Best in Texas
New ranking honors Dallas-Fort Worth neighbor as very best place to live in Texas
Everything's bigger in Texas, especially pride in our towns. Chamber of Commerce, a digital resource for small business owners, recently evaluated 2,509 Texas cities and ranked the top 100 best in which to live.
The five factors used to build the list included employment (number of establishments, median earnings); housing (owner-occupied housing with a mortgage, monthly housing costs); quality of life (work commute, poverty levels); education (percentage with a bachelor's degree or higher); and health (obesity ratios). Only cities with a population above 25,000 and enough data for analysis were considered.
And the top spot goes to — drum roll, please — Flower Mound, the affluent Dallas and Fort Worth suburb. As the ranking notes, "Flo Mo" boasts a strong economy driven by its retail sector and the introduction of light industry in recent years. A large percentage of its population is originally from outside the state.
Second on the list is Houston, Texas' largest city and the fourth largest in the nation. Being a business hub works in H-Town's favor, as it's home to the fourth-most Fortune 500 headquarters of any U.S. metropolitan area, with the energy, aeronautics, and manufacturing industries bringing tons of jobs into the city.
We head back to DFW for No. 3, where Richardson also displays a wealth of big-name businesses. AT&T, Samsung, and Texas Instruments call the area home, along with University of Texas at Dallas.
A little further north is No. 4 Frisco, one of the fastest-growing cities in the entire country. A lot of retail development is happening here, and it boasts a reputation of being a great commuter city for those who work in Dallas proper.
Finally, the Austin area gets a little love with Pflugerville claiming No. 5. The city's German heritage is proudly honored by plenty of festivals, and millions have caught a glimpse of the area's idyllic charm through the popular TV show Friday Night Lights, which used the city's stadium as a filming location. It's also a popular real estate enclave for hopeful homebuyers who've been priced out of Austin.
