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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.

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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.

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in demand

Dallas ranks among top 10 U.S. metros for surge in millionaire renters

joe daniel price/Getty Images

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The number of millionaire renters and homeowners in the U.S. has surged over the last five years, and Dallas has cracked the top 10 metros with the largest growth rates among these affluent renter households.

Nationwide, the number of millionaire renter households grew 229 percent from 2020 to 2024, far outpacing the 193 percent growth rate among millionaire homeowners, a new RentCafe study found.

In Dallas, the number of millionaire renter households has more than quintupled, from just 30 in 2020 to 165 in 2024. That represents a renter growth rate of 450 percent, which - surprisingly - is only the 8th highest nationwide.

Houston leads the nation with the No. 1 increase in millionaire renters. The number of these wealthy households increased from 18 to 232 over the last five years, representing an impressive 1,189 percent growth rate.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the biggest surge in millionaire renters are:

No. 1 – Houston
No. 2 – Naples, Florida
No. 3 – Miami
No. 4 – Seattle
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – Denver
No. 7 – St. Louis, Missouri
No. 8 – Dallas
No. 9 – Boston
No. 10 – Phoenix

But when it comes to the largest populations of millionaire renters, New York City and San Francisco still lead the way. New York claimed the No. 1 spot with nearly 7,300 millionaire renters living in the city in 2024. Dallas ranked 17th on that list.

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston and Austin ranked as the 12th and 16th, respectively, for the largest population of millionaire renters. There were 232 millionaire renters living in Houston in 2024, and 206 in Austin.

This is who the typical millionaire renter is
The report also revealed a surprising statistic about the typical millionaire renter in the U.S. — a lot of them are millennials working in "white-collar, high-earning fields."

"Nearly half (49 percent) of millionaire renters are Millennials, and the number of affluent Millennial renter households surged 392 percent during the five-year period," the report said. "Gen X follows with 33 percent of millionaire Gen X households renting after increasing by 147 percent."

The report continued, "Although Gen Z still represents a small share of millionaire renters (just 2 percent of the total), no generation has expanded faster: Gen Z millionaire renter households leaped from fewer than a dozen to more than 400 — a tiny cohort today, but one that was virtually nonexistent five years ago."

The top three most common professions for millionaire renters are chief executives, software developers, and managers, the report additionally found.

"These roles tend to generate steady, substantial income without necessarily tying workers to one location, making renting a practical fit, rather than a financial necessity," the report said.

Hotspots for millionaire homeowners
In RentCafe's separate list comparing the top 10 most popular U.S. metros for millionaire homeowners, Dallas ranked 10th nationally with 4,731 millioniare homeowners living in the metro as of 2024. These wealthy Dallas residents are most likely working as chief executives, physicians, managers, and lawyers and judges.

Dallas has already proven to be a hotspot for millennial homebuyers, and the latest RentCafe data says millennials make up 19 percent of all millionaire homeowners in the U.S. Gen Xers and Baby Boomers still maintain the largest shares of millionaire homeowners nationwide, at 45 and 33 percent, respectively.

Houston (No. 12) and Austin (No. 20) appeared further down the list among the hottest metros for millionaire homeowners.

Only one Texas city appeared among RentCafe's list of the 20 fastest-growing metros for millionaire homeowners: College Station ranked 13th nationwide with a growth rate of 1,329 percent. From 2020-2024, the number of millionaire homeowners residing in College Station grew from 14 to 200.

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