Thirteen Texas cities ranked in the top 100 for entertainment and recreation in a study conducted by WalletHub.
The personal finance website ranked the 100 most populated cities in the United States based on four primary criteria: accessibility of entertainment and recreational facilities, park quality, cost of living, and weather. For this study, a rank of one is considered the highest.
Texas cities that made WalletHub’s top 100 best cities for recreation include El Paso (ranked No.20 overall), Austin (No.31), San Antonio (No.34), Houston (38), Plano (48), Fort Worth (51), Arlington (64), Dallas (65), Lubbock (69), Corpus Christi (79), Laredo (82), Garland (94), and Irving (96).
WalletHub’s best-ranking cities offer an affordable range of indoor and outdoor entertainment venues and activities that require various levels of exercise. Such cities have plenty of parks, comfortable weather, and a low cost of living, allowing residents to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
Source: WalletHub
Texas cities where the cost of living is most affordable, per WalletHub’s data, include El Paso, which ranked No.4 in this category, Lubbock (No.18), Laredo (No.23), San Antonio (34), and Corpus Christi (38).
Cities where the cost of living is higher include Fort Worth (40), Arlington (42), Houston (46), Austin (47), Irving (51), Plano (56), Dallas (65), and Garland (71).
Overall, the survey found the city in the United States with the best cost of living to be Chandler, AZ, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, the most expensive place to live was New York, NY.
Each of the top 100 cities has its own recreational staples that make it unique. Regarding outdoor and indoor entertainment and recreation, the study looked at the number of concert venues, movie theaters, coffee shops, and restaurants available within the city.
Coming in dead last in the entertainment and recreation category was Laredo, Texas, at 100. The border town has two entertainment staples, Imaginarium of South Texas, a children’s museum, and Lake Casa Blanca International State Park, which offers good fishing. Other Texas towns that did not fare well with access to entertainment and recreation included Corpus Christi at No.67, El Paso at No.69, and Lubbock at No.88.
Of the North Texas cities that made the list, Irving found itself near the bottom, ranking No.93 out of 100 cities for entertainment and recreation. Once home to the Dallas Cowboys, Irving’s hub is concentrated in a single area known as the Los Colinas entertainment district, which includes the Toyota Music Factory, Water Street, and the Westin Irving Convention Center.
Other top-100 North Texas cities that scored lower in the entertainment and recreation category include Fort Worth at No.65, Arlington at No.66, and Garland at No.90.
However, this does not mean these cities do not have a lively entertainment district. Fort Worth is home to the biggest Honky-Tonk in Texas, the infamous Billy Bob’s, and the number two ranked zoo in the nation.
For its part, Arlington is well-known for Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, and its mega sports arenas, with the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers calling the city home.
Of the Texas cities with robust entertainment venues and areas of recreation, Austin ranked the highest at No.17, followed by San Antonio at No.24 and Houston at No.26. Dallas ranked the highest out of the North Texas cities with the best entertainment and recreational offerings, coming in at No.33, followed by Plano at No.61.
Overall, having 13 Texas cities ranked within the top 100 in the country for recreation is not too shabby for the Lone Star State.