Fort Worth earns high ranking from Money magazine

September 23,2014

BY CATY HIRST
chirst@star-telegram.com

Fort Worth got another ego boost this weekend when it was named a Best Big-City Bargain by Money magazine.

The magazine looked at cities with a population over 500,000 and ranked Fort Worth No. 3 on the bargain list for housing affordability, economic strength, home price forecasts and livability.

Charlotte, N.C. finished No. 1 and Phoenix No. 2.

Fort Worth’s Near-Southside and Ridglea Hills neighborhoods were noted in the article as “promising, well-priced neighborhoods.”

“These kind of rankings tell people that things are going pretty good in Fort Worth and it is a good, quality place to live,” said Councilman W.B. “Zim” Zimmerman, who represents Ridglea Hills. “Those kind of things are an independent assessment of what we already know, and we sure like to be validated.”

“We offer a lot of amenities, we offer lifestyle that is small town/big town — when you are living in a big town, but you get the sense that you are in a small town,” he said.

Fort Worth, with a population of roughly 781,000, had a median home price of $120,600, an average property tax bill of $3,560, a median family income of $59,800 and a projected fiv-year job growth of 6.2 percent, according to the study.

Mansfield earned a No. 17 ranking in the magazine’s list of Best Places to Live in America of cities with populations of 50,000 to 300,000 people. McKinney, in Collin County, was No. 1.

“It certainly gives us a head start on other communities when Money Magazine is recognizing us as a destination city to move to and raise your family,” said homegrown Mansfield resident and Mayor David Cook. “This is affirmation for the city that other folks recognize the quality of life that we offer in our city.”

Flower Mound, in Denton County, placed No. 12 on the Top Earning Towns list, which was based on the highest median family income, and it placed second on the Best Places to Find a new Job list.

Earlier this year, Fort Worth nabbed the top spot on Livability.com’s list of best downtowns, was rated the most country city in America by Estately and was ranked the sixth friendliest city in America by Conde Nast Traveler’s annual Reader’s Choice Survey.

Staff writer Robert Cadwallader contributed to this report.