Cedar Park Among State's Most Family-Friendly Cities: WalletHub Survey

Leander, TX -- Cedar Park is one of the state's most family-friendly cities, and the top city with most playgrounds per capita while Leander is among cities where you're most likely to find families with kids under the age of 18.

That's according to the latest WalletHub survey examining the dynamics of more than 100 Texas cities.

Cedar Park made the top ten list -- No. 10, as it happens -- in terms of the being one of the most family-friendly small cities in which to live, according to WalletHub's tabulations. The city also was found to have the most playgrounds per capita, yielding another family-friendly indicator.

Eight North Texas cities, all Dallas or Fort Worth suburbs, took the top eight spots. Southlake placed first, followed by University Park, Colleyville, Allen, Flower Mound, Frisco, Coppell, and Keller. Pearland, a Houston suburb, and Cedar Park rounded out the Top 10.

The first place Southlake, home to more than 27,000 people, also ranked sixth on WalletHub’s 2015 Best and Worst Small Cities in America. That survey looked at 1,268 small cities nationwide. Other Texas cities in the Top 200 last year included Keller (41), Flower Mound (70), Sugar Land (88), Coppell (95), Cedar Park (119), Pearland (130), Grapevine (137), Spring (147), Little Elm (152), Allen (176), and Harker Heights (189).

WalletHub compared 112 of the state’s municipalities, ranking them in four categories: family life and fun; education, health and safety; affordability; and socioeconomic environment, officials said. Then, within these categories, examined 21 sub-metrics to determine family suitability factors such as the number of playgrounds per capita, crime rates, housing affordability, school system rankings, average commute times, divorce statistics and unemployment rates, officials added.

Among the places with most families with kids under 18, Leander emerged prominently. The other cities making the list were Kyle, Little Elm, Frisco, and University Park.

Such WalletHub surveys are intended as a gauge to consider a city's dynamics when considering relocation, officials said.

Another sampling saw Austin tie with Dallas, Houston and San Antonio for the most family-friendly attractions such as zoos, amusement parks, museums and theaters. But Austin didn't fare too well in terms of its affordability -- ranking 110th -- while Cedar Park came in at slot number 18 in the category.

To see the WalletHub study, click the highlighted text to the left.

>>> Image via WikiMedia Commons