Two San Antonio suburbs, New Braunfels and Cibolo, are maximizing their recognition on WalletHub’s 2025 checklist of one of the best small cities in America.
The annual survey in contrast greater than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 residents based mostly on 45 livability metrics categorized into 5 key dimensions: Affordability, financial well being, training and well being, high quality of life, and general security. Cities had been grouped by percentile, the place the 99th percentile represents one of the best small American cities.
Out of the 19 whole U.S. cities that ranked among the many 99th percentile of finest small cities in America, Carmel, Indiana; Brookfield, Washington; and Apex, North Carolina landed within the high three spots.
New Braunfels ranked within the 83rd percentile, whereas Cibolo ranked within the 56th percentile. Each cities’ 2025 rankings are barely decrease than they had been in WalletHub’s 2024 report.
Positioned about 33 miles northeast from downtown San Antonio, New Braunfel’s thriving financial atmosphere ranked No. 34 in WalletHub’s nationwide rating of small cities with one of the best financial well being. Town earned a good rating for its high quality of life (No. 205), however its security (No. 452), affordability (No. 481), and training and well being (No. 755) rankings all lacked as compared.
Regardless of its middling rankings in security and affordability, New Braunfels is among the high 20 finest locations to dwell within the U.S., and its 78130 ZIP code ranked because the second-hottest ZIP code to maneuver to in America for 2025. This buzzy suburb has additionally been including many new eating places and retail institutions, proving that its recognition is not only a fleeting development.
Cibolo is 16 miles miles southwest of New Braunfels, which cuts down on commute instances for residents who have to journey into San Antonio for work. This up-and-coming suburb has had a string of latest restaurant openings this yr, together with a brand new location of San Antonio-based café Crepeccino and Chicago pizza purveyors Crust Pizza Co. Beloved East Coast-style diner Max & Louie’s may even open a restaurant in Cibolo quickly.
WalletHub ranked Cibolo’s affordability the thirty seventh finest on its nationwide checklist, nevertheless it fell behind within the remaining 4 classes.
This is how WalletHub broke down Cibolo’s rank:
No. 456 – SafetyNo. 591 – Financial healthNo. 1061 – Schooling and healthNo. 1283 – High quality of life
Canyon Lake, which ranked within the 73rd percentile of finest small American cities in 2024, was shockingly demoted into the forty sixth percentile for 2025.
In accordance with WalletHub, about 47 % of Individuals say they would favor to dwell in a suburb, whereas lower than 1 / 4 (24 %) would favor to dwell in an city space or a rural neighborhood (23 %).
“Small-city life will be finest for individuals who respect extra wiggle room, fewer levels of separation and shorter commutes, to call just some of its benefits,” the report stated. “Granted, these little city areas demand some tradeoffs, too, reminiscent of fewer restaurant choices or shorter enterprise hours.”
Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-area suburbs Leander (97th) and Cedar Park (94th) and the Dallas-Fort Value suburbs of Allen (96th) and Flower Mound (93rd) had been the one Texas cities to look within the 90-99th percentile vary. Each North Texas cities maintained their respective rankings for the second yr in a row, as did Leander, however Cedar Park slipped barely after rating within the ninety fifth percentile final yr.
