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See where San Antonio ranks among America’s best cities to live in 2022

San Antonio is one of the best places to live and raise a family in the U.S.

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San Antonio is garnering some flattery for a fact locals embrace: It’s one of the best cities to settle down in in the country.

Wesbsite Niche.com’s new ranking of the best U.S. cities to live in puts the San Antonio metro area at the No. 101 spot with an overall grade of A-minus, and gives a shoutout to one local community as one of the best neighborhoods to live in.

“San Antonio is in Bexar County and is one of the best places to live in Texas,” Niche.com notes. “Living in San Antonio offers residents an urban-suburban-mix feel and most residents own their homes. In San Antonio, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, and parks. ... The public schools in San Antonio are above average.”

Additionally, on the list of the 200 best places to live, featuring suburbs and neighborhoods, San Antonio’s Alamo Heights community lands at No. 162.

This year, Niche combed through data for 228 cities, as well as 18,515 towns and neighborhoods, to develop its annual rankings. Niche relies on data from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau and FBI, along with residents’ ratings.

Niche specializes in supplying data, reviews, and ratings of schools, colleges, and universities in the U.S.

“Whether our users are young professionals, parents with young kids, or retirees, Niche’s … rankings serve as an excellent starting point for considering a move,” says Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche.

“The pandemic triggered a new set of possibilities. Suddenly, many individuals and families found themselves more mobile than ever before, and in the past two years, they have continued to think hard about where they really want to live,” Skurman adds. “Families wondering about an area’s school district, a major part of many relocation decisions, can also use our comprehensive school profiles and rankings to get a sense of what their child’s future school might be like.”

Aside from its ranking among the best cities in which to live, San Antonio scores the No. 60 spot on Niche’s list of cities with the lowest cost of living in the U.S., is No. 81 on its list of cities with the best public schools in America, and is No. 100 for the best cities to raise a family.

The Houston suburb of The Woodlands tops Niche.com’s ranking of the best cities to live in in the U.S., coming in at No. 1, repeating its ranking from 2021.

On the list of the best cities to live, The Woodlands is followed by:

Cambridge, Massachusetts, No. 2.
Naperville, Illinois, No. 3.
Arlington, Virginia, No. 4.
Overland Park, Kansas, No. 5.

Houston proper grabs the No. 71 spot.

What follows is a breakdown of other communities in Texas that earned places in Niche’s ranking of the best cities to live.

Dallas-Fort Worth

Plano, No. 9
Richardson, No. 12
Irving, No. 40
Denton, No. 56
Dallas, No. 80
Arlington, No. 89
Fort Worth, No. 135

Austin metro area

Austin, No. 25
Round Rock, No. 29

Elsewhere in Texas

College Station, No. 27
Lubbock, No. 72
Tyler, No. 94
Wichita Falls, No. 98
El Paso, No. 100
McAllen, No. 102
Abilene, No. 112
Amarillo, No. 122
Waco, No. 130
Corpus Christi, No. 132
Midland, No. 158
Beaumont, No. 170
Killeen, No. 189
Brownsville, No. 193

Other Texas suburbs and neighborhoods making the top 200 for best places to live are:

Cottonwood Creek South Richardson, No. 5. (Cottonwood Creek South also is the highest-ranked place in Texas — No. 108 — on the list of the best places to raise a family).
Height Parks (Richardson), No. 81.
Canyon Creek South (Richardson), No. 99.
Coppell (Dallas-Fort Worth), No. 102.
Old Enfield (Austin), No. 169.

Other notable Texas rankings:

Plano ranks fifth among the best cities to buy a house, and Richardson takes the No. 9 spot.
Plano ranks ninth on the list of the cities with the best public schools.
Arlington (No. 11) and Irving (No. 12) are the top-ranked Texas cities on the list of the most diverse cities.
Austin is the top-ranked Texas city (No. 19) on the list of the best cities for young professionals, with Plano five places behind at No. 24.
Richardson, ranked fifth nationally, is the best Texas city for retirees.
At No. 42 nationally, Plano is the healthiest city in Texas, followed by Richardson at No. 43.

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San Antonio City Council votes to end horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

Life for a horse in San Antonio is about to look a lot different. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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San Antonio City Council votes to end horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030