Austin Ranks 10th in 2026 Urban Gardening Study; Houston Tops Texas at No. 3

Becker Elementary School fifth-graders Fritz McKay, 10, left, and Ayden Lutcher, 10, work in the garden at The Green Classroom on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. The 10,000-square-foot outdoor classroom serves as the school’s garden-based learning space. The school is scheduled to close at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

While we may become particularly aware of our communities' sustainability efforts on Earth Day, it takes consistent effort to stay green year-round. But that kind of commitment can have big payoffs — like having access to an urban garden amid high grocery prices. In fact, 2026 data shows the average U.S. garden, spanning 600 square feet, yields $600 worth of food.

Austin-based tech company LawnStarter sought out the best cities for urban gardening. The 500 largest U.S. cities were compared across 15 key measures within five main themes: public access, private access, local climate, access to supplies and local support and interest.

How did Texas cities measure up in the urban gardening world? Two landed in the top 10.

Austin ranks high in interest in urban gardening

The Texas capital generates more buzz about urban gardening than any other city in LawnStarter’s study, based on local Google searches for terms like “community garden,” “urban gardening” and “vertical gardening.” Austin landed at No. 10 overall and also ranked high in access to gardening supplies.

Here are the city’s full rankings:

• Overall rank: 10
• Overall score: 37.09
• Public access rank: 38
• Private access rank: 191
• Climate rank: 330
• Supplies rank: 11
• Support & interest rank: 2

Best, worst Texas cities for urban gardening

A bee feeds on a raindrop-covered poppy at the Zilker Botanical Garden after heavy rain in Austin on Thursday, April 2, 2026.

Austin wasn’t the only Texas city stocked up with gardening supplies. Four — Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin — ranked among the top 11 in the category.

Houston was the only Texas city to outrank Austin overall, at No. 3 in the nation. In addition to having the best access to gardening supplies among the 500 cities studied, Houston ranked high (No. 6) for support and interest in urban gardening.

Other notable Texas rankings included San Antonio (No. 20 overall, No. 4 for gardening supplies), Dallas (No. 29 overall, No. 8 for supplies) and Tyler (No. 36 overall, No. 3 for private access).

On the other end of the rankings, San Angelo was the lowest-ranking Texas city (No. 427 overall, No. 429 for climate), followed by Odessa, Cedar Park, Killeen and Laredo.

10 best US cities for urban gardening, 2026

Florida’s urban gardening scene stood out among states — all 39 of its cities in the analysis ranked among the top 100 in the country.

1. Atlanta
2. Miami
3. Houston
4. St. Louis
5. Jacksonville, Fla.
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Cincinnati
8. Fort Myers, Fla.
9. Tampa, Fla.
10. Austin

April 22, 2026