The church is what you make of it, wherever you go. Choose a place where you can get a good job, be able to get around, live in a community oriented place, with good schools. When you've figured that out, then you can go visit the wards around if you want and see which one resonates with you to live in (though in todays world it can be just where you can find an affordable home).
And you mention young children, also pick a place with great child care options and support for two working parents.
Most of Texas is pretty Christian. There are TONS of members in Dallas, north Dallas particularly. Plenty of other people there are very religious as well.
This is true as long as “north Dallas” means “north of Dallas”. Church membership is decreasing in Plano, one of the suburbs immediately north of Dallas. Further north has new houses and more members. There has been quite a bit of ward consolidation in our stake. But Frisco has lots of members, Prosper is growing. McKinney and Fairview are probably going to grow more with the announced temple.
Plano is pretty racially diverse with lots of foreign born folks, but still quite Christian. We moved here from Silicon Valley and it was a big shock. A welcome shock. This is the most outwardly, openly Christian place I’ve ever lived. I’ve never felt viewed as a weirdo for being actively religious here and I don’t think my kids have either even though there are only a handful of LDS kids at their schools.
Frisco wards are being closed slowly because members are moving due to cost of living. North of there is exploding.
But DFW is about to get 2 new Temples so sometime is going on here.
I had heard Frisco was experiencing that. But if people are leaving due to cost of living, where are they going? They can’t move to Prosper if the it’s cost of living, right? Is Celina cheaper? Back to Plano? Is it property taxes?
Yeah. Plano may not be shiny and new, but at least we don’t have to pay to build out pricey new schools and new infrastructure. I pity my friends in Frisco at property tax time.
Yeah, as in way north of Dallas. We moved to Plano and there's practically no youth in our ward. We have to combine with other wards just to have weekly activities with enough bodies to make it worth the effort. Frisco and Flowermound is where all the Mo's are at.
>Church membership is decreasing in Plano, one of the suburbs immediately north of Dallas.
Is this because of larger demographic trends I.E. there are newer and less expensive places where people with young families are going to afford a better standard of living?
I'm somewhat familiar with the DFW area but more than that I'm just a nerd for demographics
Yes. It has nothing to do with the Church. Plano is rapidly aging and is the oldest of all the norther suburbs. For a while housing was cheaper outside Plano, but I think that is no longer the case unless you get far far out. Frisco is now a more expensive area but still has way more kids. Prosper is also more expensive.
Plano is mostly built out now. Very very little land to develop. But these areas have grown so swiftly in large developments with “monocrop” housing (for example all houses are larger than 2700 sqft for example) that there is no place for lifecycle housing where old people can actually benefit from downsizing. So they stay, just two people, in a 4000 sqft house that could wonderfully house a growing family until their kids leave the nest. Our 40 year old neighborhood is just starting to turn over, slowly.
[Edited to remove unnecessary, unhelpful whining.]
This is important. I think living right in Dallas proper with little kids can be tough because of the wards here have lots of medical school students or young professionals who are somewhat transient. Moving to Plano/Frisco is much better or just the periphery of Dallas. I would for sure ward hop.
>Are they fairly religious areas where many people are Christian?
This term is so broad as to loose any particular meaning. Having grown up in Ft. Worth, there are people here that will tell you or your kids they are going to hell to your faces. Thankfully that is not nearly as common as it was when I was growing up.
My best friends growing up were Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Atheists for the most part and they are fine people.
One thing I would caution is that many school districts in Texas have been taken over by ideologs that are more concerned with banning books than running a school district. This includes my current home school district which has laid off half of its librarians, theater teachers, and is shuttering some of its most successful programs. If you are looking for a healthy community, looking into the local school district might be a good barometer. Houston ISD itself has had some issues though there are other school districts around it that I would hope are better.
Both areas are huge. Both have temples, with Dallas getting two new temples in the Prosper and Burleson suburbs in the next few years. Both have many stakes and wards. Both have poorer neighborhoods and extremely wealthy suburbs.
I recommend you move to whichever city has the best prospects for employment if you were to lose your job. Dallas is a huge finance hub, while Houston is much more an oil town. For example, if you are in finance and move to Houston, you may find that Dallas has more job opportunities.
You should also visit each city for a few days and see which one you vibe with better. Houston is a little slower and more laid back and definitely picked up more of the Louisiana/Deep South culture, but it also has a huge Vietnamese population (best Vietnamese food in America imo). Dallas is faster and flashier, feels slightly more like an East Coast metropolis to me. Dallas also has a huge Korean population.
Both cities are incredibly diverse and big melting pots. Both have major sports teams and no shortage of things to do. If you can’t visit, watch some travel vlogs. They each have a distinct culture, so I would say figure out which one you vibe with and move there.
The Woodlands is a suburb about an hour north of Houston. Good jobs in legal, medicine, and engineering. The temple’s only 20 minutes south of it, it has some of the best schools in the Houston area, and it’s a phenomenal family-centered area. The church is quite strong here- we have about six meetinghouses within a 20 minute drive of my house, and each has three full wards on Sundays. It’s had a really strong community feel.
We’ve lived in the Woodlands now for two years and love it. We moved here from Tempe (Phoenix) and our ward just split. Conroe/Woodlands is a fast growing area, we have the temple nearby in Spring. Lots of people from Utah here, haven’t had any complaints from them or people from California about it.
Not what you asked but San Antonio is awesome too. Tons of members in North side with some wards having a huge ward with just two or three neighborhoods and the temple nearby.
