Growth spurt

2 Dallas neighbors zoom onto list of America’s biggest boomtowns

Denton Main Street Association presents Arts & Autos Extravaganza

Denton's got it going on.

Photo by Jason Bodor

The Dallas area is booming, and a new study from personal finance website SmartAsset ranks two fast-growing nearby cities — Denton and McKinney — among the nation’s top 50 boomtowns.

To come up with its list of boomtowns, SmartAsset evaluated data for 500 of the largest U.S. cities. It looked at growth factors for each city such as five-year population change, average yearly growth in economic output (GDP), five-year change in number of businesses, five-year growth in housing, and August 2021 unemployment rate.

Denton and McKinney zoom onto the list, ranking, respectively, No. 36 and No. 39 in the U.S.

Both areas have seen astounding growth in five years, according to SmartAsset data, with Denton's population skyrocketing 12.41 percent, the housing rate jumping 5.13 percent, and a 23.15 percent change in businesses.

McKinney has seen its population rise an astounding 27.24 percent, the housing rate jumping 30.85 percent, and a 24.01 percent change in businesses the last five years.

On SmartAsset's 100-point boomtown scale, Denton earns a score of 83.87 and McKinney, 83.59.

The No. 1 city overall is Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.

Elsewhere in Texas, the Houston suburb of Conroe is Texas' top boomtown, and No. 3 nationally, tied with Meridian, Idaho. And three Central Texas cities, New Braunfels (No. 14), Austin (No. 17), and Round Rock (No. 25) cracked the top 50.

Here's how the Texas boomtowns stack up:

New Braunfels (San Antonio metro area), tied for No. 14 with Concord, North Carolina. Boomtown score: 89.83. New Braunfels appeared at No. 6 in SmartAsset’s 2019 boomtown study.
Austin, No. 17. Boomtown score: 89.52. Austin appeared at No. 12 in SmartAsset’s 2019 boomtown study.
Round Rock (Austin metro area), tied for No. 25 with Charleston, South Carolina. Boomtown score: 86.98. Round Rock appeared at No. 10 in SmartAsset’s 2019 study.
Denton (Dallas-Fort Worth metro area), No. 36. Boomtown score: 83.87. Denton appeared at No. 2 in SmartAsset’s 2019 boomtown study.
McKinney (Dallas-Fort Worth metro area), No. 39. Boomtown score: 83.59. McKinney appeared at No. 14 in SmartAsset’s 2019 boomtown study.

Four Texas cities dropped out of the boomtown ranking from 2019 to 2021: Frisco, which ranked 13th two years ago; College Station, ranked 16th; Flower Mound, ranked 24th; and Allen, ranked 37th.

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Fun times in the city

Dallas swings a spot on new list of most fun cities in U.S. for 2024

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Dallas just wants to have fun, according to WalletHub's new ranking of the most fun cities in America in 2024.

The annual report ranked Dallas No. 31 out of 182 U.S. cities.

WalletHub's experts compared each city using 65 metrics to determine their level of "fun." Metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

According to the study's findings, Dallas was 24th nationally in the category for nightlife and parties, and ranked No. 39 in the "entertainment and recreation" category. That may be especially alluring for anyone who wants to explore the city's vast entertainment opportunities (especially during the holiday season), family-friendly recreational activities, top dining destinations, and more. Plus, Dallas is home to entertainment juggernauts like the State Fair of Texas and TopGolf.

Dallas performed poorly in the overall cost category, earning No. 114 out of all 182 cities. However, this category mostly compares flat costs rather than affordability based on local cost of living.

Potential new Dallasites should do their research before deciding to move here, rather than basing their decision on short trips and vacations alone. But we won't blame them for wanting to live in one of the best cities in the world.

"The top cities offer affordable options for year-round fun for their residents, which is good for residents’ wallets and their mental health," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo in the report.

Austin (No. 6) and Houston (No. 9) were the only Texas cities to earn a spot in the top 10 most fun U.S. cities list. Austin moved up one spot from last year, while Houston made a 10-place jump.

Other fun-filled Texas cities that made it in the top 100 are El Paso (No. 53), Fort Worth (No. 55), Plano (No. 78), Arlington (No. 79), and Corpus Christi (No. 99).

The top 10 most fun U.S. cities are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Austin, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 9 – Houston, Texas
No. 10 – New York City, New York

Cities were evaluated based on the number of attractions per capita, nightlife activities per capita, the average prices for eating at a restaurant or buying a movie ticket, and more. Data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, The Trust for Public Land, and the Council for Community and Economic Research, among others.

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