Ranking It

New list of best cities to live in America puts this Dallas suburb on top

Once again, people proclaim their love for Plano.

A new list of the best cities to live in America has surfaced, and — not surprisingly — Texas is all over the top 25. We have five of the best cities, according to Niche.com, with our closest competitor being California, with four.

Niche.com analyzed publicly available data and aggregated user reviews to determined these rankings. The stats for the 228 cities on the list looked at higher education rates from the U.S. Census Bureau and Niche's own grades for cost of living, diversity, crime and safety, commute times, jobs, weather, nightlife, outdoor activities, health and fitness, public schools, and family friendliness.

Plano takes North Texas' top honor at No. 7, with a Niche grade of A-plus and nearly 500 user reviews. The only areas where the suburb receives lower than an A are in outdoor activities, weather, cost of living, and crime and safety, though its number of violent and property crimes is still way below those of the nation as a whole.

Richardson is No. 12, with a grade that's slightly lower than Plano in health and fitness but curiously higher for outdoor activities. According to Niche, both are excellent for families and diversity.

No. 6 The Woodlands, just outside of Houston, is ranked the best in Texas. Its crime and safety score is mysteriously absent, but the public schools, jobs outlook, and family friendliness all pull in A-plus grades to make up for it. Even the city's notoriously humid weather is looked upon favorably — or at least the 229 users who've reviewed the city feel alright overlooking it.

Affordable, entrepreneur-friendly Round Rock gets the No. 16 nod, drawing in high scores for everything but crime and safety and ... cost of living. And neighboring Austin isn't far behind at No. 22, taking a bigger hit in those same two categories (theft seems to be a major problem in the Capital City). But more than 1,000 people are willing to declare their love for Austin, which is by far the most reviews in the top 25.

So which city does Niche declare the best? Ann Arbor, Michigan, despite a few B grades and even a C for weather. Clearly they've never lived in Texas.

bests rankings texas

gotta do better than that

Texas is not a great state to live in for 2025, study finds

Photo by Trac Vu on Unsplash

Texas' livability has taken a nosedive in 2025.

Texas' livability has taken a nosedive: After plummeting toward the bottom in WalletHub's 2024 ranking of the best and worst states to live in for 2024, Texas has continued its downfall and now ranks as the 38th "best" state to live in for 2025.

To put it another way, Texas is now considered the 13th worst place to live in the U.S.

WalletHub ranked all 50 states using 51 metrics to measure their affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety. Factors that were considered include housing affordability, the median debt per median earnings, income growth from 2019 to 2023, high school graduation rates, access to public transportation, and more.

Massachusetts once again claimed the No. 1 spot as the best place to live nationwide, followed by Idaho (No. 2), New Jersey (No. 3), Wisconsin (No. 4), and Minnesota (No. 5).

The Lone Star State fumbled in four out of the five categories, but at least its quality of life ranking (No. 9) still managed to nab a top-10 spot.

According to WalletHub, Texas has the 10th worst economy and the 10th worst education and health, ranking No. 40 in both categories. Confusingly, a separate WalletHub study claimed Texas had the 8th best economy in the nation.

Texas' affordability is only the 34th best in the U.S., and it ranked 38th for safety.

Here's how Texas fared in other rankings in the study out of all 50 states:

No. 30 – Income growth
No. 31 – Housing costs
No. 40 – Percentage of population in poverty
No. 50 – Percentage of insured population
No. 43 – Percentage of adults in fair or poor health
No. 46 – Homeownership rate
No. 49 – Average weekly work hours

Local foodies can at least be satisfied that Texas ranked No. 1 in the category of states with the most restaurants per capita. Texas entered a four-way tie for the top spot with Florida, New York, and California. But having numerous restaurants doesn't make up for the failures in other living standards.

Meanwhile, New Mexico landed as the worst state to live in 2025. Joining the so-called "Land of Enchantment" at the bottom of the list are Louisiana (No. 49), Arkansas (No. 48), Mississippi (No. 47), and Alaska (No. 46).

Before one makes any final decisions on where to live, WalletHub suggests considering other factors than how a state ranked based on a single study.

"You’ll need to balance things like the cost of living with job opportunities, quality of education and safety," the report's author wrote. "Personal preference also comes into the equation, as you’ll want to live somewhere with the types of attractions, recreational opportunities and weather that suit you."

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