best places to live

Austin and Leander rank as best places to live in the U.S. for 2026

Leander is thriving as the 8th best place to live in the country, and the second-best city in Texas.

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Austin and Leander have been crowned some of the best places to live in the U.S. for 2026 by U.S. News & World Report.

The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.

For the 2026-2027 rankings, U.S. News featured 250 U.S. cities and ranked them across four livability indexes — quality of life, value, desirability, and job market — weighted by importance based on survey results of approximately 500 Americans. The rankings were also broken down state-by-state, as well as the best big, medium, and small cities overall.

Leander held onto the No. 8 spot overall in the nation for the second consecutive year. Just in Texas, it's the No. 2 best place to live.

According to U.S. News, Leander's median household income is far higher than the national average. Residents make $143,568 per year, while the average American household income is only $83,181. Additionally, the $495,712 median home value in this north Austin suburb is also far greater than the $359,870 national average.

Meanwhile, Austin proper ranked as the No. 5 best big city to live in the U.S. this year, or two spots lower than last year's third place ranking.

Smaller cities in the greater Austin area that ranked among the overall top 100 include Cedar Park (No. 24), Pflugerville (No. 35), and Round Rock (No. 65).

The Lone Star State had a "strong showing" in the overall top 10 best places to live in the U.S. thanks to its "high affordability scores," a release said. Besides Leander, three other popular Texas suburbs made the cut: Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs Flower Mound (No. 3) and Frisco (No. 9) and Sugar Land (No. 10) outside Houston.

"As prices of everyday goods continue to rise, consumers are considering affordability as a top priority when choosing a place to live," said U.S. News consumer lending analyst Erika Giovanetti. "While U.S. News’ consumer survey indicated that quality of life and affordability were close in importance, cost-of-living concerns resulted in many Americans putting what they can afford above their aspirations."

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Drought Doubt

Texas water plan does not consider data center growth, eco advocates say

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Waters in Lake Travis are high for now.

A draft of Texas’ 2027 State Water Plan is drawing concerns from some water protection advocates who say it fails to account for one growing industry: data centers.

The plan, created by the Texas Water Development Board, will guide tens of billions of dollars in water development projects over the coming decades.

On Memorial Day, people packed Lake Travis to enjoy the water and sunshine while the lake remains near full capacity. But some advocates warn drought conditions could quickly return.

“Once we get into August, September, we'll be probably right back in the same drought situation,” said Mike Clifford with the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.

The Texas Water Development Board released the draft plan in April. It recommends thousands of water projects carrying a projected cost of $174 billion over 50 years.

“We're not as shocked about the dollar amounts as some people are,” Clifford said. "To secure our water future, that's not an insane amount to ask for."

However, Clifford said his organization was surprised the draft does not specifically account for the growing impact of data centers, which can consume large amounts of water.

“If you leave the data centers out, it's not really a plan in our opinion. It's going to have to be changed and it's going to fall short,” Clifford said.

According to Data Center Map, Texas is currently home to 461 data centers.

Clifford argues the state should use projected future growth, not just historical data, when planning for long-term water needs.

“They're looking at the previous 10 years or 20 years or whatever, and we didn't have a lot of data centers in Texas,” he said.

Researchers at the the University of Texas at Austin estimate data centers could account for as much as 9 percent of Texas’ total water use by 2040, or potentially surpass the oil and gas industry that same year.

Read the full story at our news partner KVUE.com.

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