Talk about consistency.
Last year, the town of Flower Mound ranked fourth in SmartAsset’s most livable small cities. This year, the town remains fourth. In fact, three of the top four are still on the 2022 list.
For homebuyers looking for a destination suburb, Flower Mound is making a name for itself.
Other North Texas suburbs made the rankings of 286 cities but didn’t stand out like Flower Mound. Manfield was tied for 35th, North Richland Hills 78th, Rowlett 103rd,
SmartAsset, a New York-based financial technology company, determined its rankings based on housing costs relative to income, entertainment establishment density, healthcare facilities density, and poverty rate.
Flower Mound’s home affordability was ranked 19th-lowest at 17.65 percent, which is derived from the median housing costs divided by median household income. The data comes from the Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey.
O’Fallon, a suburb of St. Louis, is the most livable small city in the U.S. for the second consecutive year. Miami Beach, Fla., has ocean views, but it came in dead last, making it the least livable.
Flower Mound had the eighth-lowest poverty rate (3.8 percent) as well as the 14th-lowest income inequality.
The town has a lot going for it.
To the south is a long shoreline of Grapevine Lake. It has two premier golf courses in Tour 18 Dallas and Bridlewood Golf Club. It has plenty of parks. The town is near the amenities of Grapevine and Lewisville while being close to DFW International Airport and the technology hub of Las Colinas.
The town tracks its awards. In 2021, Flower Mound was:
- Fourth among the 50 best places to live in the U.S., according to Money.
- Third-best suburb to buy a house in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to Niche.
- Seventh-best suburb to raise a family in Texas, according to Niche.
- Eighth-best place with the best public schools in Texas, according to Niche.
- 61st Safest Small City in America, according to MoneyGeek.
- 25th-best Safest City in Texas, according to SafeWise.
- 74th on moveBuddha’s 101 Most Popular Mid-Size Cities for Movers.
- 68th on STORAGECafé’s list of best 2021 snowbird destinations.
Report review: SmartAsset’s most redeeming value is its table of most (and least) livable small cities. It’s a long list of 286 cities that’s not the easiest to navigate and comes in 20 pages. It’s a little clunky and lacks graphics. It has none. It’s nice data, but it’s a one-bunny rabbit hole to fall into. 🐇
