family paradise

This Dallas neighbor declared America's 4th best city to raise a family

Family walking on the boardwalk at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano

Families can spend lots of time exploring Plano's many parks.

Visit Plano/Facebook

Kid-friendly Plano has once again landed at the top of WalletHub's report of the best places to raise a family, continuing a multiyear streak for this family-oriented city.

Plano has ranked as the fourth-best city in America for families for several consecutive years, but moved up to the No. 3 spot in 2026. While it returns to the No. 4 spot in 2026, and one thing remains consistent: Plano has always reigned as the best place to raise a family in Texas.

To determine the best places for families to live, WalletHub's analysts compared 182 U.S. cities using 45 metrics relevant to "family fun," health and safety, education and childcare, affordability, and socioeconomics.

Plano ranks No. 2 spot nationwide for its socioeconomics, which encompassed factors such as the city's share of two-parent families, divorce rates, wealth gaps, unemployment rates, and others. The Dallas suburb also has the fourth-best health and safety ranking in the country, which considered air and water quality, crime rates, the share of uninsured children, public hospital rankings, and more.

Additionally, Plano was dubbed the sixth-most affordable city for families based on its cost of living, housing affordability, and "wallet wellness" (financial security). It ranked 30th for education and childcare, and 95th for "family fun."

There's plenty of things for Plano residents to enjoy in this happy-go-lucky city, such as its declining home prices, its hot job market, and the numerous well-maintained parks.

Living in a kid-friendly city isn't the only thing to consider when looking for the right place to start a family, UTHealth Houston professor Jeff Temple, Ph.D. said in the report. Access to high-performing schools, safe neighborhoods, good health care, and economic opportunities also play a part for prospective families.

"Children don’t develop in a vacuum — instead, everything around them plays a role in shaping them — within their families, schools, neighborhoods, and communities," Temple said. "Just as importantly, communities that foster connection and support tend to help families thrive. Chronic stressors like violence, instability, long commutes, and lack of resources have been shown to negatively affect both parents and children over time."

Six other Texas cities earned spots among the top 100 best places to raise a family this year: Austin (No. 22), Amarillo (No. 74), Grand Prairie (No. 85), Fort Worth (No. 87), Laredo (No. 91), and Irving (No. 96).

plano dallas suburbs wallethub reports families

Texas politics

Ken Paxton defeats John Cornyn in Texas U.S. Senate runoff

Photo courtesy of KVUE

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday, May 26 in a massively expensive, drawn-out U.S. Senate primary race.

Paxton was endorsed by President Donald Trump last week, and his victory showcased the president’s power over his party as he seeks to punish Republicans he sees as insufficiently loyal.

Paxton will run against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in November.

Democrats are hopeful that their nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, has a rare opportunity to win a statewide race in Texas — and help the party retake control of the Senate — with Paxton as his opponent.

Tuesday’s runoffs also decided Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.

‘I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target'
In Austin on Tuesday night, Cornyn gave a short concession speech tinged with emotion to a room of only reporters.

“Tonight we’ve come up short,” Cornyn said, adding that he’d support Paxton in the general election. “I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again.”

Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time “has passed him by," a statement that came back to bite him. He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.

Cornyn had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate against Talarico, which was also the senator's argument to voters before Tuesday.

That's not lost on Paxton, who said in his speech that “without a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats’ No. 1 target in November.”

Talarico's campaign hit back Tuesday night on the social platform X, highlighting what they — and some Republicans — see as Paxton's weakness, including an FBI investigation and impeachment for corruption in which he was later acquitted.

The primary was long and costly
Cornyn led Paxton in the March 3 primary but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong advertising campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions.

The two-term attorney general was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”

It gave Cornyn fodder for an ad campaign that, along with allied groups, spent roughly $109 million between the primary and runoff elections.

Immediately after the primary, Trump promised to endorse but didn’t act until after early voting began last week.

“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.

Democrats choose US House nominees
Former Rep. Colin Allred beat U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson in the Dallas-area 33rd District's Democratic primary runoff. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead sought a return to the House.

Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in Texas' 18th District, dispatching a longtime House incumbent who was one of Trump's most outspoken critics. The Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the district when it approved a new House map last year. The new map led to a runoff between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area.

Near San Antonio, Johnny Garcia won the Democratic primary for Texas’ 35th District against against Maureen Galindo, a candidate who has expressed antisemitic views. While Texas lawmakers redrew the district to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and didn't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.

Garcia will face Republican Carlos De La Cruz, who defeated John Lujan in the GOP primary.

texas politics