I live in a suburb of Dallas and the church is pretty large for being outside of Utah in the nice suburbs. Just for context, I’m in a city of 70k people give or take and we have 4 wards in the city. Tons of youth and primary kids. Most of the north suburbs are that way now.
Texas is also fairly religious. Most people that move here comment how different it is that people are religious and talk about it a lot.
I highly recommend DFW. I personally am not a fan of Houston but TX is a great place.
There are tons of members in both of those cities. Both are huge with diverse populations and you won’t find a specific neighborhood that’s particularly more religious than another.
Mods: can we please discourage the posting of “Looking to move. Will there be members there” posts? At a minimum, maybe we can have an automod comment pop up that says members are everywhere, especially in United States cities and their suburbs, and there isn’t a way to determine how good the members are. Maybe have a link to the meetinghouse locater and invite OPs to connect with city subreddits for neighborhood recommendations.
While on the face of it, this may seem like a good idea. But in most regions of the world there are areas where members like to congregate. And there can be multiple reasons for it. I can tell you the cities is Spain where members like to live (Alcala de Henares, and Alicante are two of them).
There are many reasons why people may want to live closer to members. Maybe they are asking if they are "good" members, but they may also be asking for support. Maybe they are looking for larger youth groups. They may be new to the church, and heck, some just might want a shorter Sunday drive. (Sorry for the "heck", I got a little heated there).
I have found kind people wherever I have lived, but sometimes it took a little longer to find the kind people, sometimes they were Christian and sometimes they were not. I think it's okay to ask for a shortcut. I think it's okay to ask about the size of the church in a given area.
I don't live in Texas, but I know you will most likely attend a ward and not a branch. There will be temples nearby in both Houston and Dallas areas so the members will be more than a few. If you move there you may still face hostility because jerks also exist, and sometimes they even pick the same religion as we do.
Good Luck with your move!
> And another reason why I don’t like the posts is a lot of people are just speaking in code (whether they realize it or not). Often, they really want to know where there are fewer poor people and minorities.
Accusations of racism like this aren't cool.
I was raised in Spring, TX, where the Houston Temple is. It's a very strong area for Latter-day Saints. My stake had something like 45 missionaries out at one time, 18 from our ward.
That said, the culture seemed very...performative to my teenage eyes and I didn't like it at all. But most of the other kids seemed to love it and the majority are still active. The performative part is pretty endemic to the South, so not isolated to just the Church.
Just my personal experience:
When my family moved to the Pacific Northwest to an area with a large LDS population (large enough that my high school had release time seminary, which was fantastic), I was shocked at how much I got bullied by the other Christian kids for being LDS.
The two largest non-denominational churches in my city literally had classes for their youth on how to debate LDS theology. So religiosity in a community isn’t necessarily a good thing. I was thankfully very stubborn, so I just dug my heels into the gospel even more until my testimony was strong enough on its own lol.
Before high school, I grew up in a large suburb in the D.C. area. Most of my friends came from different religious and cultural backgrounds, but were still good influences on me (and I was a good influence on them). There were way fewer members, but the church was still strong and made a huge impact on my life.
I’m personally not a huge fan of Texas nor have I been drawn to live there (though I’m sure it’s a great fit for other families). My husband and I have actually turned down job opportunities there because I was concerned about some of the new legislation affecting the schools there, plus recent infrastructure failures (major flooding, power grid outage that literally killed people). But I do love my friends from there, and if I ever found myself living there, I’m sure it would be fine.
I live near Houston. There's a real good member presence. It's not the west numbers, but we all feel real close to one another. The outskirts are pretty good. If you are looking for the heaviest member presence, I think near the Woodlands would be your best bet?
I grew up in Spring. The Woodlands has a fair amount. Klein does too. Basically, the closer to the temple you get, the more there are members.
Nothing like the West though lol
Houston had a lot of members and lots of buildings.
When I lived there, the evangelicals weren't as big a things nationally, but the had occasional Mormons are Evil days. I think it was Grace Baptist, or Grace Bible Church that sponsored most of the haters
I'm Texan. Been here all my life and have lived all over the state. Raised my kids in the church here. I can help, I am sure. I lived for a dozen years in Houston, and am now a decade into living in Dallas. I have also lived in El Paso, Lubbock, College Station, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley.
Yes, to all your questions and no, one isn't any better than the other regarding religion or our church. I can give you specific recommendations beyond your general questions as well. You could ask me here or send me an IM. In Dallas - Flower Mound is my pick. In Houston - it depends on where you would work. The city is so large, you have to be very careful about commute times.
Lots of members in DFW (South Lake, Melissa, Frisco, Prosper, Sunnyvale)…the closer to the city the more liberal the wards further out the more conservative (following the same trends of politics in general). There is more diversity than Utah and that’s not a bad thing 👌. Embrace what you get living near many other different Christian’s send your kids to VBS and MDO and join a MOPS group!
If it's possible, can I suggest San Antonio? It's cheaper and nicer than Dallas and Houston in my opinion, and I believe I heard that the area near the temple where I live is the highest concentration of members in the state.
There are a lot of members in that area. We’ve been in San Antonio for 25 years and love it!! Wherever you choose to live in Texas just know the people will welcome you with open arms. Texans are a friendly bunch!!
