Thriving Austin suburb named 5th best Texas city to move to

Several Austin neighbors have been deemed the best Texas cities to move to, with one booming city — Leander — coming in at No. 5.

Advisors at ConsumerAffairs, a customer review and news platform, ranked the 50 most populated Texas cities across five main categories — affordability, safety, economy, health care and education, and quality of life — to determine which were the best places to move to. Each city was given a score out of 100 possible points.

The top four best places to move to in Texas are all located in Dallas-Fort Worth: Allen (No .1), Frisco (No. 2), Plano (No. 3), and McKinney (No. 4). Leander rounded out the top five, and Round Rock appeared at No. 9.

In the safety category, Leander topped the list, and its economy is the second-best statewide. The city came in No. 12 for its health care and education, and No. 32 for affordability. Its lowest ranking was No. 40 for quality of life.

“Leander’s origin dates back to the 1880s, when a rail line was constructed to connect Austin to Abilene,” the report said. “Nowhere among Texas’ largest cities is violent crime less common, and over the past five years, no metro area has experienced faster job growth.”

Leander has been booming in recent years, and U.S. News & World Report also named the suburb a top place to live this year. The city ranked No. 8 nationwide, and it also landed in U.S. News’ separate rankings of the best places to retire in America in 2026.

Aspects of Leander that put it among U.S. News’ top 10 include its high median household income ($131,822), median home values ($493,774), and its bustling population of about 78,000 residents.

The city’s population is a healthy mix of young individuals and families, with 28 percent of residents being under 20 years old and 38 percent of the population being between the ages of 20 and 44. Nearly a quarter of Leander’s population is between 45 and 64 years old, and 11 percent of residents are over 65, the report says.

Elsewhere in Austin
Round Rock had the No. 1 best economy in Texas, and it has the 20th best health care and education statewide. Meanwhile, Georgetown landed right outside the top 10 as the 15th best place to move to in the Lone Star State.

Austin proper appeared as the 26th best Texas city to move to, and two more Central Texas cities landed spots on the list: Temple (No. 20), and Killeen (No. 41). Surprisingly, Cedar Park and Pflugerville were nowhere to be found in the rankings.

The top 10 best Texas cities to move to are:

No. 1 – AllenNo. 2 – FriscoNo. 3 – PlanoNo. 4 – McKinneyNo. 5 – LeanderNo. 6 – MansfieldNo. 7 – Sugar LandNo. 8 – League CityNo. 9 – Round RockNo. 10 – Richardson