Homestate Glory

Texas cities rule list of best places for Millennials to live

Recent college graduates have a lot to consider when thinking about their next steps. In addition to career paths, they must weigh quality-of-life factors in the cities they may soon call home.

Niche.com has taken out some of the guesswork in its recent list of the top cities and neighborhoods for Millennials, and three of the 25 metro areas (with populations of at least 1 million) are in Texas. Austin ranked No. 2, just behind New York City. Dallas earned a respectable No. 8 slot, and Houston landed at No. 21.

To determine the winners, the site looked at data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey and FBI Uniform Crime Reports, plus it surveyed more than 500,000 college students and recent graduates. While the former provided obvious statistics like percentage of population between 25 and 34 years old, median rent and income, racial diversity, and unemployment rate, the surveys helped Niche.com take into account factors such as sports, shopping, nightlife, accessibility and cultural attractions.

“The economic climate right now is difficult for recent college grads,” Mark Tressler, Niche.com director of business development, told Forbes. “With a ranking like this we’re combining the fun stuff with more practical things like safety and the unemployment rate. It’s a good balance of what you need to think about when you’re starting to get serious about life beyond college.”

Austin, with 17 percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 34, boasts a median rent of $936, median income of $30,816 and below-average crime score. The site also declared South River City/Travis Heights the best neighborhood for Millennials to live.

As for Dallas, 15 percent of our residents are ages 25-34, and the city has a median rent of $874 and median income of $29,830. Like Austin, our crime score was “below average,” and Niche.com determined that Oak Lawn is the right neighborhood for these young professionals.

Houston has a median rent of $860, median income of $28,306 and an “average” crime score. Fifteen percent of Houstonians fit within that 25-34 age range, and those folks should plant roots in Midtown.

Rounding out the top five best cities for Millennials, behind New York and Austin, are Washington D.C., Chicago and San Francisco. See the complete list and methodology on Niche.com.

Dallas is the 8th best city in America for millennials to live.

Photo by Justin Terveen

Dallas is the 8th best city in America for millennials to live.

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income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major metros like Dallas-Fort Worth, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas, that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support their stay-at-home partner and their child, the report found. If both parents worked in the household, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in North Texas, however, is slightly more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $22,337 to raise a child in Dallas-Fort Worth.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report's author says families will look for ways to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family