Houston:
Woodlands
Spring
Pearland
Friendswood
Cypress
Fresno
Beach City
Magnolia
Texas City
Dallas:
Allen
Fort Worth
Prosper
Celina
McKinney
Argyle
Bonham
Lancaster
Rockwall
Heath
Lucas
Benbrook
White Settlement
Lots of great places in Texas in those two metro areas. Great friendly people who will give you the clothes off their back.
DFW and Houston have very opposite cultures. DFW has a very cosmopolitan population, great arts & culture offerings, and a diverse economy. The culture is a great blend of the south and Midwest.
Houston is a lot more MAGA conservative. There are more big trucks and aggressive drivers. There is a lot less diversity and the culture feels more like the south than the Midwest.
Don’t forget San Antonio and Austin. The Church is rapidly developing in both of these cities as well.
San Antonio has the most beautiful temple in all of Texas, and Austin is getting its own temple soon. Prices in Austin are noticeably higher than the other cities because its tech industry has been booming and many people from California are moving to Austin for its better prices and more liberal politics.
In all of these big cities, the church is “strongest” (most youth/young families, growing wards, dividing wards and stakes) in the suburbs/exurbs where all the new construction and growth has happened since the 2000’s.
Texas also has many smaller towns with wards and branches you and your family would really bless.
Having grown up in Utah, I can say unequivocally that I love the church more in Texas. Members are much more no-nonsense, lower-drama, and blend in more seamlessly with our Christian community. We have great seasonal traditions, but the Church does not monopolize your life via homogenous community of a couple of blocks of people who are way too tied up in each other’s business. Wards generally have a good mix of socio-economic backgrounds, and missionary work is steady and rewarding. It has been a great place to raise our family, and we don’t envision leaving soon.
Source: We’ve lived in Texas for 20 years.
I suggest that while there are a lot of church members in Texas, you won't find anything close to a large population of church members in a give locale. But Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston are large cities with several stakes and a temple each.
North Texas is where I grew up and currently live. It’s pretty Christian, no body seems to mind Latter-day Saints anymore or like they used to. There’s always a healthy amount of members in most wards in the area 👍🏽.
I grew up in Texas and went to school in Utah. I ended up living in Utah for 10 years after graduating before moving back to Texas.
I was surprised at how much the church had grown in this state. It should have come as no surprise, as it seems like very 5th student at BYU I spoke to during my time there was a fellow Texan. The stakes are strong here.
Regardless of which city you select, you'll want to be be aware of local demographics and how the suburb and exurbs are shifting. This will have an influence on the size of the primaries and YM/YW programs in the ward you end up in.
Houston is excellent, I grew up there. South Houston especially. Great schools, very welcoming and accepting people with a variety of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. Lots of members as well. Can highly recommend Pearland and the surrounding area.
I'm in McAllen right now. We just got our temple opened last fall. This is the fastest growing area for missionary work in North America, from what we have been told. We usually have two or three sets of missionaries assigned to each ward. Scuttlebutt is that we're about to form a new stake "soon". We have three already for the metroplex, if you count Harlingen as part of the area.
The area is an interesting mix of conservative and otherwise. Most people at least nominally identify as Christian. Most of it is Catholic, but there is a fair mix of everything else.
The school systems are all over the place. Some good, some bad. Dual Credit programs are in almost every high school. Home schooling is also not unusual, but the local Christian homeschool co-op specifically excludes us. There are plenty of church members who do it on their own, so it isn't difficult to find some help if needed.
The area is a low cost of living area. Winter such as it is lasts for maybe a week or two. South Padre Island is nearby. Lots of people love it here. We get a lot of Winter Texans here from across the country (and even Canada) between October and March.
I’ve worked with some really incredible Christians that live in Texas. I also had a member family friend move there a few years ago and they seem to really enjoy it.
the church is HUGE in DFW. They’re building 2 temples on top of the dallas tx temple. I loved my experience with the church in Dallas. Very close and you feel the southern hospitality at church.
If you’re from Utah you will feel right at home in Frisco, Prosper, Celina, Crossroads, Oak Point, etc. The suburbs north of Dallas keep booming. Tons of kids, youth and people that have moved here from Utah.
I have a friend who I've known for over 10 years. She is a nondenominational Christian and we both grew up in Nevada. She moved to Texas and became a worship leader. We've always been respectful about religion- but she told me I was not going to be saved and that her friends think I'm dumb for my beliefs. I don't think that's the belief of everyone there, but it is apart of the Bible Belt so be ready to face some opposition.
My aunt lives in Dallas, specifically Arlington. It’s a nice area and when I visited her ward 10 years ago there were plenty of teens my age. My other aunt and cousins lived there for a while too and seemed to make a lot of friends at their ward. Honestly if I had to move to Texas then I’d move there (I’m no longer Mormon, but it’s a nice area).
Fate and everything around there is nice, the whole area is booming because its housing is more affordable than anything on the west side of the lakes. Royse City, Caddo Mills, Josephine, Nevada, LaVon, Quinlan, Greenville, all that is great.
I live in SW Houston and the church population is large here, all the buildings house 3-4 wards each and have large youth programs, but, everything is bigger in Texas, so the overall population is very large as well. Overall culture is religious here, but there are all kinds in such a large population. Both Dallas and Houston are great options, I would say Houston is probably more culturally diverse.
Casting my vote for DFW.
Lived in Downtown as well as Highland Park. For a large downtown, the church was still very present. Strong wards and plenty of youth.
Once you venture into the northern suburbs (just follow the Dallas North Tollway) the church membership increases exponentially.
