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2 distinguished Dallas high schools sit at head of the class as Texas' best in 2022

St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas leads the list of the state’s best private schools.

Facebook/St. Mark's School of Texas

Two campuses in Dallas have earned extra credit as the best high schools in Texas.

In the latest rankings from education review website Niche, Dallas ISD’s School for the Talented & Gifted tops the list of the state’s best public high schools, and St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas leads the list of the state’s best private high schools. Both schools ranked first on their respective Niche lists last year.

“Some of the biggest decisions that parents face have to do with their children’s education,” Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche, says in a news release. “We strive to put as much power in their hands as possible so they can make informed decisions with confidence.”

Other Dallas-Fort Worth public high schools in the state’s top 10 this year are Dallas ISD’s School of Science & Engineering (No. 3) and Carroll ISD’s Carroll High School (No. 7).

Aside from St. Mark’s, three other DFW schools appear in the top 10 for the state’s best private high schools: Greenhill School in Addison (No. 3), The Hockaday School in Dallas (No. 5), and Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving (No. 8).

Meanwhile, DFW school districts dominated Niche’s list of the top 10 school districts in Texas:

Carrollton ISD in Carrollton, No. 3
Lovejoy ISD in Addison, No. 5
Coppell ISD, No. 6
Frisco ISD, No. 7
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, No 8
Highland Park ISD, No. 9
Prosper ISD, No. 10

Niche says that while traditional rankings rely heavily on metrics like test scores and academic performance, its rankings combine ratings from current students, alumni, and parents with data from the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources, facilities, extracurricular activities and more.

Here’s how other Texas schools and school districts fared in this year’s Niche rankings.

Austin area

Austin ISD’s Liberal Arts & Science Academy, No. 2 among public high schools
Eanes ISD’s Westlake High School, No. 6 among public high schools
Round Rock ISD’s Westwood High IB World School, No. 8 among public high schools
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, No. 4 among private high schools
Eanes ISD, No. 1 among best school districts

Houston area

Houston ISD’s Carnegie Vanguard High School, No. 4 among public high schools
Houston ISD’s Debakey High School for Health Professions, No. 5 among public high schools
Houston ISD’s Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, No. 9 among public high schools
Katy ISD’s Seven Lakes High School, No. 10 among public high schools
The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, No. 6 among private high schools
The Village School in Houston, No. 7 among private high schools
The Kincaid School in Houston, No. 10 among private high schools

San Antonio area

Keystone School in San Antonio, No. 9 among private high schools
BASIS Texas Charter Schools in San Antonio, No. 4 among school districts

Rio Grande Valley

South Texas ISD in Mercedes, No. 2 among school districts

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population explosion

7 booming Dallas neighbors see biggest population growth in U.S.

City of Denton, TX - City Hall/Facebook

Denton had the biggest population growth rate in Dallas-Fort Worth from 2022 to 2023.

Denton, Mansfield, McKinney, and more North Texas cities are among the fastest-growing places in the country, according to a new population growth study by SmartAsset.

The report, "These Cities Saw the Largest Growth in Population – 2024 Study," examined U.S. Census population estimates for 2023, 2022, and 2018 to determine one-year and five-year population changes for 610 U.S. cities with populations of at least 65,000 residents in 2023 (where the most recent data was available).

Silver Spring, Maryland had the No. 1 biggest population boom nationwide from 2022 to 2023, SmartAsset found. The Washington, D.C. suburb grew 12.86 percent year-over-year, bringing the city's total population from 75,313 to 84,996 residents in 2023.

Denton took the lead over all other Dallas-Fort Worth cities with the 16th-largest one-year population growth rate in the U.S., at 5.32 percent. Denton gained over 8,000 residents from 2022 to 2023, bringing the city's total population to 158,361 in 2023.

This should come as no surprise to those who already live in Denton, who may know their hometown was ranked one of the safest suburbs in America.

Mansfield trailed close behind with a 4.16 percent increase in population during that same period, which landed it the No. 26 spot in the one-year population change analysis. The city gained 3,189 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 79,775 residents in 2023.

McKinney appeared farther down the list as No. 49 with just a 2.89 percent one-year growth rate from 2022 to 2023, and a total population of 213,504 residents.

Only four other Dallas-Fort Worth cities appeared in the top 100 fastest growing cities in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023:

No. 61 – Frisco (2.48 percent increase)
No. 72 – Rowlett (2.48 percent)
No. 73 – Lewisville (2.17 percent)
No. 99 – Flower Mound (1.73 percent)

The report suggested major population shifts in communities like Denton or Mansfield can result in "a variety of interwoven economic and social impacts."

"The magnitude of the population change can affect demand for businesses and services, which in turn may impact costs – or even the availability of such amenities," the report's author wrote. "Similarly, the relative age of the population can determine the strength or weakness of the local job market, as well as have an impact on local culture, economic trajectory, tax base and more."

Fast-growing cities elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the top 10 list of cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023.

New Braunfels, a San Antonio suburb, ranked No. 2 nationally with an 12.49 percent one-year population boom, and a 29.68 percent growth rate from 2018 to 2023. The city gained 12,318 new residents in that time, adding up to a total population of 110,961 residents in 2023.

Just two spots behind New Braunfels is the North Austin suburb of Georgetown (No. 4), which grew 11.34 percent to 96,317 residents in 2023. According to the report's five-year population change analysis, Georgetown ranked seventh with a 29.85 percent growth rate.

The Houston suburbs of Atascocita and Conroe ranked No. 5 and No. 9, respectively. Atascocita's total population grew to 119,502 residents in 2023, which represented a 11.03 percent growth rate from 2022, and a whopping 38.56 percent population increase since 2018. Conroe's 6.73 percent one-year population increase paled in comparison, but the city grew 23.49 percent during the five-year period from 2018 to 2023.

The top 10 U.S. cities where population grew the most from 2022 to 2023 are:

No. 1 – Silver Spring, Maryland
No. 2 – New Braunfels, Texas
No. 3 – Glen Burnie, Maryland
No. 4 – Georgetown, Texas
No. 5 – Atascocita, Texas
No. 6 – Pine Hills, Florida
No. 7 – Elgin, Illinois
No. 8 – Lehi, Utah
No. 9 – Conroe, Texas
No. 10 – Dale City, Virginia

population growth reports smartasset dallas fort worth denton suburbs mansfield