Where are the wealthy settling down in the Alamo City? The San Antonio neighbor of New Braunfels has added a larger percentage of high-income households recently than any other nearby city, and it ranks among the top 50 U.S. places with the biggest growth of high earners.

A new study by financial tech company SmartAsset, "Cities Adding the Most High-Income Households – 2025 Study," examined Census Bureau income data across 352 American cities. They were ranked based on the growth in high-earning households as a percentage of total households between 2022 and 2023. For the purpose of the study, high-income households are defined as those making $200,000 or more per year.

New Braunfels ranked No. 25 nationwide and No. 7 in Texas.

The study found 13.2 percent of all New Braunfels households made $200,000 or more in 2023, and the city added more 1,800 high-income earners during the one-year period. That means the city had an affluent household growth rate of 38.9 percent.

For context, the national median income for a U.S. household in 2023 was $80,610.

New Braunfels has previously cashed in as one of the best Texas cities to move to in 2024, and has been consistently lauded as one of the best small cities in America. And with the new influx of wealth, New Braunfels residents can afford to spend the extra cash on small businesses and local restaurants.

SmartAsset also mentioned that up-and-coming cities like New Braunfels can be greatly impacted by their wealthy households in many other ways.

"[The] prevalence of high-income households also can help describe the relative quality of life of a population, or tell stories about potential wealth gaps or local growth," the report said. "Changes in a city’s relative proportion of households earning high income may change due to dynamics in the local job market, housing market, cost of living, age demographics, opportunities elsewhere, and beyond."

Luxury real estate sales across San Antonio-New Braunfels generated $957 million from 2023 to 2024, and New Braunfels' 78130 ZIP code was the fourth hottest U.S. housing market last year.

Meanwhile, San Antonio only ranked 77th nationally, as the city added 7,915 affluent households with a growth rate of 25.5 percent. Nearly seven percent of all San Antonio households earned $200,000 in 2023.

Other high-earning cities in Texas
The Texas city that brought in the most high-earning households from 2022 to 2023 was the South Texas city of Brownsville, which also ranked No. 4 nationally.

Other Texas cities ranked among the top 100 with the most high-earning households include:

• No. 15 – Edinburg
• No. 24 – Lewisville
• No. 25 – Round Rock
• No. 29 – Abilene
• No. 30 – Denton
• No. 41 – Killeen
• No. 59 – Tyler
• No. 61 – Amarillo
• No. 63 – Carrollton
• No. 82 – Atascocita
• No. 97 – Richardson
• No. 99 – League City