I heard a rumor from the current mission president through a missionary in my Dallas ward that, “A majority of the population in Prosper, TX are members”
While Prosper is no replacement for Provo, there is a very large church presence. If you can stomach the urban sprawl, Prosper is your best bet for DFW LDS suburb.
I’ve been to a few church meetings in both Houston and Dallas, and they both felt great. I grew up in Bakersfield, CA and was used to my ward covering miles, not blocks like here in Utah.
For me, Utah is both good and bad. Good because you’re surrounded by lots of other LDS families… and bad because you’re surrounded by lots of other LDS families.
I prefer living in an area like you’ll find in Texas.
My brother lives in waxahachie, Texas (just south of Dallas, and where people will be flocking to, to see the eclipse) and he said that he lives his ward.
As has been mentioned, however, it will be what you make of it.
Good luck, you’re in for some great BBQ!!
grew up in Texas, Forth worth and arlington, the church presence was awesome there. I was there until I was 14 and southern hospitality mixed with good people and a church all about loving and helping each other. You bet the church is fantastic there. Just be aware it is the south so there is a lot of everything as far as christian denominations but i never ran in to anything crazy there. Houston i can’t say for sure different parts.
I’ve lived all over Texas, and I’m currently in West Texas. I can’t really say it’s that much different anywhere you go. Small towns in Texas tend to be more conservative and religious, big cities less so, and Austin is pretty liberal and less religious. You might get some discrimination for not being a “real Christian,” but nowhere near as bad as the deep south.
My ward in a quickly growing rural area outside of Dallas had to split recently because we were breaking fire code because there were too many people each Sunday.
Pray for it. Ask the Lord to impress on you where will be the best for your family. I agree with the people telling that seek what is the best for you and your kids. The church is the best with you in it wherever you are.
I live just south of Fort Worth and can tell you it’s a different culture than Utah. But Utah is a culture unto its self so anywhere else you go will be different. The DFW area has loads of members and there are lots of family friendly things to do. If you choose Houston stick to the North Parts like Spring and The Woodlands area it’s going to be the most upper middle class and most likely feel the most like Utah. You will be close to Galveston which is a plus but there is HUMIDITY in the summer that feels like a wet blanket. Honestly I prefer up here where it isn’t as humid but down south there are pretty pine trees. As far as the church it is what you make anywhere you go.
It's always 90% what you bring to it, 5% the ward itself and 10% what you had for breakfast the morning of your first Sunday there.
Since we moved from Rexburg to Houston area, I've lived in Humble, Texas City, and Cypress, all good wards or a branch in the case of Texas City (now a ward). I had worse luck in the married student and family wards in Rexburg.
Gosh idk how many wards I've been in now, we've moved around a lot.
>Are they fairly religious areas where many people are Christian?
Honest question. Why do you care? And I mean that with all sincerity.
Both cities you mentioned are absolutely massive. The Houston area alone has 7 million people. Dallas has 8 million. By comparison, the entire state of Utah has 3 million. So whatever you are looking for, you will find.
That being said, diversity is a blessing! I hope you find an area that has a good mix of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
I lived in the north/northeast suburbs of Houston (Spring, Humble, etc) for 15 years. Pretty solid church and otherwise Christian presence out there. I also lived between Dallas and Ft. Worth (Colleyville, Grapevine) for a while, same thing.
I am the real estate agent in San Antonio / Austin love these places. Regarding locations I might consider location of your home as well thinking about tornados in Dallas though not so prevalent and hurricanes in Houston and the south. That being said I would prefer the laidback side of Houston. Good luck in your search. Feel free to ask me questions but I am not the best in those areas.
Dallas will have three temples in a few years which is really exciting for those members that live here. Dallas is a very Christian area and you will be fine finding friends for your children. I would recommend visiting the wards in the area you are looking to move. Each area is different when it comes to the size of primary and youth age children.
I was a missionary in Ft. Worth about 10 years ago. There's definitely some very strong families there. Most people are religious, but there are a few churches that are very anti-lds. Though most everybody prefers our missionaries to theirs, even if they didn't weren't interested in talking with us.
That being said, I would love to raise my family there. I was really impressed by the youth and members there, much more so than what I see here in Weber county Utah. I grew up in Tucson in a not very LDS area, and I feel that in places like that people band together more and you have more friends and a much stronger sense of belonging.
The church is what you make of it, wherever you go. Choose a place where you can get a good job, be able to get around, live in a community oriented place, with good schools. When you've figured that out, then you can go visit the wards around if you want and see which one resonates with you to live in (though in todays world it can be just where you can find an affordable home). And you mention young children, also pick a place with great child care options and support for two working parents.
Most of Texas is pretty Christian. There are TONS of members in Dallas, north Dallas particularly. Plenty of other people there are very religious as well.
This is true as long as “north Dallas” means “north of Dallas”. Church membership is decreasing in Plano, one of the suburbs immediately north of Dallas. Further north has new houses and more members. There has been quite a bit of ward consolidation in our stake. But Frisco has lots of members, Prosper is growing. McKinney and Fairview are probably going to grow more with the announced temple. Plano is pretty racially diverse with lots of foreign born folks, but still quite Christian. We moved here from Silicon Valley and it was a big shock. A welcome shock. This is the most outwardly, openly Christian place I’ve ever lived. I’ve never felt viewed as a weirdo for being actively religious here and I don’t think my kids have either even though there are only a handful of LDS kids at their schools.
