Hate Not the Player, but the Game

New poll declares Texas as nation's least favorite state

Texas was voted least liked state and state most people want to see removed from the Union in a poll by Business Insider.

Photo by Elaine Liner

A Business Insider poll asking Americans to give their perceptions of other states has resulted in Texas being voted “least favorite” and the state most pollsters would like to see kicked out of America.

Texas made no friends with out-of-staters and received 11 percent of 1,581 votes for least favorite. A full 21 percent of those polled would like to see Texas removed from the Union. To quote an NBC Page that isn’t with us anymore, “Haters to the left.”

To be fair, we weren’t the only big state to receive the scorn of those that live in the Delawares and Nebraskas of the country. California was declared the most overrated and craziest, while New York was deemed the rudest and most arrogant.

Our neighbors to the east, Louisiana was rated the drunkest — which is either a good or bad thing depending on how awesome you are — while Mississippi was considered the dumbest state.

This might come as a shocker, but the South did not fare particularly well on that question, though they are considered to be nicer than the rest of the country. Business Insider says this might have to do with the rest of the country not quite understanding what “Bless your heart” really means, but hey, at least we’re still kind of nice even when we’re not.

There are also other questions, but they don’t have anything to do with Texas, so they aren’t really worth discussing.

unspecified

supreme suburbs

11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S.

Town of Flower Mound, Texas-Government/Facebook

Flower Mound is the 14th best place to live in the country, and 4th in Texas.

Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.

For the 2025-2026 rankings, U.S. News expanded its coverage from 150 to 250 U.S. cities, and updated its methodology to examine each city based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration.

The top three best places to live are located in Johns Creek, Georgia (No. 1), Carmel, Indiana (No. 2), and the Houston-area suburb of Pearland, Texas (No. 3).

Flower Mound ranked No. 14 nationwide, and it landed in the coveted No. 4 spot in U.S. News' separate rankings of the best places to live in Texas for 2025-2026.

Aspects of Flower Mound that put it at the top of the list include its high median household income ($163,766), median home values ($476,609), and its bustling population of more than 77,000 residents.

The city's population is a healthy mix of young individuals and families, with 26 percent of residents being under 20 years old and 28 percent of the population being between the ages of 20-44. Nearly a third of Flower Mound's population is between 45-64 years old, while only 13 percent of residents are over 65, the report says.

Flower Mound is a listmaker's favorite, landing the top spot of Livability.com's list of the best places to live in 2025 as well as a 2024 list that named it one of the most livable small cities in the country.

Flower Mound has many parks for families to enjoy.Flower Mound Parks and Recreation/Facebook

"Finding a community to be part of can play a major role in making a place feel like home," U.S. News said. "If you’re a parent with young children, you may want to live in a neighborhood with other people in that phase of life. If you’re a professional moving to a hot job market for your field, you may want to live in an apartment close to the office or within walking distance of friends and colleagues."

However, if people are looking for a public transportation-friendly city, they may need to look elsewhere. Almost all commuters in Flower Mound drive to their workplaces, making access to a vehicle absolutely necessary for living in the suburb. Flower Mound's 26.7-minute average commute time is also 4.7 minutes higher than the national average, U.S. News said.

The suburb's housing costs are admittedly more expensive than the national average home value ($370,489), but that shouldn't deter newcomers that are looking for a place to settle down.

"Flower Mound offers a better value than similarly sized cities when you compare housing costs to median household income," the report said.

Other Dallas-area suburbs
Mansfield ranked as the 27th best place to live in the U.S., and No. 9 in Texas. The city boasts a median household income of $117,680, and median home values at $364,136.

Residents in Mansfield also predominantly rely on vehicles for their daily commutes, spending an average time of nearly 28 minutes driving to work, U.S. News determined.

More than half (56.1 percent) of all Mansfield residents are married, and 51 percent of the population are between the ages of 25 and 64-years-old.

Here's how other Dallas-area cities faired among the top 150:

No. 30 – Frisco
No. 37 – McKinney
No. 64 – North Richland Hills
No. 82 – Carrollton
No. 83 – Rowlett
No. 102 – Wylie
No. 105 – Grand Prairie
No. 149 – Irving
No. 150 – Plano

Dallas drops out of the top 100
Though Dallas clawed its way back among the top 100 best places to live in U.S. News' 2024-2025 report, the city plummeted toward the bottom of the list for 2025-2026, coming in at No. 439. In addition, it ranked No. 65 in the statewide comparison, showing that the city has been eclipsed by its appealing suburban neighbors.

The top 10 best places to live in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – Johns Creek, Georgia
No. 2 – Carmel, Indiana
No. 3 – Pearland, Texas
No. 4 – Fishers, INdiana
No. 5 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 6 – League City, Texas
No. 7 – Apex, North Carolina
No. 8 – Leander, Texas
No. 9 – Rochester Hills, Michigan
No. 10 – Troy, Michigan

suburbs us news & world report rankings dallas flower mound mansfield