Two San Antonio suburbs, New Braunfels and Cibolo, are maximizing their popularity on WalletHub's 2025 list of the best small cities in America.
The annual survey compared more than 1,300 U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 residents based on 45 livability metrics categorized into five key dimensions: Affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and overall safety. Cities were grouped by percentile, where the 99th percentile represents the best small American cities.
Out of the 19 total U.S. cities that ranked among the 99th percentile of best small cities in America, Carmel, Indiana; Brookfield, Washington; and Apex, North Carolina landed in the top three spots.
New Braunfels ranked in the 83rd percentile, while Cibolo ranked in the 56th percentile. Both cities' 2025 rankings are slightly lower than they were in WalletHub's 2024 report.
Located about 33 miles northeast from downtown San Antonio, New Braunfel's thriving economic environment ranked No. 34 in WalletHub's national ranking of small cities with the best economic health. The city earned a favorable ranking for its quality of life (No. 205), but its safety (No. 452), affordability (No. 481), and education and health (No. 755) rankings all lacked in comparison.
Despite its middling rankings in safety and affordability, New Braunfels is one of the top 20 best places to live in the U.S., and its 78130 ZIP code ranked as the second-hottest ZIP code to move to in America for 2025. This buzzy suburb has also been adding many new restaurants and retail establishments, proving that its popularity isn't just a fleeting trend.
Cibolo is 16 miles miles southwest of New Braunfels, which cuts down on commute times for residents who need to travel into San Antonio for work. This up-and-coming suburb has had a string of new restaurant openings this year, including a new location of San Antonio-based café Crepeccino and Chicago pizza purveyors Crust Pizza Co. Beloved East Coast-style diner Max & Louie's will also open a restaurant in Cibolo soon.
WalletHub ranked Cibolo's affordability the 37th best on its national list, but it fell behind in the remaining four categories.
Here's how WalletHub broke down Cibolo's rank:
- No. 456 – Safety
- No. 591 – Economic health
- No. 1061 – Education and health
- No. 1283 – Quality of life
Canyon Lake, which ranked in the 73rd percentile of best small American cities in 2024, was shockingly demoted into the 46th percentile for 2025.
According to WalletHub, about 47 percent of Americans say they would prefer to live in a suburb, while less than a quarter (24 percent) would prefer to live in an urban area or a rural community (23 percent).
"Small-city life can be best for those who appreciate more wiggle room, fewer degrees of separation and shorter commutes, to name just a few of its advantages," the report said. "Granted, these little urban areas demand some tradeoffs, too, such as fewer restaurant options or shorter business hours."
Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-area suburbs Leander (97th) and Cedar Park (94th) and the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs of Allen (96th) and Flower Mound (93rd) were the only Texas cities to appear in the 90-99th percentile range. Both North Texas cities maintained their respective rankings for the second year in a row, as did Leander, but Cedar Park slipped slightly after ranking in the 95th percentile last year.