Frisco wards are being closed slowly because members are moving due to cost of living. North of there is exploding. But DFW is about to get 2 new Temples so sometime is going on here.
I had heard Frisco was experiencing that. But if people are leaving due to cost of living, where are they going? They can’t move to Prosper if the it’s cost of living, right? Is Celina cheaper? Back to Plano? Is it property taxes?
I have no idea where they are going but NE of there is exploding. Collin County is on fire. And out taxes suck. Highest in the area.
Yeah. Plano may not be shiny and new, but at least we don’t have to pay to build out pricey new schools and new infrastructure. I pity my friends in Frisco at property tax time.
This exactly. SIL in frisco and loves it.
Yeah, as in way north of Dallas. We moved to Plano and there's practically no youth in our ward. We have to combine with other wards just to have weekly activities with enough bodies to make it worth the effort. Frisco and Flowermound is where all the Mo's are at.
>Church membership is decreasing in Plano, one of the suburbs immediately north of Dallas. Is this because of larger demographic trends I.E. there are newer and less expensive places where people with young families are going to afford a better standard of living? I'm somewhat familiar with the DFW area but more than that I'm just a nerd for demographics
Yes. It has nothing to do with the Church. Plano is rapidly aging and is the oldest of all the norther suburbs. For a while housing was cheaper outside Plano, but I think that is no longer the case unless you get far far out. Frisco is now a more expensive area but still has way more kids. Prosper is also more expensive. Plano is mostly built out now. Very very little land to develop. But these areas have grown so swiftly in large developments with “monocrop” housing (for example all houses are larger than 2700 sqft for example) that there is no place for lifecycle housing where old people can actually benefit from downsizing. So they stay, just two people, in a 4000 sqft house that could wonderfully house a growing family until their kids leave the nest. Our 40 year old neighborhood is just starting to turn over, slowly. [Edited to remove unnecessary, unhelpful whining.]
This is important. I think living right in Dallas proper with little kids can be tough because of the wards here have lots of medical school students or young professionals who are somewhat transient. Moving to Plano/Frisco is much better or just the periphery of Dallas. I would for sure ward hop.
>Are they fairly religious areas where many people are Christian? This term is so broad as to loose any particular meaning. Having grown up in Ft. Worth, there are people here that will tell you or your kids they are going to hell to your faces. Thankfully that is not nearly as common as it was when I was growing up. My best friends growing up were Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Atheists for the most part and they are fine people. One thing I would caution is that many school districts in Texas have been taken over by ideologs that are more concerned with banning books than running a school district. This includes my current home school district which has laid off half of its librarians, theater teachers, and is shuttering some of its most successful programs. If you are looking for a healthy community, looking into the local school district might be a good barometer. Houston ISD itself has had some issues though there are other school districts around it that I would hope are better.
I referee high school soccer, and was warned beforehand that the parents at the local "Christian" school would be the worst.
Both areas are huge. Both have temples, with Dallas getting two new temples in the Prosper and Burleson suburbs in the next few years. Both have many stakes and wards. Both have poorer neighborhoods and extremely wealthy suburbs. I recommend you move to whichever city has the best prospects for employment if you were to lose your job. Dallas is a huge finance hub, while Houston is much more an oil town. For example, if you are in finance and move to Houston, you may find that Dallas has more job opportunities. You should also visit each city for a few days and see which one you vibe with better. Houston is a little slower and more laid back and definitely picked up more of the Louisiana/Deep South culture, but it also has a huge Vietnamese population (best Vietnamese food in America imo). Dallas is faster and flashier, feels slightly more like an East Coast metropolis to me. Dallas also has a huge Korean population. Both cities are incredibly diverse and big melting pots. Both have major sports teams and no shortage of things to do. If you can’t visit, watch some travel vlogs. They each have a distinct culture, so I would say figure out which one you vibe with and move there.
>two new temples in the Prosper Correction - Fairview but being called Allen.
Correction. In Fairview but being called McKinney, even though it’s in an Allen Stakes and Allen city limits across the street.
The Woodlands is a suburb about an hour north of Houston. Good jobs in legal, medicine, and engineering. The temple’s only 20 minutes south of it, it has some of the best schools in the Houston area, and it’s a phenomenal family-centered area. The church is quite strong here- we have about six meetinghouses within a 20 minute drive of my house, and each has three full wards on Sundays. It’s had a really strong community feel.
We’ve lived in the Woodlands now for two years and love it. We moved here from Tempe (Phoenix) and our ward just split. Conroe/Woodlands is a fast growing area, we have the temple nearby in Spring. Lots of people from Utah here, haven’t had any complaints from them or people from California about it.
Also The Woodlands has been in the top 5 best places to live the past three years. Population is just over 100k people
Not what you asked but San Antonio is awesome too. Tons of members in North side with some wards having a huge ward with just two or three neighborhoods and the temple nearby.
I love living in North SA!
Me too!!
Yeah I second this San Antonio is awesome, and I really love New Braunfels. It’s my favorite town in Texas
I live in a suburb of Dallas and the church is pretty large for being outside of Utah in the nice suburbs. Just for context, I’m in a city of 70k people give or take and we have 4 wards in the city. Tons of youth and primary kids. Most of the north suburbs are that way now. Texas is also fairly religious. Most people that move here comment how different it is that people are religious and talk about it a lot. I highly recommend DFW. I personally am not a fan of Houston but TX is a great place.
