Locator: 49703TEXAS.
A continuation of my earlier blog / follow-up to earlier blog regarding net worth and home values.
Link here. Note: this is from May 23, 2025.
From US News & World Report, top 250 best places to live in the US. Link here.
Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.
For the 2025-2026 rankings, U.S. News expanded its coverage from 150 to 250 U.S. cities, and updated its methodology to examine each city based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration.
This was of interest to me because of our geographical location, just "down the street" from three of the most affluent suburbs in the DFW area: Flower Mound, Southlake, and Westlake (the latter, home of Schwab).
The top three best places to live are located in Johns Creek, Georgia (No. 1), Carmel, Indiana (No. 2), and the Houston-area suburb of Pearland, Texas (No. 3). [I've been to Pearland on many occasions -- taking our oldest granddaughter to water polo tournaments.]
Flower Mound ranked No. 14 nationwide, and it landed in the coveted No. 4 spot in U.S. News' separate rankings of the best places to live in Texas for 2025-2026.
Aspects of Flower Mound that put it at the top of the list include its high median household income ($163,766), median home values ($476,609), and its bustling population of more than 77,000 residents. [I've been to Flower Mound several times to take another granddaughter to a friends "ranch" to ride horses.]
The city's population is a healthy mix of young individuals and families, with 26 percent of residents being under 20 years old and 28 percent of the population being between the ages of 20-44. Nearly a third of Flower Mound's population is between 45-64 years old, while only 13 percent of residents are over 65, the report says.In a separate report, Southlake ranked seventh -- this report by GOBankingRates was posted July 17, 2025. Link here. [Southlake is our "go-to" city for everything. Schwab, Costco, restaurants.]
A recent study by GOBankingRates once again confirms what many Texans already know — some of the most affluent communities in the country are right here in the Lone Star State.
The 2025 list of the Top 50 Wealthiest Suburbs in the United States evaluated cities and towns with at least 5,000 households, comparing average household income and average home values using the latest Census and Zillow data.
Previously ranked No. 13, Southlake has climbed to No. 7 on this year’s list. Known for its nationally recognized schools, high-end real estate, and family-friendly lifestyle, Southlake continues to attract affluent residents.
- Average household income: $382,520
- Average home value: $1,290,325
Westlake, Texas: from a local news station, June 24, 2023 --
Westlake, Texas, is the state's wealthiest city, according to an online study.
Utilizing mean household income and median sales prices of homes from US Census data and Redfin, Suburbs101 ranked the top 11 wealthiest cities in the Lone Star State and the affluent Tarrant County town topped the list.
Not to be confused with the West Lake Hills area of Austin (which is affluent in its own right and also in the list), Westlake and its sparse population of just over 1,600 people boasts an impressive $471,768 mean household income. The median sales price of homes in Westlake, according to the study, is $4,022,051.
That's what interested me in trying to sort out what I saw at the coin show yesterday in Grapevine, TX. Exactly what were these folks were worth and how much was tied up in homes, gold, and silver. LOL.
I eagerly looked forward to the show. The coin show in Grapevine -- perhaps one of the biggest in Texas -- needs to be fact-checked -- costs $5 to get in on Friday / Saturday ($5 for both days; come and go as you please) and $2 to get in on Sunday.
It's in town three or four times / year. I assume the Christmas event is the largest -- Grapevine, Texas, bills itself as the Christmas Capital of the world.
The coin show did not disappoint. It was shoulder-to-shoulder. I had my eyes on four specific coins. Maybe six.
But it was shoulder-to-shoulder, and I was clearly out of my depth. I spent about an hour but quickly realized how out of my depth I was. The coins featured with priced incredibly well, much less than what one sees in the trade magazines, but being out of my depth, I did not buy any coins. I might return today (Sunday) but not sure.
I am perplexed -- for lack of a better word -- whether to keep collecting coins, and what's the purpose of doing so. This is not a pastime for amateurs. And I'm clearly an amateur.
After reading the article about the shooting at Brown University, Rhode Island, it just struck me. I assume the coin show was packed with folks who carried handguns, but I did not see one handgun. I also did not see one uniformed policeman, but I assume the place was covered with law enforcement not in uniform. I don't know. But it was weird. Our local liquor store has move uniformed presence. [I think I wrote about that many, many years ago. Saturday night the store has a uniformed policeman on the second floor overlooking the main floor, with a rifle of some sort -- it doesn't appear to be an automatic -- but I don't spend a lot of time trying to sort those things out. When I first noted that some years ago, I asked one of the store employees the background with regard to that kind of "coverage." I was surprised at the answer but can't divulge it here.]
So, anyway, what started out as a simple day at the coin show turned out to be a quest to figure out a bit more about the demographics of the vendors and the buyers, net worth and home values. Truly amazing. Demographics: 99% white men. I think I saw a dozen women or thereabouts out of the hundreds (vendors and buyers). One child, in a stroller, under the age of a year. Probably under the age of six months. Vendors in mid-40's to mid-60's, I suppose. A fair number of old folks like me but clearly in the minority.
But now, I'm more interested in demographics of Westlake, TX. Of that, I was completely unaware. Westlake, TX, is the home of Schwab, and NASCAR's Texas Motor Speedway. And a Buc-ee's. At the intersection of State Highway 114 and I-35 West. TxDOT predicts this area to be the geo-population center of the DFW Metroplex. It's near the Alliance Airport, one of the most interesting airports I've seen -- location and purpose.
