Lauded for livability

Houston suburb lands on list of most affordable places to live in Texas

Pearland Convention & Visitors Bureau presents Pearland Art & Crafts on the Pavilion

Pearland is one of the most affordable places to live in Texas, MarketWatch says.

Photo courtesy of Pearland Convention & Visitors Bureau

Residents of Pearland know that the bustling Houston suburb is a red-hot real estate value. The area boasts an impressive median income and close proximity to downtown Houston, the Johnson Space Center, and the Houston area’s abundance of Fortune 500 headquarters.

Little wonder, then, that a new list published by MarketWatch ranks Pearland as the fourth-best affordable place to live in Texas. The financial website makes note of Pearland's high median household income, which comes in at $92,346. Meanwhile, homes in Pearland average around $260,000.

And there's the lifestyle quotient. MarketWatch notes that Pearlanders love golf: the 'burb offers courses like Golfcrest Country Club, Pearland Golf Club, and Southwyck Golf Club.

Also mentioned are shopping and dining — The Pearland Town Center, an open-air lifestyle mall, gets a nod, as do the city’s 140 restaurants.

Elsewhere in Texas, the West Texas city of Odessa tops the list, which is based on data compiled by Livability. That website ranks the livability of U.S. cities.

Lewisville comes in as the second-best affordable place to live in Texas. MarketWatch applauds Lewisville for its median home price of $153,000, which it says is “decidedly modest for a municipality just minutes from Dallas and Fort Worth.”

In addition, Lewisville is praised for its “eclectic mix of things to do,” including shopping at Old Town Lewisville and enjoying outdoor activities at Lewisville Lake.

Showing up at No. 3 on the list is Cedar Park, a suburb of Austin. Aside from its growing number of employers, Marketwatch notes Cedar Park is home to the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars and minor league basketball’s Austin Spurs.

After Pearland, in fifth place is Frisco, which boasts the highest median income on the list: $108,284.

The report underscores Frisco’s status as a “shopper’s paradise,” with millions of square feet of retail and dining establishments. Additionally, MarketWatch says Frisco could be described as a “sports lovers’ paradise” — it's home to The Star, Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, and many other local teams.

lists texas rankings

high income earners

Pearland has highest rate of new wealthy residents in Houston

Photo courtesy of Visit Pearland

Nearly 22 percent of all Pearland households made $200,000 in 2023.

Where are the wealthy settling down in H-Town? The Houston neighbor of Pearland has added a larger percentage of high-income households recently than any other local city, and it ranks among the top 50 U.S. places with the biggest growth of high earners.

A new study by financial tech company SmartAsset, "Cities Adding the Most High-Income Households – 2025 Study" examined Census Bureau income data across 352 American cities. They were ranked based on the growth in high-earning households as a percentage of total households between 2022 and 2023. For the purpose of the study, high-income households are defined as those making $200,000 or more per year.

Pearland ranked No. 48 nationwide and No. 9 in Texas.

The study found 21.6 percent of all Pearland households made $200,000 or more in 2023, and added over 2,900 high-income earners during the one-year period. That means the city had an affluent household growth rate of 35.8 percent.

For context, the national median income for a U.S. household in 2023 was $80,610.

Pearland has previously cashed in as one of the richest Texas cities in 2023, and has been consistently lauded as one of the safest American cities. And with the new influx of wealth, Pearland residents can afford to spend the extra cash on small businesses and local restaurants, such as the popular Killen's Barbecue, BB's Tex-Orleans, and Lotus Seafood.

SmartAsset also mentioned that up-and-coming cities like Pearland can be greatly impacted by their wealthy households in many other ways.

"[The] prevalence of high-income households also can help describe the relative quality of life of a population, or tell stories about potential wealth gaps or local growth," the report said. "Changes in a city’s relative proportion of households earning high income may change due to dynamics in the local job market, housing market, cost of living, age demographics, opportunities elsewhere, and beyond."

Other high-earning cities in Texas
The Texas city that brought in the most high-earning households from 2022 to 2023 was the South Texas city of Brownsville, which also ranked No. 4 nationally.

Only two additional Houston-area cities appeared in the top 100: Atascocita (No. 82) and League City (No. 99). Atascocita added 1,623 affluent households from 2022 to 2023, while League City added 1,130 new wealthy residents.

Other Texas cities ranked among the top 100 with the most high-earning households include:

No. 15 – Edinburg
No. 24 – Lewisville
No. 25 – Round Rock
No. 29 – Abilene
No. 30 – Denton
No. 35 – New Braunfels
No. 41 – Killeen
No. 59 – Tyler
No. 61 – Amarillo
No. 63 – Carrollton
No. 77 – San Antonio
No. 97 – Richardson

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