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2 Dallas neighbors shine on 2025 list of best small cities in America

Allen is one of the best small cities in America, says WalletHub.

Visit Allen, Texas/Facebook

Buzzy Dallas suburbs Allen and Flower Mound land near the top of WalletHub's 2025 list of the best small cities in America, with many more DFW neighbors earning spots on the list.

The annual survey compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 residents based on 45 livability metrics categorized into five key dimensions: Affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and overall safety. Cities were grouped by percentile, where the 99th percentile represents the best small American cities.

Out of the 19 total U.S. cities that ranked among the 99th percentile of best small cities in America, Carmel, Indiana; Brookfield, Washington; and Apex, North Carolina landed in the top three spots.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, Allen ranked in the 96th percentile while Flower Mound ranked in the 93rd percentile. Both cities have held on to their respective rankings for the second year in a row. Rockwall, which ranked within the 97th percentile last year, was demoted into the 89th percentile for 2025.

Located about 25 miles from downtown Dallas, Allen's overall safety ranked No. 56 in WalletHub's national ranking of the safest small cities. Allen also earned a favorable rankings for its affordability (No. 131), education and health (No. 177), and economic health (No. 181), but it lagged behind for its quality of life (No. 540).

Allen has one of the top 10 best real estate markets for 2025, and its 75013 ZIP code was the No. 1 most popular place for renters place to live in 2024. This techy suburb is also a top destination for remote workers.

Flower Mound is about 29 miles miles northwest of Dallas, and has previously topped a separate national list of the best places to live in the U.S. Personal finance website SmartAsset also ranked Flower Mound one of the top-10 most livable small cities nationwide earlier in 2025.

This popular suburb has had a string of new restaurant openings this year, including fast-casual Indian restaurant Curry Up Now and upscale Mexican eatery Los Caminos. The suburb also recently got a new Nordstrom Rack location.

WalletHub ranked Flower Mound's affordability the 44th best on its national list, but it fell behind in the remaining four categories.

Here's how WalletHub broke down Flower Mound's rank:

No. 176 – Safety
No. 256 – Economic health
No. 503 – Quality of life
No. 677 – Education and health

According to WalletHub, about 47 percent of Americans say they would prefer to live in a suburb, while less than a quarter (24 percent) would prefer to live in an urban area or a rural community (23 percent).

"Small-city life can be best for those who appreciate more wiggle room, fewer degrees of separation and shorter commutes, to name just a few of its advantages," the report said. "Granted, these little urban areas demand some tradeoffs, too, such as fewer restaurant options or shorter business hours."

Other DFW cities that appeared among the top 50th percentile of the best small American cities include:

82nd – Little Elm
79th – Southlake and Colleyville (tied)
76th – Sachse
75th – Keller
74th – Coppell and Mansfield (tied)
71st – Wylie
68th – Grapevine
61st – Burleson
58th – Waxahachie
56th – Weatherford
50th – North Richland Hills

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-area suburbs Leander (97th) and Cedar Park (94th) were the remaining two cities to appear in the 90-99th percentile range. Leander maintained its rank for the second year in a row, but Cedar Park slipped slightly after ranking in the 95th percentile last year.

real estate suburbs wallethub dallas fort worth allen flower mound

not too shabby

Dallas ranks No. 15 nationwide on new affordability and housing report

Reunion Tower

Downtown Dallas skyline, all lit up.

A new national real estate report card has given Dallas-Fort Worth a passing grade for housing demand and affordability.

Realtor.com's first-ever Metro Affordability & Homebuilding Report Card compared the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. based on two scores that measured the most important factors for potential home buyers: an "Affordability Components" score that examined the current affordability of housing for residents, and a "Homebuilding Components" score that analyzed the rate of new home construction to meet future demand. Both scores were then used to calculate the final score and assigned a letter grade.

Only 10 total U.S. metros, including Houston (No. 4) and Austin (No. 6), received grades in the "A" range (A+, A, A- ) representing the most balanced locales for "favorable current affordability conditions and healthy future inventory growth to sustain them."

"Homebuilding and affordability are inseparable, and if we want to improve affordability in a lasting way, we need to build more homes," said Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. "The metros at the top of these rankings show that buyers benefit most when communities pair homes that are attainable for today's local earners with enough new construction to support tomorrow's demand."

Only two metros earned "A+" grades with a total score of 77.5 or higher: De Moines-West DeMoines, Idaho (83.4 points) and Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina (82.8 points).

Dallas-Fort Worth earned a "B+" overall with a total score of 67.9 points, an "Affordability Components" score of 54.5 points, and a "Homebuying Components" score of 81.3 points. The DFW Metroplex also ranks 15th in the national ranking of the best metros for affordability and housing.

Five more U.S. metros earned the same rating: Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia-South Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Madison, Wisconsin; Wichita, Kansas; and Louisville, Kentucky-Indiana.

Realtor.com's report said the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro has a median household income of $88,783, and home listings have a median price of $426,446. The report's findings also show that newly built homes in the region cost 8.9 percent more than existing homes on the market.

DFW has a 1.76 housing permit-to population ratio, meaning the metro permits 76 percent more new homes than what would be considered typical based on its population and national average construction levels.

DFW's "Realtors Affordability Score," or the share of for-sale inventory affordable to households at different income levels, is 0.639, or slightly lower than the national average of 0.675.

Housing market grades across other Texas metros
Houston and Austin were the only two Texas metros to earn a grade in the "A" range.

Houston outperformed every Texas metro for housing and affordability with its solid "A" rating. Newly built homes in the Houston area cost about 7 percent more than existing homes on the market, and the metro has a 1.88 housing permit-to population ratio.

Austin earned an "A-" with a combined score of 72.5 points. Unlike many other U.S. metros, newly built homes in the Austin area are actually more affordable than existing homes on the market. Austin has a negative new construction premium, where new build homes are 6 percent cheaper than existing ones.

The Austin metro also has a permit-to-population ratio of 2.37. Combined with the negative new construction premium, these factors signal that "builders are delivering homes at a rate well above the metro's population share — and at prices slightly below existing homes."

This is a snapshot of the factors that impacted Austin's grade:

Realtors Affordability Score: 0.639
Median listing price: $501,200
Median household income: $102,412

Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio-New Braunfels and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission both earned "C+" ratings, while El Paso's housing market performance was only worthy of a "D" grade.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the highest-performing housing markets are:

No. 1 – De Moines-West Demoines, Idaho (A+)
No. 2 – Ralgieh-Cary, North Carolina (A+)
No. 3 – Columbia, South Carolina (A)
No. 4 – Houston, Texas (A)
No. 5 – Indianapolis, Indiana (A)
No. 6 – Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas (A-)
No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida (A-)
No. 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (A-)
No. 9 – Palm Bay-Melbourne, Florida (A-)
No. 10 – Columbus, Ohio (A-)

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