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Dallas millennials saddled with some of the highest debt in the U.S., says report

Dallas millennials are saddled with debt.

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For millennials in Dallas, Big D stands for "debt." A new study from online lending marketplace LendingTree shows millennials in the DFW metro area carry some of the highest amount of personal debt among millennials in the country’s 50 largest metros.

Dallas-Fort Worth ranks No. 6 in the new study — with a median debt of $25,939 — putting it just behind San Antonio, Pittsburgh, Austin, Houston, and Jacksonville, Florida, respectively. Auto loans accounted for 39.9 percent of the average debt for millennials in DFW, with student loans at 33.3 percent, credit cards at 16 percent, personal loan debt at 8.8 percent, and “other” at 1.9 percent.

In the No. 1-ranked San Antonio area, median debt for millennials (excluding a mortgage) was $27,122, according to the study. Auto loans made up 43.2 percent, student loans were at 30.2 percent (lower than DFW's rate), credit cards at 14.8 percent, personal loans at 9.4 percent, and “other” at 2.4 percent.

“The millennial generation makes up the younger portion of adults, and as they build their careers, families, and communities, they’re doing it encumbered by personal debt,” Kali McFadden, senior research analyst at LendingTree, says in a release.

Millennials in Texas’ other major metros aren’t much better off than their counterparts in DFW when it comes to debt like student and auto loans, the study shows.

The Austin metro area ranked No. 3 for the highest amount of non-mortgage debt, at $26,164, according to LendingTree. At No. 4 was Houston ($25,978).

Millennials in Austin had higher debt for student loans (35.4 percent) and credit cards (18.1 percent) compared with San Antonio. Like San Antonio, Houston millennials had a big chunk of debt earmarked for auto loans (42.5 percent), with student loan debt at just 29.9 percent.

Among the 50 largest metros, the median amount of millennial debt was $23,064.

Where do millennials carry the least debt? Perhaps surprisingly, in New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose, California, according to the survey.

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Texas shocks as America's No. 3 least safe state in 2026 report

Photo by Hiroshi Kimura on Unsplash

Texas ranks as the 48th "safest" state — out of 50.

While no state is invulnerable, some do more to protect their residents than others. And a new study has declared Texas one of the five least safe states in America.

WalletHub's "Safest States in America (2026)" report examined all 50 states for their emergency preparedness and for residents' personal and residential, financial, workplace, and road safety. Factors that weighed into the rankings include specific crime rates per capita, the share of the population that is uninsured, road quality ratings, workplace injury statistics, and more.

Texas ranked at the bottom of the list as the 48th "safest" state — or the third least safe state. It's joined by several other Southern states, like Mississippi (No. 50), Louisiana (No. 49), Florida (No. 47), and Arkansas (No. 46).

According to WalletHub, Texas specifically ranks third to last in the nationwide "emergency preparedness" category, which was determined based on the prevalence of climate disasters causing $1 billion or more in damages from 1980-2024, and the loss amount resulting from those disasters.

The Lone Star State also ranked 40th (or 10th worst) across three safety categories: personal and residential safety, financial safety, and road safety. The report additionally found that Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents nationally.

Texas' "workplace safety" was the state's highest-ranking category, landing 30th nationally.

Additional rankings that determined Texas' overall safety include:

No. 30 – Assaults per capita
No. 32 – Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time workers
No. 32 – Sex offenders per capita
No. 35 – Murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita
No. 36 – Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel
No. 41 – Loss amounts from climate disasters per capita

According to the report, the five safest states in America are all located in the Northeast. Vermont leads as the country's safest state in 2026, followed by Massachusetts (No. 2), Maine (No. 3), New Hampshire (No. 4), and Connecticut (No. 5).

Though every state has varying levels of safety, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo asserted that the safest places in the U.S. categorically invest in protecting their residents. Top-ranking states have low crime rates and diligently maintain their road infrastructure, and other states that prioritize their residents' safety have "strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations."

"[The safest states in America] have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too," Lupo said. "In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates."

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