This Is the Best Suburb for City-Like Living

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Jan 12, 5:00PM EST

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This Is the Best Suburb for City-Like Living — © rodclementphotography / Getty Images

Americans are on the move. Some move to smaller cities, others to rural areas, and some prefer to keep close to the city. The best suburb for city-like living is Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

In many of the places Americans are moving, housing prices are rising. According to the carefully watched S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, home prices rose 19.1% in October compared to the same month last year. In some cities, the figure is above 25%.

Among the reasons people have moved in the last two years is a desire to relocate from expensive coastal cities like New York and San Francisco. Median home pricerecs in these places can be twice the national average. The overall cost of living is high as well. Many people have migrated inland to states such as Idaho and Arizona. Homes there are more affordable. And the perceived quality of life is often better. (This is the best county to live in every state.)

Two other reasons that Americans have moved into new homes are low mortgage rates and the COVID-19 pandemic work-from-home movement. Millions of people no longer go to corporate offices. (This city will pay you $20,000 to move there.)

People who move still need to decide if they want to live in cities, suburbs, or rural areas. StorageCafe, which tracks self-storage trends, recently released “The Best US Suburbs For City-Like Living” report. 24/7 Tempo reviewed the report to find places where people may be able to have the best of the city/suburb lifestyle.

Among the factors StorageCafe considered were median household income, housing affordability, employment opportunities, population density, the number of retail stores, the ranking of local schools, the number of parks, and crime levels. Housing affordability is the ratio of housing prices — both rent rates and house prices — to income.

Most of the data StorageCafe used came from the U.S. Census and other federal government sources. Suburbs were defined as having a population of 10,000 to 100,000. The study examined 1,000 suburbs of America’s 100 largest cities.

The report points out that suburbs have evolved. “The suburban landscape went through significant revamping in some places, adding diversity to the local housing stock, including upscale rental apartments, highly sought-after amenities such as restaurants and entertainment venues, shopping options as well as jobs within easy reach.”

The best suburb for city-like living is Southlake, Texas, just outside Dallas. Housing affordability and the quality of schools are among the reasons it ranks so high. Dallas is among America’s fastest-growing cities, according to the 2020 Census. From 2010, its population rose 19.96% to 7,637,387, which makes it the fourth largest city in the country.

Click here to see the best suburb for city-like living

25. Westwood, NJ
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 251
> Population density (people per square mile): 4,920

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24. Lincolnwood, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 174
> Population density (people per square mile): 4,619

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23. Colleyville, TX
> Metro area: Dallas
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 195
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,017

New Jersey Route 18, Tinton Fa... by Ken Luпd

New Jersey Route 18, Tinton Fa... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ken Luпd

22. Tinton Falls, NJ
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 213
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,139

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Suwanee (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Luigi Rosa

21. Suwanee, GA
> Metro area: Atlanta
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 239
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,797

Dedham, Massachusetts (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Doug Kerr

20. Dedham, MA
> Metro area: Boston
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 213
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,462

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19. Alpharetta, GA
> Metro area: Atlanta
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 298
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,438

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Laguna Beach (CC BY 2.0) by tdlucas5000

18. Laguna Beach, CA
> Metro area: Los Angeles
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 179
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,590

17. Glenview, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 194
> Population density (people per square mile): 3,387

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Perfection (CC BY 2.0) by SurFeRGiRL30

16. Franklin Lakes, NJ
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 154
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,163

Deerfield Station (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Adam Moss

15. Deerfield, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 219
> Population density (people per square mile): 3,438

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14. Mequon, WI
> Metro area: Milwaukee
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 209
> Population density (people per square mile): 522

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Agoura Hills. East Agoura is on the right side of the image. by Arspickles17

Agoura Hills. East Agoura is on the right side of the image. (CC BY-SA 3.0) by Arspickles17

13. Agoura Hills, CA
> Metro area: Los Angeles
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 134
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,634

Sands Point Preserve, Port Was... by Michael Sean Gallagher

Sands Point Preserve, Port Was... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Michael Sean Gallagher

12. Port Washington, NY
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 215
> Population density (people per square mile): 3,763

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Venice Fishing Pier (CC BY 2.0) by Don Miller

11. Venice, FL
> Metro area: Sarasota
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 187
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,449

10. Garden City, NY
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 131
> Population density (people per square mile): 4,223

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Water tower in Northbrook, Ill... by Ben Schumin

Water tower in Northbrook, Ill... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Ben Schumin

9. Northbrook, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 185
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,518

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8. Brentwood, TN
> Metro area: Nashville
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 177
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,032

Oakland Station (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Adam Moss

7. Oakland, NJ
> Metro area: New York
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 182
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,526

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20190330 07 Burr Ridge Village... by David Wilson

20190330 07 Burr Ridge Village... (CC BY 2.0) by David Wilson

6. Burr Ridge, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 153
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,507

Calabasas Creek Park (CC BY 2.0) by Laurie Avocado

5. Calabasas, CA
> Metro area: Los Angeles
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 134
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,750

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20140704 44 Geneva, Illinois by David Wilson

20140704 44 Geneva, Illinois (CC BY 2.0) by David Wilson

4. Geneva, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 257
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,207

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Highland Park Public Library by Teemu008

Highland Park Public Library (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Teemu008

3. Highland Park, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 221
> Population density (people per square mile): 2,420

2. Lake Forest, IL
> Metro area: Chicago
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 192
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,115

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Southlake City Hall, Southlake Town Square by Chriswardster

Southlake City Hall, Southlake Town Square (public domain.) by Chriswardster

1. Southlake, TX
> Metro area: Dallas
> Housing affordability (price to income ratio): 228
> Population density (people per square mile): 1,434

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.