A nod to Central Texas
Austin suburb rolls onto Money’s list of best places to live in 2021
An Austin suburb is really rockin’, according to one major U.S. publication.
Round Rock, the booming community located north of Austin, ranked in the No. 25 spot on Money magazine’s new list of the 50 best places to live in the U.S.
Money notes that Round Rock — which, yes, folks, was named after a literal round rock in the 1800s — ranked prevalently on the national list thanks to its many housing options, robust educational opportunities, and low property taxes, something nearby Austinites likely covet.
In addition to its No. 25 ranking, Round Rock, home of tech giant Dell, takes the No. 1 spot on the Money list in terms of projected job growth through 2025. That’s all good news for the suburb, which didn’t even earn a spot on the list last year.
Other Texas communities that Money called out on its best places to live list include the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound (No. 4) and Frisco (No. 19), though Money says that to “keep the list interesting,” it disqualified the top five finishers from 2020, including Texas spot Rockwall.
Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, lands in the No. 1 spot this year.
For the list, Money considered communities with populations ranging from 25,000 to 500,000. Round Rock is home to about 133,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The magazine then narrowed the list to 50 towns or cities based on factors such as:
- Crime rate.
- Median income.
- Population growth.
- Diversity.
- Cost of living.
- Economic opportunity.
- Education.
- Amenities.
- Health and safety.
- Housing market.
- Quality of life.
