LIST: Austin the 5th-best place to live in Texas, No. 26 in entire country, website says

Posted: May 20, 2021 / 10:12 AM CDT

Updated: May 20, 2021 / 10:12 AM CDT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin is one of the best places to live in the country, according to rankings by Niche.com.

Austin slides in the list at No. 26 out of 228 the website reviewed, the fifth-best place to live in Texas. Analysts gave it an overall grade of A, it dinged the city on a couple of categories.

Austin received its worst grade, a C, in the crime and safety category and a C+ in cost of living. The website gave the city a B- grade in housing and a B+ in weather, but every other category analysts reviewed — public schools, family living, jobs, outdoor activities, nightlife, diversity, health and fitness and commuting — got at least an A-.

“Even though I’ve only been an Austinite for 3 years, I already see why so many people want to move here,” one review from an Austinite said. The reviewer was disappointed with the city about its response to the February winter storms and the frigid temps it brought with it, however.

How does Austin compare to other Texas cities on the list? Round Rock is three spots behind Austin at No. 29. Houston suburb The Woodlands was named as the best place in the entire country to live by the site. Here are where Texas cities fall on the website’s list:

No. 1, The Woodlands
No. 7, Plano
No. 12, Richardson
No. 24, College Station
No. 26, Austin
No. 29, Round Rock
No. 41, Irving
No. 54, Denton
No. 56, Lubbock
No. 74, Houston
No. 80, Arlington
No. 84, Dallas
No. 96, Tyler
No. 97, Wichita Falls
No. 98, San Antonio
No. 108, Abilene
No. 114, Amarillo
No. 118, El Paso
No. 120, McAllen
No. 124, Fort Worth
No. 131, Waco
No. 134, Corpus Christi
No. 156, Midland
No. 164, Beaumont
No. 179, Killeen
No. 200, Odessa
No. 201, Brownsville
No. 204, Laredo

Niche.com says they gather data to compile the rankings from government sources like the U.S. Department of Education, Census Bureau, the FBI and others. They also scour review sites to find reviews from people who live in the cities, and they have researchers analyze other statistics to come up with their final lists.

The website also named Austin as the No. 19 city on its list of best places to live for young professionals. In 2020, US News and World Report ranked Austin as No. 3 on its list of best places to live.

The top five cities on the Niche.com list are: