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    Family-friendly DFW

    4 Dallas-Fort Worth cities among least expensive to raise a family, says report

    Cecilia Lenzen
    Jan 13, 2023 | 10:30 am
    Plano love
    Plano consistently ranks high as a family-friendly city.
    Facebook/TheShopsAtWillowBend

    It can be costly to raise a family, especially these days, but parents living near Dallas can welcome some good news: four Dallas suburbs rank as some of the least expensive cities to raise a family.

    A recent report from Harmony Healthcare IT, a data management firm that works with health data, put Plano as No. 3 on a list of least expensive cities in the U.S. to raise a family. Irving, Garland, and Fort Worth are also in the top 10 most economical cities, ranked No. 4, 6, and 10, respectively.

    No other Texas cities made it onto the list of most or least expensive.

    The cheapest city to raise a family is Gilbert, Arizona, and the most expensive is San Diego, California, according to the report.

    To determine the most and least family-friendly cities, Harmony Healthcare IT evaluated the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. They compared a variety of data including the cost of living, education, childcare, crime, healthcare and housing.

    What helped Plano score a top-three ranking?

    The Plano Chamber of Commerce touts Plano as “the best city to live in Texas,” thanks to an exceptional academic environment, diverse population, residential neighborhoods, and outstanding city amenities, according to the chamber website. Its diverse population “comes together to create a connected community with a distinctive friendly nature and independent spirit,” the chamber website states.

    The Plano ISD plays a vital role in Plano’s economic success and lures both families and companies to the city, according to the Plano Chamber of Commerce. With enrollment of 52,629 students, PISD boasts one of the highest performances on college entrance exams in the nation.

    This is not Plano’s first accolade for its family-friendliness. In October 2022, StorageCafe.com ranked the city as the No. 1 most family-friendly city in the U.S. In June 2022, WalletHub ranked Plano as the fourth best place in the country to raise a family.

    Fortune did not include Plano in its September 2022 list of the 25 best cities for families. Instead, the magazine ranked Dallas suburb Wylie at No. 2 and Houston suburb Sugar Land at No. 17.

    Elsewhere in North Texas ...

    The Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce describes Irving, the No. 4 least expensive city to raise a family, as a “great place to live, work, play and raise a family.” It boasts a wide variety of housing, from contemporary affordability to high-end luxury. The chamber also notes the city’s 190 acres of parks and greenbelts, 17 miles of canal waterways, 10 miles of riverside hiking and biking trails and four libraries.

    Garland, ranked No. 6, has the 10th largest school district in Texas and remains dedicated to quality teaching and interaction for every individual student, according to the Garland Chamber of Commerce. One of Garland ISD’s most popular advantages is that parents are able to choose the campus they wish to have their child attend.

    No. 10-ranked Fort Worth is known for warm greetings and hospitality, inviting neighborhoods, and a vibrant and rich culture. While offering a “small-town feel,” the city offers “big-city perks,” touts the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.

    To view Harmony Healthcare IT’s full report, click here.

    reportsfamilies
    news/city-life
    popular

    Unhappy holidays

    Porch pirates pilfer nearly $2B worth of Texas packages, study shows

    John Egan
    Dec 18, 2025 | 9:04 am
    Porch Pirate Person in Glasses Steals Packages
    Getty Images
    undefined

    ’Tis the season for porch pirates. If past trends are an indicator, the Grinch will swipe close to $2 billion worth of packages delivered to Texas households this year, with many of those thefts happening ahead of the holiday season.

    An analysis of FBI and survey data by ecommerce marketing company Omnisend shows porch pirates stole more than $1.8 billion worth of packages from Texans’ porches last year. Porch pirates hit nearly one-third of the state’s households in 2024, according to the analysis.

    Omnisend’s analysis reveals these statistics about porch piracy in Texas:

    • 30.1 million residential package thefts in 2024.
    • An average household loss of $169 per year.
    • An annual average of 2.9 package thefts per household.

    “Most stolen items are cheap on their own, but add them up, and retailers and consumers are facing an enormous bill,” says Omnisend.

    Another data analysis, this one from The Action Network sports betting platform, unwraps different figures regarding porch piracy in Texas.

    The platform’s 2025 Porch Pirate Index ranks Texas as the state with the highest volume of residential thefts, based on 2023-24 FBI data.

    Researchers at The Action Network uncovered 26,293 reports of personal property thefts at Texas residences during that period. The network’s survey data indicates 5 percent of Texas residents had a package stolen in the three months before the pre-holiday survey.

    The Porch Pirate Index calculates a 25.8 percent risk of a Texas household being victimized by porch pirates, putting it in the No. 5 spot among states with the highest risk of porch piracy.

    The Action Network included online-search volume for terms like “package stolen” and “porch pirates.” Sustained spikes in these searches suggest that “people are actively looking for guidance after something has happened. Search trends serve as an early warning system, revealing emerging-risk areas well before annual crime statistics are released,” the network says.

    Tips to avoid being a victim
    So, how do you prevent porch pirates from snatching packages that end up on your porch? Omnisend, The Action Network and Amazon offer these eight tips:

    1. Closely monitor deliveries and quickly retrieve packages.
    2. Schedule deliveries for times when you’ll be home.
    3. Use delivery lockers or in-store pickup when possible.
    4. Ask delivery services to hide packages in out-of-sight spots outside your home.
    5. Install a visible doorbell camera or security camera.
    6. Coordinate deliveries with neighbors or building managers if you’ll be away from your home when packages are supposed to arrive.
    7. Request that delivery services hold your packages if you can’t be home when they’re scheduled to come.
    8. Illuminate the path to your doorstep and keep porch lights on.
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