A number of Texas cities made the list.
DALLAS — Dallas was bested by Houston in a new ranking of the best U.S. cities.
World’s Best Cities ranks 100 cities in the U.S. based on three metrics: livability, prosperity and “lovability.”
Topping the list were New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Dallas came in at 14, with the list highlighting the city’s “maverick, can-do spirit” that “runs through increasing investment, population growth and cultural ascent.”
“Dallas keeps scaling up its ambitions—and lately, the skyline can barely keep pace,” the website read.
The list specifically cited the $4 billion Terminal F expansion project and planned Terminal C refresh at DFW Airport “timed for the 2026 FIFA World Cup crowds,” but Arlington, the city where the matches will be held, didn’t make the ranking.
For Dallas, World’s Best Cities also touted the new, swanky Hôtel Swexan, the burgeoning local economy and “Y’all Street” financial sector, and Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center rebuild.
“The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center replacement and a $1.6‑billion plan to trench I‑345 promise fresh, developable acreage and long‑overdue neighborhood reconnection—updating city planning that cut off Black neighborhoods in the early 1970s,” World’s Best Cities wrote of Dallas.
Dallas wasn’t the top-ranked city in Texas, though.
Houston came in at 13, just ahead of Dallas, with World’s Best Cities touting Houston’s growing population, new jobs and cost of living below the national average, as well as the city’s diversity and cultural offerings.
Austin came in just behind Dallas at 15, with World’s Best Cities noting the city’s “hyper-growth party is still going,” with its growing population, new jobs added and increasing housing affordability.
The other Texas cities that made the cut were San Antonio at 41 and El Paso at 100.
The Texas cities on the list was first reported in the Dallas Observer.