(Talk1370.com) -- Analysts say the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to working from home has prompted a mass exodus from urban centers out to the suburbs. A new survey from Homes.com puts Leander near the top of its list of the best suburbs to move to this year.
The survey looked at the top 50 suburbs across the country, based on the U.S. Census Bureau's list of fastest-growing towns in each state, and ranked them based on a number of criteria including median home listing price, square footage, average yard size, crime and school statistics, and details important to working from home. Each metric was weighted and the scores tallied up.
Westfield, Indiana, just outside Indianapolis topped the list; Forney, Texas, just outside of Dallas came in second. Woodstock, Georgia, and Yorkville, Illinois came in third and fourth.
Leander has a median square footage of 2,056, while its housing price-to-income ratio is 2.67. The average yard size is 0.184 acres.
Rounding out the top ten were Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina (Raleigh), Little Elm, Texas (Dallas), Oswego, Illinois (Chicago), Erie, Colorado (Denver), and Queen Creek, Arizona (Phoenix).
According to the report, real estate professionals say a majority of their clients are looking for larger square footage homes and more space for outdoor recreational spaces like pools, hot tubs, and decks.
Focusing on just working from home, the National Association of Realtors conducted a study of 3,142 counties across the country to find the ones that are best poised to provide a supportive environment for remote working. The study includes metrics such as the percentage of households with broadband access, the percent of the population with access to multiple providers, population growth, mortgage data, and workers in technology sectors. Williamson County is the second-highest rated Texas county on the list, after Collin County.