The Metroplex is on a roll. A recent report named DFW home to six of the best cities for first-time homebuyers, and now it's garnering acclaim for its "livable" mid-sized cities.

Financial website SmartAsset compared 227 U.S. cities based on eight metrics, ranging from median household income to unemployment rate to home value change. (The cities included have at least 100,000 residents; the 100 most populous U.S. cities were removed.)

"For Americans seeking a more affordable and less crowded alternative to the bustle of a big city but not interested in very small towns, a mid-sized city might be the best place to put down roots," the site says. "But not all of them are equally suited to meet the needs of their inhabitants. That’s why SmartAsset crunched the numbers on a variety of financial factors to find the mid-sized cities that are the most livable."

Dallas-Fort Worth houses six of the 50 most livable cities in the U.S.: Frisco (17), Allen (19), Carrollton (21), Lewisville (22), McKinney (28), and Mesquite (48).

And what makes them such a great place to live?

Frisco and Allen cash in with median household incomes over $100,000 ($116,884 and $101,360, respectively). Meanwhile, Carrollton, Lewisville, and Mesquite all saw local home prices jump well over 40 percent from 2015-2019, according to the study. And Frisco, Allen, and McKinney had low unemployment rates of 6.6 percent in July 2020.

Round Rock, just north of Austin, comes in at ninth overall — the highest ranking for any Texas city. It had the 15th lowest unemployment rate in the study — 6.2 percent — and the 20th lowest poverty rate — 6 percent — according to SmartAsset.

The Houston area claims three of the best mid-size cities: League City (16), Pearland (30), and Sugar Land (44).