Four Texas cities were named to WalletHub’s Best Real Estate Markets in 2026 list. Here’s where you’ll get the most bang for your buck.
On Wednesday, WalletHub released its Best Real Estate Markets in 2026 list, and four cities in Texas were featured in the Top 10. To determine its rankings, the publication took into consideration a variety of factors, including the appreciation of median-home prices, job growth in the area, and affordability of housing. And which city took the No. 1 spot in all of America after scoring highly in each of these categories? Frisco, baby!
Frisco was deemed to have the best real estate market after receiving an overall score of 70.72 (out of 100) from the team of analysts that put together WalletHub’s list. The city is extremely affordable compared to other areas of the country—it’s technically the 95th cheapest among the 300 total cities analyzed for the report. This was determined by comparing average home prices with the amount of income people typically make there.
Speaking of income, Frisco also received high marks for having the seventh-best growth rate for jobs in the US. In terms of the real estate market itself, Frisco has the highest number of homes constructed between 2010 and 2024 (47%), making it easier for people to settle into a new house without having to worry about extensive renovations or repairs.
Right behind Frisco at No. 2 in the US is McKinney, which received a total score of 69.83 out of 100. It has the second highest number of homes constructed between 2010 and 2024 at 40%, though the median price of any home in McKinney is slightly above that of Frisco. McKinney is the 73rd cheapest city out of that previously mentioned 300, with homes averaging about 380% of residents’ median income.
One of the main reasons why McKinney nabbed the No. 2 spot is because it has such a strong job market at an annual rate of 17%, which is the sixth-highest in the country. Chip Lupo, one of WalletHub’s analysts, said of the team’s decision-making process, “Current home prices are extremely important, but there’s much more that you need to look at when determining the health of a city’s real estate market.”
Lupo added, “Factors like the cost of living, the potential for the value of homes to increase, the availability of recently-built homes and the quality of the city’s job market are all important to consider in conjunction with asking prices and interest rates. The best cities may not always be the cheapest, but they offer excellent housing options and long-term stability.”
Denton and Allen helped round out the top 10
Joining Frisco and McKinney in WalletHub’s Top 10 Best Real Estate Markets in 2026 are Denton at No. 5 and Allen at No. 8. Denton had an overall score of 68.08 out of 100 and Allen received a 65.3 total. The report didn’t include a detailed overview as to what specifically contributed to their rankings, as it did for Frisco and McKinney.
The complete Top 10 List is as follows:
- Frisco, Texas
- McKinney, Texas
- Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Durham, North Carolina
- Denton, Texas
- Cary, North Carolina
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Allen, Texas
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- Irvine, California
