Six North Texas cities have been ranked among the “most livable” mid-sized cities in the U.S. in a study by personal finance technology company SmartAsset.
Frisco sits highest at No. 17, while Allen ties with Carmel, Ind. at No. 19. Carrollton and Lewisville trail shortly behind at No. 21 and No. 22, respectively. McKinney is ranked No. 28, and Mesquite was placed at No. 48.
SmartAsset began its study by compiling a list of cities with at least 100,000 residents, while excluding the country’s top 100 most populous cities.
The company compared eight metrics across the 227 cities: median home value change, median monthly housing costs, percentage of residents below the poverty line, median household income, unemployment rate, percentage of residents without health insurance, average commute time and Gini coefficient, a measurement of income inequality.
Each of the cities fared comparatively well to the overall national average unemployment rate in July of 10.2%, and to the 10.7% average rate among the mid-sized cities studied by SmartAsset.
The unemployment rate in Collin County — which is home to Frisco, Allen and McKinney — in July was 6.6%, one of the lowest rates on the list. In July in Dallas County (Carrollton and Mesquite), the unemployment rate was 8.1%, and in Denton County (Lewisville) it was 6.9%.
Here’s how each of the six North Texas cities was scored by the study.
Frisco was rated highly for its 32.46% increase in median home value from 2015 to 2019, while its median monthly housing costs come to about $1,944. Its poverty rate of 3.5% ties for the third-lowest on the list, with Allen and Sugar Land.
Its median household income is $116,884, the sixth-highest among the top 54 mid-sized cities in SmartAsset’s report.
Allen, with its $101,360 median household income and income and median monthly housing costs of $1,725, saw a 27.73% median home value change in the time frame studied.
Carrollton had a lower median monthly housing cost of about $1,398. Its change in median home value since 2015 is 45.97%, while the median household income sits at $85,830. The poverty rate is 6.2%.
Lewisville’s median monthly housing costs are $1,249, with a median household income of $65,836. It’s seen a change of 55.07% in median home value since 2015, with a poverty level of 8.3%.
McKinney has seen median home value change by 39.35%, while its median monthly housing costs are about $1,760. The poverty rate is about 7.7%, while the city’s median household income is $89,828.
Mesquite has one of the lowest median monthly housing costs on the list at $1,113. The city’s change in median home value since 2015 is 46.02% with a median household income of $61,047. The poverty rate is 7.1%.
