When thinking about San Antonio-area suburbs, "affordable" may not be the first word that comes to mind anymore. But according to moving experts MoveBuddha, New Braunfels earned a top 10 spot in a new report on the 20 fastest-growing affordable suburbs in the country.

New Braunfels' welcoming family-friendly attractions, coupled with its low housing prices, make it the No. 6 suburb in the study. The city's average housing prices come in at $377,573 as of September 2023.

Families are surely taking note of New Braunfels' kid-friendly attractions and its award-winning waterpark when determining their futures in the city. Its location — about 33 miles northeast of San Antonio — also plays a part in its thriving popularity.

The suburb's population has grown 14.3 percent since 2020, the study reports. But at a larger scale, the growth rate is more than twice as high. An earlier U.S. Census report also confirmed New Braunfels' skyrocketing population growth.

"If you blinked in 2017, you may have missed that the population of New Braunfels, Texas, shot through the roof, from 79,000 residents to over 104,000," the report's author wrote. "That’s over 32 percent growth, but all that popularity isn’t going to the city’s head."

For comparison, the north Austin suburb of Georgetown took the lead as the No. 1 fastest-growing suburb in the U.S., with MoveBuddha's research showing the city has had a 26.7 percent growth rate since 2020. Georgetown's average housing price is $453,376, a significantly higher cost than a home in New Braunfels.

Overall, nine out of the top 20 suburbs in the report reside in Texas. Two additional Austin-area suburbs joined Georgetown in the top three: Kyle (No. 2) and Leander (No. 3). Two North Texas cities – Little Elm north of Dallas and Burleson south of Fort Worth – earned No. 4 and No. 9, respectively. Conroe (outside Houston) ranked No. 10.

The top 10 fastest growing affordable American suburbs are:

• No. 1 – Georgetown, Texas
• No. 2 – Kyle, Texas
• No. 3 – Leander, Texas
• No. 4 – Little Elm, Texas
• No. 5 – Westfield, Indiana
• No. 6 – New Braunfels, Texas
• No. 7 – Maricopa, Arizona
• No. 8 – Buckeye, Arizona
• No. 9 – Burleson, Texas
• No. 10 – Conroe, Texas

The report defined a suburb as any "non-principal" city in a metropolitan area with a population of fewer than 100,000. More than 800 suburbs were examined based on 2020 and 2022 U.S. Census Bureau's population estimates, and narrowed down into the final 20. It also defined the "affordability" category by sorting cities with average home prices below $500,000 using the Zillow Home Value Index for single family homes. The cities were ultimately ranked based on their growth rates.

The full report can be found on movebuddha.com.