The Woodlands is the best city in the United States to buy a house, according to a new annual ranking from Niche.com, a website focused on helping students and families find good places to live.
The Woodlands is a township, but is considered a “city” in this context because it has a population of greater than 100,000. As of the 2020 Census, the population of The Woodlands was 115,000. It beat out Overland Park, Kan., and Naperville, Ill., to take top honors on the list of best cities to buy a house.
The Montgomery County enclave also ranked second on Niche.com’s best U.S. cities to raise a family, and third on the list of best cities to live. Cambridge, Massachusetts, was named the best U.S. city to live in this year.
Niche.com details the methodology behind its rankings on its website, explaining that it aims to combine “statistical rigor and useful guidance.”
The Woodlands earned an A+ overall, fueled by a A+ grades for its public schools, job opportunities and family-friendliness.
The township did get dinged in terms of cost of living, earning a B- in that category. The median home value in The Woodlands stands at $390,800, Niche.com said, significantly above the national median home value of $244,900.
As of February, according to Realtor.com, the median listing price in The Woodlands was $550,000.
Of course, it’s all relative, as some of the reviews for The Woodlands on Niche.com noted.
“This is paradise for folks from [California],” says one recent reviewer, who said they learned about The Woodlands after stumbling across the Niche rankings while making plans to leave the Golden State. “It’s beautiful, the housing is cheap (bigger house/lot then you could ever afford in CA), the schools are great.”
Niche.com’s rankings also looked at numerous smaller jurisdictions, and commended a number of Houston suburbs and neighborhoods as good places to live.
On the site’s ranking of best places to buy a house in the Houston area specifically, The Woodlands actually ranked 10th. Clear Lake, with a population of 45,000, took top honors on that list this year, followed by Meyerland.
Cinco Ranch, in Fort Bend County, ranked as the best place to live in the Houston area this year. The Woodlands came in second on that list.
Source: Houston Chronicle
Author: Erica Grieder, Staff Writer