It's been five years since the Great Recession officially ended, and Texas appears stronger than ever. According to a new analysis by Nerdwallet.com, eight of the top 10 most improved cities are in the Lone Star State.
Using data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, as well as figures from the labor and housing markets, researchers determined that the most improved city in America is McAllen. The border town saw a nearly 32 percent increase in household income and a 16 percent rise in home values.
Since 2009, when the recession officially ended, median household income has increased by more than 10 percent in Sugar Land while the median home value has jumped by 8.3 percent.
Other Texas towns in the top 10 are Midland, San Angelo, Bryan, College Station, Odessa, Edinburg and Amarillo.
Ranking close behind is Sugar Land at No. 13. Since 2009, median household income has increased by more than 10 percent in the Houston suburb while the median home value has jumped by 8.3 percent.
A handful of Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs also earned spots in the survey, which culled a list of 510 cities to determine the 40 most improved economies. Leading the North Texas pack is Richardson at No. 14. Grand Prairie is No. 16, Irving is No. 22, Frisco is No. 27 and McKinney slid in at No. 38.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Lone Star State added more than 56,000 jobs in May and unemployment dropped to 5.1 percent. Gov. Rick Perry called Texas "the epicenter of job creation in America," pointing to statistics that the state has added more than 400,000 jobs in the past year.
"If you want a job, or your company needs employees, Texas is the best place in America to find both," Perry said in a statement.
Sugar Land Town Center. The Houston suburb ranks No. 13 on the list of Most Improved Cities since the recession ended in 2009.
