Ranking It
These Dallas suburbs best the rest in U.S. for friendliness to young families
The subtext of Apartment List's ranking of the best cities for young families is this: Move to the Dallas suburbs. Not only do four show up in the top 10, but another four can be found within the top 50, all earning a total rating of A- or better.
The renting website used four weighted factors to determine its rankings of nearly 500 cities. Safety is the most important, and FBI data was used to determine the number of violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents.
Housing costs are next, determining what percentage of the medium income is required to rent a two-bedroom apartment. School quality, with its public high school graduation rates, and child friendliness — meaning how much of a city's population is under 18 — round it all out.
Allen takes the first-place spot, with the highest education ranking on the list. Frisco comes in at No. 4, McKinney at No. 6, and Flower Mound at No. 8. Pearland, near Houston, comes in at No. 10.
Plano (No. 23), Lewisville (No. 33), Carrollton (No. 45), and Grand Prairie (No. 49) also show up, joining four other Texas cities — Missouri City, Round Rock, League City, and New Braunfels — in the top 50.
Though personal finance website ValuePenguin recently ranked Dallas at the No. 5 best city for young families, on this list Big D doesn't show up until No. 181, with a B rating overall.