UP Better Suburb Than HP, Ranking Says

University Park ranked second — 12 spots higher than Highland Park — in 2024 rankings of the best suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area from Niche.com.

Highland Park ranked 14th on the list, behind Parker, Richardson, Murphy, and Sunnyvale. 

Both Highland Park and University Park received A+ ratings in the categories “public schools,” “good for families,” “health and fitness,” and “nightlife.”

Highland Park scored lower than University Park on “crime and safety” (B vs. B+), and “diversity” (C vs. C+). It also received a B on “commute,” while University Park received an A.

According to Niche.com, statistics on commute times were obtained primarily from U.S. Census data. 

A search on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey page for “Highland Park town, Texas, commute” produces an average travel time to work of 19 minutes. The average commute time in University Park is 18.5 minutes, according to a similarly worded query.

Both University Park and Highland Park were outscored by Coppell in the ranking. Like Highland Park, Coppell received a B on “commute.” The average travel time to work in Coppell is 25.2 minutes, according to a U.S. Census Bureau search.