Rich residents

Affluent Fort Worth neighbor ranks among wealthiest suburbs in U.S.

Southlake is home to some of the area's biggest homes.

Photo courtesy of Engel &Völkers Dallas Southlake via Estately.com

Wealthy Americans, increasingly, are bypassing behemoth cities like Los Angeles or New York City and settling down in smaller suburbs like Fort Worth neighbor Southlake.

So says a new household income study by GoBankingRates, which lists Southlake among the wealthiest American suburbs in 2024.

Southlake ranked No. 13 out of all 50 cities in the report, with the average household making the 13th highest income nationwide at $360,078 per year. The report additionally found the typical home in the city is worth more than $1.24 million.

The affluent Tarrant County city has many great local eateries, like the new Prohibition-style restaurant Volstead, pastry shop D'Caramel Patisserie , and forthcoming Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café, as well as gaming attractions, med spas, shopping at Southlake Town Square and Central Market, and more. Southlake-based global technology company Sabre was declared one of the best companies to work for in 2024.

Southlake is also home to 26-year-old Annette Addo-Yobo, the recently crowned Miss Texas 2024, who will go on to compete in Miss America.

Of course, Southlake is no stranger to "richest" lists; in 2023, it ranked as the wealthiest city in Texas.

3504 Hanover An idyllic home in University Park, complete with matching fluffy white dog on porch. Photo by Par Bengtsson

The Dallas enclave of University Park came out ahead of Southlake in GoBankingRates' new report, ranking the No. 6 wealthiest suburb in the U.S. It boasts the sixth-highest average household income nationally.

A University Park household makes an average income of $381,235 a year, and the typical home in the suburb is valued at over $2.3 million.

The town is also no stranger to these kinds of richest-lists. In GoBankingRates' 2023 report that examined the wealthiest small American towns, University Park ranked No. 4 nationally.

Elsewhere in Texas
University Park wasn't the only Texas suburb to earn a spot in the top 10. West University Place in Houston ranked three spots higher to claim No. 3, and Bellaire (located just west of West U.) ranked outside the top 10 as No. 25.

The report found the average household in West U. makes $403,845 a year, and the typical home is worth more than $1.6 million. In Bellaire, the average household income amounts to more than $294,605 a year, and the average house is valued at nearly $1.08 million.

The top 10 wealthiest suburbs in America are:

No. 1 – Scarsdale, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
No. 2 – Rye, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
No. 3 – West University Place, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
No. 4 – Los Altos, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
No. 5 – Paradise Valley, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona
No. 6 – University Park, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
No. 7 – Hinsdale, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Illinois
No. 8 – Great Falls, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Virginia-Maryland
No. 9 – Orinda, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California
No. 10 – Wellesley, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts

GoBankingRates examined all cities in the U.S. with a minimum of 5,000 households and ranked them based on the highest average household income. The report provided additional details like which metropolitan area the cities are in, plus each city's typical home value in 2024.

The full report and its methodology can be found on gobankingrates.com.

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population explosion

7 Fort Worth neighbors saw biggest population booms in U.S. for 2023

City of Denton, TX - City Hall/Facebook

Denton had the biggest population growth rate in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2022 to 2023.

Several Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs are among the fastest-growing cities in the nation, according to a new population growth study by SmartAsset.

The report, "These Cities Saw the Largest Growth in Population – 2024 Study," examined U.S. Census population estimates for 2023, 2022, and 2018 to determine one-year and five-year population changes for 610 U.S. cities with populations of at least 65,000 residents in 2023 (where the most recent data was available).

Denton took the lead over all other Dallas-Fort Worth cities with the 16th-largest one-year population growth rate in the U.S., at 5.32 percent. Denton gained over 8,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, bringing the city's total population to 158,361 in 2023.

This should come as no surprise to those who already live in Denton, who may know their hometown was ranked one of the safest suburbs in America.

Mansfield trailed close behind with a 4.16 percent increase in population during that same period, which landed it the No. 26 spot in the one-year population change analysis. The city gained 3,189 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 79,775 residents in 2023.

McKinney appeared farther down the list as No. 49 with just a 2.89 percent one-year growth rate from 2022 to 2023, and a total population of 213,504 residents.

Only four other Dallas-Fort Worth cities appeared in the top 100 fastest growing cities in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023:

No. 61 – Frisco (2.48 percent increase)
No. 72 – Rowlett (2.48 percent)
No. 73 – Lewisville (2.17 percent)
No. 99 – Flower Mound (1.73 percent)

The report suggested major population shifts in communities like Denton or Mansfield can result in "a variety of interwoven economic and social impacts."

"The magnitude of the population change can affect demand for businesses and services, which in turn may impact costs – or even the availability of such amenities," the report's author wrote. "Similarly, the relative age of the population can determine the strength or weakness of the local job market, as well as have an impact on local culture, economic trajectory, tax base and more."

Silver Spring, Maryland had the No. 1 biggest population boom nationwide from 2022 to 2023, SmartAsset found. The Washington, D.C. suburb grew 12.86 percent year-over-year, bringing the city's total population from 75,313 to 84,996 residents in 2023.

Fast-growing cities elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the top 10 list of cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023.

New Braunfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked No. 2 nationally with an 12.49 percent one-year population boom, and a 29.68 percent growth rate from 2018 to 2023. The city gained 12,318 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 110,961 residents in 2023.

Just two spots behind New Braunfels is the North Austin suburb of Georgetown (No. 4), which grew 11.34 percent to 96,317 residents in 2023. According to the report's five-year population change analysis, Georgetown ranked seventh with a 29.85 percent growth rate.

The Houston suburbs of Atascocita and Conroe ranked No. 5 and No. 9, respectively. Atascocita's total population grew to 119,502 residents in 2023, which represented a 11.03 percent growth rate from 2022, and a whopping 38.56 percent population increase since 2018. Conroe's 6.73 percent one-year population increase paled in comparison, but the city grew 23.49 percent during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

The top 10 U.S. cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023 are:

No. 1 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 2 – New Braunfels, Texas
No. 3 – Glen Burnie, Maryland
No. 4 – Georgetown, Texas
No. 5 – Atascocita, Texas
No. 6 – Pine Hills, Florida
No. 7 – Elgin, Illinois
No. 8 – Lehi, Utah
No. 9 – Conroe, Texas
No. 10 – Dale City, Virginia

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