If you're looking to start or add to your brood, you'll want to be located in these highly sought-after Texas areas. That's according to Niche, the online platform that helps people choose schools and places to live.
It just released its rankings of the Best Places to Raise a Family in Texas, and two Houston spots make the top five: The Woodlands is No. 3, followed by Cinco Ranch at No. 4.
The Woodlands also shows up on Niche's list of the Best Cities to Live, claiming the top spot in the nation.
Niche used weighted data to arrive at its rankings, with its own public school grades comprising the largest chunk of the score (20 percent).
Next is the percentage of residents who have received a bachelor’s degree or higher (12.5 percent), and the cost of living grade, violent and property crime rates, and a housing grade (which includes home values, property taxes, housing costs, and more) all weighing in at 10 percent.
Other factors such as family amenities (access to parks, libraries, and cultural events), outdoor activities, walkability, diversity, and an overall score determined by Niche users on a scale of 1-5.
The percentage of households with children under the age of 18 also figured in, obviously.
Rounding out the top five in Texas are the Austin town of Rollingwood at No. 1, Cottonwood Creek (a DFW neighborhood in Richardson that Niche, for some reason, identifies as Cotten Creek South) at No. 2, and Coppell, located in the northwest corner of Dallas, at No. 5.
This is the seventh consecutive year that Niche has produced these rankings, spanning 228 cities and 18,516 towns and neighborhoods.