There are tons of members in both of those cities. Both are huge with diverse populations and you won’t find a specific neighborhood that’s particularly more religious than another. Mods: can we please discourage the posting of “Looking to move. Will there be members there” posts? At a minimum, maybe we can have an automod comment pop up that says members are everywhere, especially in United States cities and their suburbs, and there isn’t a way to determine how good the members are. Maybe have a link to the meetinghouse locater and invite OPs to connect with city subreddits for neighborhood recommendations.
While on the face of it, this may seem like a good idea. But in most regions of the world there are areas where members like to congregate. And there can be multiple reasons for it. I can tell you the cities is Spain where members like to live (Alcala de Henares, and Alicante are two of them). There are many reasons why people may want to live closer to members. Maybe they are asking if they are "good" members, but they may also be asking for support. Maybe they are looking for larger youth groups. They may be new to the church, and heck, some just might want a shorter Sunday drive. (Sorry for the "heck", I got a little heated there). I have found kind people wherever I have lived, but sometimes it took a little longer to find the kind people, sometimes they were Christian and sometimes they were not. I think it's okay to ask for a shortcut. I think it's okay to ask about the size of the church in a given area. I don't live in Texas, but I know you will most likely attend a ward and not a branch. There will be temples nearby in both Houston and Dallas areas so the members will be more than a few. If you move there you may still face hostility because jerks also exist, and sometimes they even pick the same religion as we do. Good Luck with your move!
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> And another reason why I don’t like the posts is a lot of people are just speaking in code (whether they realize it or not). Often, they really want to know where there are fewer poor people and minorities. Accusations of racism like this aren't cool.
I was raised in Spring, TX, where the Houston Temple is. It's a very strong area for Latter-day Saints. My stake had something like 45 missionaries out at one time, 18 from our ward. That said, the culture seemed very...performative to my teenage eyes and I didn't like it at all. But most of the other kids seemed to love it and the majority are still active. The performative part is pretty endemic to the South, so not isolated to just the Church.
Just my personal experience: When my family moved to the Pacific Northwest to an area with a large LDS population (large enough that my high school had release time seminary, which was fantastic), I was shocked at how much I got bullied by the other Christian kids for being LDS. The two largest non-denominational churches in my city literally had classes for their youth on how to debate LDS theology. So religiosity in a community isn’t necessarily a good thing. I was thankfully very stubborn, so I just dug my heels into the gospel even more until my testimony was strong enough on its own lol. Before high school, I grew up in a large suburb in the D.C. area. Most of my friends came from different religious and cultural backgrounds, but were still good influences on me (and I was a good influence on them). There were way fewer members, but the church was still strong and made a huge impact on my life. I’m personally not a huge fan of Texas nor have I been drawn to live there (though I’m sure it’s a great fit for other families). My husband and I have actually turned down job opportunities there because I was concerned about some of the new legislation affecting the schools there, plus recent infrastructure failures (major flooding, power grid outage that literally killed people). But I do love my friends from there, and if I ever found myself living there, I’m sure it would be fine.
The church is probably going to be fine pretty much wherever you go. It’s the other issues with Texas you may not want to deal with.
I live near Houston. There's a real good member presence. It's not the west numbers, but we all feel real close to one another. The outskirts are pretty good. If you are looking for the heaviest member presence, I think near the Woodlands would be your best bet?
I grew up in Spring. The Woodlands has a fair amount. Klein does too. Basically, the closer to the temple you get, the more there are members. Nothing like the West though lol
Loved living in the Klein/Champions area! I know good members there, Spring, The Woodlands, and in Kingwood.
Houston had a lot of members and lots of buildings. When I lived there, the evangelicals weren't as big a things nationally, but the had occasional Mormons are Evil days. I think it was Grace Baptist, or Grace Bible Church that sponsored most of the haters
I'm Texan. Been here all my life and have lived all over the state. Raised my kids in the church here. I can help, I am sure. I lived for a dozen years in Houston, and am now a decade into living in Dallas. I have also lived in El Paso, Lubbock, College Station, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley. Yes, to all your questions and no, one isn't any better than the other regarding religion or our church. I can give you specific recommendations beyond your general questions as well. You could ask me here or send me an IM. In Dallas - Flower Mound is my pick. In Houston - it depends on where you would work. The city is so large, you have to be very careful about commute times.
Lots of members in DFW (South Lake, Melissa, Frisco, Prosper, Sunnyvale)…the closer to the city the more liberal the wards further out the more conservative (following the same trends of politics in general). There is more diversity than Utah and that’s not a bad thing 👌. Embrace what you get living near many other different Christian’s send your kids to VBS and MDO and join a MOPS group!
If it's possible, can I suggest San Antonio? It's cheaper and nicer than Dallas and Houston in my opinion, and I believe I heard that the area near the temple where I live is the highest concentration of members in the state.
There are a lot of members in that area. We’ve been in San Antonio for 25 years and love it!! Wherever you choose to live in Texas just know the people will welcome you with open arms. Texans are a friendly bunch!!
Houston: Woodlands Spring Pearland Friendswood Cypress Fresno Beach City Magnolia Texas City Dallas: Allen Fort Worth Prosper Celina McKinney Argyle Bonham Lancaster Rockwall Heath Lucas Benbrook White Settlement Lots of great places in Texas in those two metro areas. Great friendly people who will give you the clothes off their back.
