In a state that now leads the nation in job growth, Sugar Land made big news last month for topping Money Magazine’s list of place to find a new job. But a study released by consumer advocacy website NerdWallet last week named the city highly in another category – as one of Texas’ top 10 cities for young families.
The study – which analyzed the data for 111 of Texas’ cities, towns and census-designated places with 25,000 or more residents – ranked Sugar Land number six on the list, one of only three in the top 10 not connected to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Sugar Land was one of three places in Greater Houston to make the top 10, along with Friendswood (number two) and Pearland (number nine).
The study’s methodology took into account three main factors:
• The quality of an area’s public schools, for which NerdWallet used data from the non-profit “GreatSchools” (Sugar Land’s overall rating is 9/10)
• Home affordability, based on median home values and monthly homeownership costs listed in the U.S. 2012 Census Bureau (Sugar Land’s are $253,700 and $2,211, respectively)
• Growth and prosperity, which was determined via median household income ($107,149) and median income growth from 1999 to 2012 (31.04 percent), also based on U.S. Census Bureau data
With the above taken into account, NerdWallet gave Sugar Land a score of 62.9. Spencer Tierney, the NerdWallet analyst who led the study, said Sugar Land scored well overall, and possesses a very balanced vertical income prosperity. In particular, Tierney said, the city excels in terms of its public schools, one of the primary features of a community that parents in their late-20s/early-30s look for. On the business end, Tierney particularly praised the city’s 2010 retail study – a second of which the city embarked upon last summer – which ultimately resulted in Costco setting up shop within the city limits.
“It’s a smart growth program, it seems, that’s going on,” Tierney said. “I think that’s definitely a big driver [of Sugar Land’s growth]. It definitely [benefits from] being so close to Houston, and I think the general trend for Texas is part of that as well. A lot of these suburbs near big cities are growing and thriving, and I think Sugar Land has definitely taken advantage of its area.”
Despite its high ranking, households headed by younger parents aren’t a particularly large segment of the overall population in Sugar Land, where the median age is over 40 – around seven years older than that of Texas residents. But as master-planned communities like Telfair, Riverstone and Imperial Sugar Land continue on their paths toward development in coming years, Tierney said the city will continue to be one of the state’s better locales for younger couples to move to raise their children.
“The city is definitely on a good streak,” Tierney said. “We looked at long-term growth because we know that stability is not just [a matter of] a few years. It’s hard to project definitely, but [Sugar Land] is on a good course so far.”
To read the NerdWallet study in its entirety, go online to nerdwallet.com/blog/cities/economics/best-places-for-young-families-in-texas/.
For the original article, click here.
