Texas

These North Texas counties are among best in U.S. for families, new list reveals

A home in Denton on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.
A home in Denton on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. Star-Telegram archives

Niche, an education ranking and review platform, recently released its 2025 list of the best counties to raise a family in America.

Quite a few Texas counties made the list — even a few in North Texas.

Niche compiled its rankings based on more than 100 million Niche reviews from surveys and previous rankings, as well as U.S. Census data. To grasp a ranking of the best counties to raise a family, Niche looked at factors like education, crime and safety, housing cost and percentage of children in each area. See the full methodology here.

Let’s take a look at what Niche’s rankings have to say.

Map of Texas counties that made Niche’s best counties to raise a family in.
Map of Texas counties that made Niche’s best counties to raise a family in. Screenshot of Niche website

Which North Texas county is the best place to raise a family?

Collin, Rockwall and Denton counties all placed in the Top 50 on Niche’s list. Forsyth County in Georgia took first place overall. Fort Bend County, near Houston, was the highest-placing Texas county, at No. 6.

As for North Texas, here’s how the rankings broke down:

Collin County, northeast of Dallas, came in at No. 9 on Niche’s ranking of best counties for families. This is due to high rates of homeownership; lots of restaurants, coffee shops and parks; and highly-rated public schools.

Rockwall County ranked No. 18 for families. This county is located east of Dallas and scored an A on public schools, housing, jobs, nightlife and health and fitness.

Denton County placed at No. 47 for families, due to its public schools, nightlife, diversity, job market and health and fitness scores.


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Other Texas counties in the Top 100

  • No. 75: Hansford County, near the Oklahoma border.
  • No. 76: Williamson County, in Central Texas.
  • No. 94: Comal County, near the Hill Country.
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Ella Gonzales
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.
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