Ask five people in Dallas–Fort Worth where you should live and you’ll get five answers — usually the city each of them lives in. That’s not bad advice, exactly. It’s just narrow. Most of us know one suburb intimately, a couple more from driving through, and the rest from a friend’s opinion or a school-rating headline.
Realust exists to fix that. We score every city in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Rockwall counties — 84 of them — on 288 data points each, from household income and test scores to crime rates, commute times and five-year price trends. This guide puts all 84 side by side so you can see the whole metro at once, not just the corner you already know.
The 10 best places to live in North Texas
These are the cities with the highest Realust Score right now. Four cities tie at 86, so the “top 10” is really a top 13.
A few things jump out. The two Park Cities, University Park and Highland Park, sit at the top — but they also carry the metro’s highest price tags, by a mile. Right behind them are the master-planned northern suburbs that most relocating families already have on their list: Frisco, Prosper and Trophy Club all score 92. And then there are names many people outside their zip codes have never considered: Double Oak, a wooded town of about 3,000 in southern Denton County that scores 94, and Sunnyvale, a quiet, semi-rural pocket east of Dallas at 89.
That’s the point of looking at the whole map. If you only knew your own side of town, you might never have heard of either.
How the Realust Score works
Every city gets a score from 0 to 100 in eight categories. Each category is weighted by how much it tends to matter when people choose where to live, then they’re combined into one number:
- Prosperity26%
- Schools18%
- Safety18%
- Lifestyle12%
- Market8%
- Affordability6%
- Commute6%
- Growth6%
How the Realust Score weighs each category today. Homes above $450K also earn a fixed price-tier bonus, capped at 98.
There’s one more piece, and we think you should know about it: cities with higher median home prices get a small price-tier bonus, up to 15 points. Our reasoning is that sustained high prices are the market telling you something about demand that raw data can miss. In the charts on this page, that bonus is the wine-colored end of each bar. If you’d rather judge on the eight categories alone, here’s how the top shifts:
- Double Oak — 86 before the price bonus
- Heath — 85 before the price bonus
- Frisco — 84 before the price bonus
- Prosper — 84 before the price bonus
- Trophy Club — 84 before the price bonus
- Flower Mound — 83 before the price bonus
- University Park — 82 before the price bonus
- Allen — 82 before the price bonus
Same names, mostly — but Double Oak and Heath move to the front, and Allen, Fate and Wylie climb into the conversation. For a deeper look at weighing these categories for your own family, read 8 things to weigh before you look at a single house.
County by county
North Texas isn’t one market. Each county has its own personality, price range and spread of scores.
Collin County
The suburban growth engine north of Dallas. Deep bench of high scorers.
Denton County
Lake towns, horse country and master-planned suburbs to the northwest.
Dallas County
The urban core, the Park Cities, and the inner-ring suburbs. The widest spread.
Collin County has the deepest bench: ten of its 24 cities score 80 or higher, more than any other county. Frisco, Prosper, McKinney and Allen carry the name recognition, but small towns like Lucas and Parker score just as well if you want acreage over amenities.
Denton County is close behind, with eight cities at 80+. Flower Mound, Trophy Club and Double Oak lead, and the county has some of the best-priced high scorers in the metro — more on that below.
Dallas County has the widest range. It holds the top two cities in the entire ranking and many of the lowest-scoring ones. The inner-ring suburbs here tend to score lower on prosperity and safety but higher on commute and affordability — a real trade-off, not a verdict.
Rockwall County is small but consistent. All six of its cities score 68 or better, and Heath (90), Rockwall (84) and Fate (82) make it the highest-scoring county on average.
The big-city ranking
If you want a city with its own downtown, hospitals, shopping and a big school district — places with 100,000+ residents — the field narrows. Here’s how North Texas’s largest cities compare:
Frisco leads comfortably, with McKinney and Allen close behind and noticeably cheaper. Plano scores lower than its reputation might suggest, mostly because its growth has leveled off — but it’s still one of the best-connected cities in the metro, with a commute score of 82. If you’re torn between the Collin County big three, our Frisco vs. Plano vs. McKinney matchup breaks it down category by category.
The City of Dallas itself scores 68. That number reflects averages across a huge, varied city; individual neighborhoods range far above and below it. Dallas does score best of all 84 cities on commute.
Best value: where your dollar goes furthest
A high score usually comes with a high price. But not always. This chart plots every city’s score against its median home price. The cities in the green box score 76 or higher with a median under $500,000 — the metro’s sweet spot.
The standout is Wylie: a score of 82 with a median price under $500K. Krum and Providence Village both score 78 with medians around $340K–$350K, and Lake Dallas, Lavon and Rowlett all land at 76–77 for well under $450K.
Strong schools (89) and safety (83) with Lake Lavon next door. One of the best all-round values in Collin County.
Small-town Denton County with a safety score of 90. A real option if you work in Denton or don’t commute daily.
Balanced across the board, with an above-average commute score (75) for its price range.
Keep in mind: cheaper cities with high scores often have a catch, usually commute time or fewer amenities nearby. That’s exactly the trade-off the category scores help you see.
The best city for what you care about
Overall scores are a starting point. Most families have one or two things that outweigh everything else. Here are the leaders in the categories people ask us about most.
Best schools
Safest cities
Easiest commute
Fastest growing
Most affordable
Notice how little these lists overlap. The safest towns tend to be smaller and further out, the easiest commutes are in the older, closer-in cities, and the fastest growth is on the edges of the metro, from Princeton and Melissa in the north to Wilmer in the south. There’s no single best city — only the best one for your trade-offs.
All 84 North Texas cities, ranked
Here’s the complete list. Filter by county, or re-sort by any category to see who leads on what matters to you. Tap a city to open its full profile.
Scores update live from the Realust dataset. A handful of small towns are missing crime data; their Safety score sits at a neutral 50 until we fill it, so treat their overall score as provisional.
- Where will you work, and how many days a week will you actually drive there?
- Which matters more for your family: top-rated schools or a lower monthly payment?
- Do you want a big city with everything nearby, or a small town with more space?
- Are you buying for the next five years, or the next twenty? Growth cities can change fast.
Go deeper on a city
Once you’ve got a short list, these guides go further:
Or put any two or three cities head to head with the Realust compare tool.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best place to live in North Texas?
By overall Realust Score, University Park (97), Double Oak (94) and Highland Park (93) rank highest. Among larger suburbs, Frisco and Prosper lead at 92. The best place for you depends on your budget, commute and priorities — use the table above to sort by what matters most.
What is the best Dallas suburb for families?
Families tend to weigh schools and safety most. Frisco, Prosper, Trophy Club, Flower Mound and Allen all score highly on both. For a lower price point, Wylie and Fate offer strong schools and safety for around $500K.
What is the most affordable good city near Dallas?
Wylie (82, about $495K), Krum (78, about $347K) and Providence Village (78, about $339K) offer the best balance of score and price right now.
Which county is best to live in near Dallas?
Rockwall County has the highest average score, but only six cities. Collin County has the most high-scoring cities overall, and Denton County is close behind with eight cities at 80 or higher. Dallas County has the widest range, including the two top-ranked cities.
How often are these rankings updated?
The full table on this page pulls from the live Realust dataset, so it updates as our data does. The charts and figures in the text reflect scores as of October 2026.