of the most livable small cities in the U.S. This year’s SmartAsset study positions Flower Mound at No. 5, down one spot from its 2021 ranking.
Other North Texas cities ranking high on the SmartAsset list (but not nearly as high as Flower Mound) are Mansfield, No. 35; North Richland Hills, No. 78; and Rowlett, No. 103.
SmartAsset’s analysis compared 286 cities (with populations between 65,000 and 100,000) across 11 metrics related to home affordability, job opportunities, health care accessibility, income equality, and entertainment density.
The study notes that Flower Mound Flower has the eighth lowest poverty rate among the 286 cities (3.8 percent), as well as the 14th lowest income inequality and the 19th lowest housing costs as a share of median household income (17.65 percent).
The Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce describes the city as “a family-oriented community that prides itself on maintaining a small-town atmosphere while embracing and fostering a dynamic economic development environment.” Among the suburb’s attributes are its central location, low tax rate, and top-notch school system, along with an “unsurpassed quality of life” that has garnered national attention, the chamber says.
Aside from the SmartAsset ranking, Flower Mound has collected recognition from several other sources.
For instance, Money magazine last year awarded Flower Mound the No. 4 spot on its list of the 50 best places to live in the U.S.
“Locals say Flower Mound still has a small-town feel, but it’s growing quickly,” Money noted. “The city saw the highest job growth of any place on our list over the last five years. It also comes in second for the highest projected job growth over the next five, just after Round Rock down near Austin.”
Among other honors for Flower Mound is the 2020 Voice of the People Award for Excellence in Recreation and Wellness from the International City/County Management Association along with Polco, an online community polling and survey platform.
“Flower Mound’s leaders work tirelessly to involve residents in planning for the future of recreation and wellness opportunities in their town,” says Damema Mann, director of national engagement at Polco.
Topping the SmartAsset list of small cities again this year is O’Fallon, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Elsewhere in Texas, cities ranked by Smart Asset are:
- Cedar Park (Austin metro area), No. 44.
- Georgetown (Austin metro area), No. 63.
- Atascocita (Houston metro area), No. 85.
- New Braunfels (San Antonio metro area), No. 86.
- Missouri City (Houston metro area), No. 90.
- Temple (Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metro area), No. 96.
- Harlingen (Brownsville-Harlingen metro area), No. 113.
- Victoria (Victoria metro area), No. 146.
- Edinburg (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area), No. 172.
- Pharr (McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area), No. 173.
- Bryan (Bryan-College Station metro area), No. 175.