We're No. 1

Dallas-Fort Worth is tops once again for family-friendly cities

Child eating a corn dog at the State Fair of Texas

It's good to live in Texas if you have a family.

Photo by Kevin Brown/State Fair of Texas

Apartment List has compiled its annual ranking of the country’s most family-friendly cities, and Texans should be proud. Very proud, as the Lone Star State not only grabs four spots in the top 10 but locks in first and second place with two Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs: Flower Mound and Frisco.

So what makes a city desirable for families? Apartment List used four weighted factors to compile an overall letter grade: safety, housing affordability, education quality, and childhood friendliness. Safety data was pulled from FBI statistics and ranked each city by the number of crimes per 100,000 residents. Housing affordability was measured by the city's lowest percentage of median gross income spent on rent.

High school graduation rates determined education quality, and to draw a conclusion about child friendliness the site deemed cities with higher populations of children under 18 as more family friendly.

The results: Flower Mound lands the No. 1 spot overall, claiming fourth for safety and second for affordability. Frisco is second overall, coming in fourth for education and second for child-friendliness. These are both jumps from last year's rankings, in which Allen claimed the top spot.

Cedar Park, near Austin, finds itself at No. 6, and the Houston suburb of Pearland comes in at No. 10. All told, Texas boasts 13 spots in the top 50, with Allen (No. 11), Plano (No. 19), Missouri City (No. 23), Round Rock (No. 26), Lewisville (No. 36), McKinney (No. 38), and Irving (No. 42) making a strong showing.

Though Dallas and its B grade are all the way down at No. 173, it does win second-best when you whittle the list down to just the nation's 25 biggest cities. The true winner, though, is No. 90 El Paso, which is awarded an A- and takes the top spot for largest cities.

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Turkey Day news

Dallas eats up top-5 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Photo courtesy of Razzoo's

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Dallas is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

Dallas ranked No. 5 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a huge leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 17, and remains the highest-ranking Texas city.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The category that Dallas ranked the highest in was the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 2), and the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 9), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 82). Other categories that determined Dallas' overall ranking were affordability (No. 60), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 26).

Dallas restaurants are getting prepared for their big Turkey Day feasts, and CultureMap has rounded up a thorough list of all of the local restaurants hosting holiday feasts, from brunch to dinner.

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, Dallas will be fully decked for the December holidays. Dallasites who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. Dallas-Fort Worth goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Across North Texas, three Dallas-area cities also made big improvements from their 2023 rankings. Irving moved up 10 spots to claim No. 19 this year, and Garland jumped up 21 spots on the list as No. 34. Arlington made the biggest improvement in the region, moving from No. 78 last year to No. 55 this year.

Meanwhile, Plano and Fort Worth slipped in the rankings, falling into No. 44 and No. 45 in 2024, respectively. Plano previously ranked No. 38 in 2023, and Fort Worth was No. 36.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

dallas fort worth thanksgiving wallethub rankings