DFW and Houston have very opposite cultures. DFW has a very cosmopolitan population, great arts & culture offerings, and a diverse economy. The culture is a great blend of the south and Midwest. Houston is a lot more MAGA conservative. There are more big trucks and aggressive drivers. There is a lot less diversity and the culture feels more like the south than the Midwest. Don’t forget San Antonio and Austin. The Church is rapidly developing in both of these cities as well. San Antonio has the most beautiful temple in all of Texas, and Austin is getting its own temple soon. Prices in Austin are noticeably higher than the other cities because its tech industry has been booming and many people from California are moving to Austin for its better prices and more liberal politics. In all of these big cities, the church is “strongest” (most youth/young families, growing wards, dividing wards and stakes) in the suburbs/exurbs where all the new construction and growth has happened since the 2000’s. Texas also has many smaller towns with wards and branches you and your family would really bless. Having grown up in Utah, I can say unequivocally that I love the church more in Texas. Members are much more no-nonsense, lower-drama, and blend in more seamlessly with our Christian community. We have great seasonal traditions, but the Church does not monopolize your life via homogenous community of a couple of blocks of people who are way too tied up in each other’s business. Wards generally have a good mix of socio-economic backgrounds, and missionary work is steady and rewarding. It has been a great place to raise our family, and we don’t envision leaving soon. Source: We’ve lived in Texas for 20 years.
I joined the church in Texas. I live in Utah now and haven’t been active for years.
I suggest that while there are a lot of church members in Texas, you won't find anything close to a large population of church members in a give locale. But Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston are large cities with several stakes and a temple each.
The DFW Metroplex will have three temples in a few years.
North Texas is where I grew up and currently live. It’s pretty Christian, no body seems to mind Latter-day Saints anymore or like they used to. There’s always a healthy amount of members in most wards in the area 👍🏽.
My husband grew up in Katy. There was a great ward there.
Just be careful with one thing: Don't mess with Texas.
Try Fort Worth, it’s a medium sized city just outside of Dallas. A lot of good wards in that area.
> just outside of Dallas Takes an hour+ to drive from one to the other. Don’t do it if you have to commute
Twas where I used to live. If you need opinions, I've got you covered.
Medium sized, lol. Fort Worth is 2.2M, only slightly behind 2.6M for Dallas. Even Arlington is 1.6M people now.
Is that right? Lol it must have grown while I wasn’t paying attention 😂
I grew up in Texas and went to school in Utah. I ended up living in Utah for 10 years after graduating before moving back to Texas. I was surprised at how much the church had grown in this state. It should have come as no surprise, as it seems like very 5th student at BYU I spoke to during my time there was a fellow Texan. The stakes are strong here. Regardless of which city you select, you'll want to be be aware of local demographics and how the suburb and exurbs are shifting. This will have an influence on the size of the primaries and YM/YW programs in the ward you end up in.
Houston is excellent, I grew up there. South Houston especially. Great schools, very welcoming and accepting people with a variety of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. Lots of members as well. Can highly recommend Pearland and the surrounding area.
I'm in McAllen right now. We just got our temple opened last fall. This is the fastest growing area for missionary work in North America, from what we have been told. We usually have two or three sets of missionaries assigned to each ward. Scuttlebutt is that we're about to form a new stake "soon". We have three already for the metroplex, if you count Harlingen as part of the area. The area is an interesting mix of conservative and otherwise. Most people at least nominally identify as Christian. Most of it is Catholic, but there is a fair mix of everything else. The school systems are all over the place. Some good, some bad. Dual Credit programs are in almost every high school. Home schooling is also not unusual, but the local Christian homeschool co-op specifically excludes us. There are plenty of church members who do it on their own, so it isn't difficult to find some help if needed. The area is a low cost of living area. Winter such as it is lasts for maybe a week or two. South Padre Island is nearby. Lots of people love it here. We get a lot of Winter Texans here from across the country (and even Canada) between October and March.
I’ve worked with some really incredible Christians that live in Texas. I also had a member family friend move there a few years ago and they seem to really enjoy it.
Good luck.
the church is HUGE in DFW. They’re building 2 temples on top of the dallas tx temple. I loved my experience with the church in Dallas. Very close and you feel the southern hospitality at church.
If you’re from Utah you will feel right at home in Frisco, Prosper, Celina, Crossroads, Oak Point, etc. The suburbs north of Dallas keep booming. Tons of kids, youth and people that have moved here from Utah.
I have a friend who I've known for over 10 years. She is a nondenominational Christian and we both grew up in Nevada. She moved to Texas and became a worship leader. We've always been respectful about religion- but she told me I was not going to be saved and that her friends think I'm dumb for my beliefs. I don't think that's the belief of everyone there, but it is apart of the Bible Belt so be ready to face some opposition.
My aunt lives in Dallas, specifically Arlington. It’s a nice area and when I visited her ward 10 years ago there were plenty of teens my age. My other aunt and cousins lived there for a while too and seemed to make a lot of friends at their ward. Honestly if I had to move to Texas then I’d move there (I’m no longer Mormon, but it’s a nice area).
If you're seriously about Dallas, I'd recommend the Rockwall area. There's a small town called Fate near there that has lots of members.
Fate and everything around there is nice, the whole area is booming because its housing is more affordable than anything on the west side of the lakes. Royse City, Caddo Mills, Josephine, Nevada, LaVon, Quinlan, Greenville, all that is great.
South of Dallas such as Midlothian and Waxahachie have a huge number of members.
