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2 Dallas-Fort Worth counties raise the roof with biggest U.S. housing booms

Rockwall has experienced tremendous growth.

Facebook/Rockwall Texas Homes

If you have driven north of Fort Worth and Dallas, through Denton or Rockwall, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. You’ve seen thousands of new residential rooftops pop up in the past decade.

In fact, Rockwall County ranks as one of the primary U.S. metro counties with the most growth in new housing units (36.8 percent) from 2010 to 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released November 2. Among those housing units are single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and apartments.

The number of housing units in Rockwall County rose by 10,280 from 2010 to 2020, the Census Bureau says.

“The number of occupied housing units grows when new housing is built or previously vacant homes become occupied," the Census Bureau explains. "It decreases when housing units become vacant, are demolished, or are converted into other uses.”

The secret about Rockwall's many charms is out; in 2020, Money magazine named the North Texas to its list of the Best Places to Live in America. Rockwall was No. 4, making its Money list debut based on its “status as one of the fastest-growing cities in one of the nation’s fastest-growing states.” It earned that ranking based on factors such as safety, cost of living, and diversity. As of 2020, the city had experienced 19 percent job growth over in five years and was projected to grow another 17 percent in the next five.

The Money accolade came on the heels of another report by financial website SmartAsset that ranked Rockwall among the top Texas places with the highest median income ($93,269) relative to the cost of living ($44,539).

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area also claims two spots on the Census Bureau's new list of the 10 “outlying” metro counties with the most growth in housing units from 2010 to 2020. The bureau defines outlying counties as those outside a region’s “urban center.”

No. 1-ranked Denton County saw the number of housing units go up 36 percent from 2010 to 2020 with the addition of 92,136 units. That statistic echoes a recent SmartAsset study declaring Denton among the nation’s top 50 boomtowns.

No. 3-ranked Kaufman County saw the number of housing units go up 33.7 percent from 2010 to 2020 with the addition of 12,906 units.

Elsewhere in Texas
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Austin area's Hays County was No. 1 in the nation on the list of primary U.S. metro counties with the most growth in new housing units, with a 57.4 percent increase (34,117 new housing units). Other Texas places on that list include:

Third-ranked Comal County, part of the San Antonio metro area — 48.5 percent (22,831 new housing units).
Fifth-ranked Williamson County, part of the Austin metro area — 46 percent (74,907 new housing units).
Seventh-ranked Fort Bend County, part of the Houston metro area — 41 percent (80,880 new housing units).

Other Texas places that appear on the list for “outlying” counties:

No. 2 Montgomery County, part of the Houston metro area — 34.2 percent (60,842 new housing units).
No. 5 Kendall County, part of the San Antonio metro area — 30.4 percent (4,275 new housing units).
No. 8 Bastrop County, part of the Austin metro area — 25.1 percent (7,367 new housing units).

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One Texas community makes list of the richest small towns in America

Photo courtesy of Compass

Bunker Hill Village is a coveted address in the Houston area.

An upscale community in Texas is among the top 10 richest towns in America, according to a new 2024 report. The community is Bunker Hill Village in Houston, and it's home to the richest residents in Texas. Sorry, Colonial Hills.

The analysis, by loan provider TitleMax, lists the 50 richest small towns — one from each state — using median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. In Bunker Hill Village, the median household income is about $250,000, the report says.

Of course, "small town" is a bit of a misnomer for Bunker Hill Village. Situated 13 miles west of downtown Houston, Bunker Hill joins five other communities – Hunters Creek, HiIlshire, Hedwig, Piney Point, and Spring Valley – to make up Houston's iconic Memorial Villages. In 2023, Bunker Hill was ranked the third-most expensive Houston neighborhood, with homes on the market for upwards of $2.7 million.

Notably, the area is home to Houston's only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house.

"We are very proud of our quiet, wooded environment, and as a community, we work hard to preserve it for future generations," the city's website says.

The study found that more than half (56.5 percent) of the 1,250-home community make over $200,000 a year, while the enclave's median household income amounts to $247,188.

To put that into perspective, TitleMax revealed that the national median household income is $67,521. The Census Bureau's 2023 American Community Survey estimates the median income of a household in Texas came out to $75,780 in 2023.

Bunker Hill joins the likes of Houston's Bellaire and West University Place as some of the most affluent suburbs in America. The North Texas suburb of Southlake also made it on that list.

The No. 1 slot went to Monte Sereno, a suburb of San Jose, California with a median household income of more than $250,000, according to the report.

"While many people consider cities to be the epicenters of the rich, many retreat to small towns that offer safety, beauty, and privacy," the report's author wrote.

These are the top 10 wealthiest small towns in America, with their median household incomes:

No. 1 – Monte Sereno, California ($250,000-plus)
No. 2 – Cherry Hills Village, Colorado ($250,000-plus)
No. 3 – Mission Hills, Kansas ($250,000-plus)
No. 4 – Short Hills, New Jersey ($250,000-plus)
No. 5 – Scarsdale, New York ($250,000-plus)
No. 6 – Belle Meade, Tennessee ($250,000-plus)
No. 7 – Glencoe, Illinois ($248,851)
No. 8 – Bunker Hill Village, Texas ($247,188)
No. 9 – Clyde Hill, Washington ($238,958)
No. 10 – Chevy Chase Village, Maryland ($238,333)

The full report can be found on titlemax.com.

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