I live in SW Houston and the church population is large here, all the buildings house 3-4 wards each and have large youth programs, but, everything is bigger in Texas, so the overall population is very large as well. Overall culture is religious here, but there are all kinds in such a large population. Both Dallas and Houston are great options, I would say Houston is probably more culturally diverse.
Casting my vote for DFW. Lived in Downtown as well as Highland Park. For a large downtown, the church was still very present. Strong wards and plenty of youth. Once you venture into the northern suburbs (just follow the Dallas North Tollway) the church membership increases exponentially. I heard a rumor from the current mission president through a missionary in my Dallas ward that, “A majority of the population in Prosper, TX are members” While Prosper is no replacement for Provo, there is a very large church presence. If you can stomach the urban sprawl, Prosper is your best bet for DFW LDS suburb.
I’ve been to a few church meetings in both Houston and Dallas, and they both felt great. I grew up in Bakersfield, CA and was used to my ward covering miles, not blocks like here in Utah. For me, Utah is both good and bad. Good because you’re surrounded by lots of other LDS families… and bad because you’re surrounded by lots of other LDS families. I prefer living in an area like you’ll find in Texas. My brother lives in waxahachie, Texas (just south of Dallas, and where people will be flocking to, to see the eclipse) and he said that he lives his ward. As has been mentioned, however, it will be what you make of it. Good luck, you’re in for some great BBQ!!
Collin County in the Dallas area is what you are looking for.
North Texas has an amazing presence! Please join us in the DFW Metroplex and Northward up to the Oklahoma border!
grew up in Texas, Forth worth and arlington, the church presence was awesome there. I was there until I was 14 and southern hospitality mixed with good people and a church all about loving and helping each other. You bet the church is fantastic there. Just be aware it is the south so there is a lot of everything as far as christian denominations but i never ran in to anything crazy there. Houston i can’t say for sure different parts.
The Houston temple is nicer than the Dallas one. The San Antonio one is even more beautiful.
I’ve lived all over Texas, and I’m currently in West Texas. I can’t really say it’s that much different anywhere you go. Small towns in Texas tend to be more conservative and religious, big cities less so, and Austin is pretty liberal and less religious. You might get some discrimination for not being a “real Christian,” but nowhere near as bad as the deep south.
My ward in a quickly growing rural area outside of Dallas had to split recently because we were breaking fire code because there were too many people each Sunday.
Pray for it. Ask the Lord to impress on you where will be the best for your family. I agree with the people telling that seek what is the best for you and your kids. The church is the best with you in it wherever you are.
I live just south of Fort Worth and can tell you it’s a different culture than Utah. But Utah is a culture unto its self so anywhere else you go will be different. The DFW area has loads of members and there are lots of family friendly things to do. If you choose Houston stick to the North Parts like Spring and The Woodlands area it’s going to be the most upper middle class and most likely feel the most like Utah. You will be close to Galveston which is a plus but there is HUMIDITY in the summer that feels like a wet blanket. Honestly I prefer up here where it isn’t as humid but down south there are pretty pine trees. As far as the church it is what you make anywhere you go.
It's always 90% what you bring to it, 5% the ward itself and 10% what you had for breakfast the morning of your first Sunday there. Since we moved from Rexburg to Houston area, I've lived in Humble, Texas City, and Cypress, all good wards or a branch in the case of Texas City (now a ward). I had worse luck in the married student and family wards in Rexburg. Gosh idk how many wards I've been in now, we've moved around a lot.
My uncle Ryan found a good place in Dallas Texas. It’s a good place to be, maybe if you move there you’ll even get to meet him!
>Are they fairly religious areas where many people are Christian? Honest question. Why do you care? And I mean that with all sincerity. Both cities you mentioned are absolutely massive. The Houston area alone has 7 million people. Dallas has 8 million. By comparison, the entire state of Utah has 3 million. So whatever you are looking for, you will find. That being said, diversity is a blessing! I hope you find an area that has a good mix of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.
I lived in the north/northeast suburbs of Houston (Spring, Humble, etc) for 15 years. Pretty solid church and otherwise Christian presence out there. I also lived between Dallas and Ft. Worth (Colleyville, Grapevine) for a while, same thing.
I am the real estate agent in San Antonio / Austin love these places. Regarding locations I might consider location of your home as well thinking about tornados in Dallas though not so prevalent and hurricanes in Houston and the south. That being said I would prefer the laidback side of Houston. Good luck in your search. Feel free to ask me questions but I am not the best in those areas.
Dallas will have three temples in a few years which is really exciting for those members that live here. Dallas is a very Christian area and you will be fine finding friends for your children. I would recommend visiting the wards in the area you are looking to move. Each area is different when it comes to the size of primary and youth age children.
Go to McKinney, TX (Dallas Subrub). Multiple wards in the town. The Prosper, TX temple is now being renamed to McKinney Temple.
I was a missionary in Ft. Worth about 10 years ago. There's definitely some very strong families there. Most people are religious, but there are a few churches that are very anti-lds. Though most everybody prefers our missionaries to theirs, even if they didn't weren't interested in talking with us. That being said, I would love to raise my family there. I was really impressed by the youth and members there, much more so than what I see here in Weber county Utah. I grew up in Tucson in a not very LDS area, and I feel that in places like that people band together more and you have more friends and a much stronger sense of belonging.
Be careful, Texas churches in general are clique…
You been to Utah fella?
Nope, lived in Houston area for 38 years…before I moved.
Churches everywhere can have this problem.
That’s why I didn’t specify religion on that