City News Roundup

Trinity toll road puffery paves the way for this week's Dallas city news roundup

Everyone was talking about the Trinity toll road this week; the topic was on everyone's lips. There was also some PAC action on the I-345. We channel Gilda Radner for our city-of-Dallas news weekend update:

Dream team preview
The dream team, now a dozen strong, assembled by Mayor Mike Rawlings to advise us local yokels as to whether or not the Trinity toll road is a good idea, shared a preview of its forthcoming analysis, and the news is great: Larry Beasley, the dream team's jury foreman, says that our traffic doesn't warrant a big six-lane road, and the panel will recommend "a meandering, four-lane road" instead.

Rawlings' response was that 1) he was glad they came up with the idea of a narrower, meandering road, and yet 2) he also fully supports the eventual construction of a six-lane toll road. It's all good!

What would Gilda say
Just two days before the dream team came out with their preview, the Dallas Business Journal provided an unfettered forum for the pro-toll road forces to promote the cause. Alice Murray, president of the Dallas Citizens Council, wrote an impatiently titled essay called, "Let's get on with the Trinity Parkway toll road," and to get the full effect, it really needs to be read aloud in a Roseanne Roseannadanna voice.

"No matter how strong and well-conceived a plan to move Dallas forward is, there always seem to be a few naysayers who just don't want to see change happen," ~~Roseannadanna~~ Murray says.

The essay has a number of features: a bulleted list of benefits, because bullets convey authority; a pro-toll road website called ConnectDallasNow.com; and an "indeed," because every pompous treatise must have an "indeed."

I-345 PAC
A new political action committee was formed to advocate the tear-down of I-345, with some serious money raised and an all-star crew that includes D Magazine co-founder Wick Allison and former State Sen. John Carona. According to a release, the PAC launches with contributions of more than $255,000 and supports proposals made by urban designer Patrick Kennedy and entrepreneur Brandon Hancock, who co-founded the nonprofit A New Dallas, to recommend removing the freeway as it approaches the end of its lifespan.

The PAC hasn't begun endorsing candidates, because the deadline to file for the May 9 election is not until February 27.

Big wheels
Following a pattern of oblivious disregard for local flora and fauna, the City of Dallas claims it is not responsible for decimating a plot of land in the McCommas Bluff Nature Preserve. The decimation was first noted on the Dallas Trinity Trails blog, who had before-and-after photos taken on April 19, 2014, and February 8, 2015. "The devastation is wholesale to a wet meadow area known for spectacular wildflowers," said author Ben Sandifer.

But a city spokesperson said that the damages were due to "stolen contractor equipment which was taken to the site to be vandalized and abandoned." A John Deere tractor belonging to a company named Cowboy Sewer was reported missing over Thanksgiving weekend. But by February 11, when the Dallas Water Utilities department went to investigate, the tractor was no longer there.

Is it really that easy to move a tractor around undetected? So confusing.

Decimated plot in McCommas Bluff Nature Preserve.

Photo courtesy of Ben Sandifer

Decimated plot in McCommas Bluff Nature Preserve.

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income news

What it takes to be a middle class earner in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025

Photo by J King on Unsplash

Being a middle class earner in Dallas is harder than it used to be.

Maintaining a middle class status in Dallas-Fort Worth only gets harder as the years go on, and the income ceiling to even be labeled as such has just risen even higher. So says SmartAsset's annual "What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America" report for 2025.

According to the latest findings, middle-class income in big cities has a wide range: Depending on where the city is located, it it can be as low as $49,478 or as high as $71,359. This is up from 2024, when middle-class incomes started at $47,568.

Among Texas cities, Plano holds the No. 1 spot on the list with the highest middle-class income ranges.

A household in Plano would need to make a minimum of $72,389 but no more than $217,188 to be considered "middle class" in 2025. Last year, the necessary salary range to maintain a middle class designation in Plano was between $63,651 and $190,004 a year.

The report used a variation of Pew Research's definition of a middle class household, stating the salary range is "two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary." To determine income limits, the report analyzed data from the Census Bureau's 2023 one-year American Community Survey, where the most recent data was available.

New to the 2025 edition, SmartAsset also determined the middle class income thresholds for all 50 states.

Arlington, Virginia has the highest middle class income range in the country, with households needing to make between $93,470 and $280,438 a year to be labeled "middle class."

Middle class earners across Dallas-Fort Worth
Dallas households will also have a hard time maintaining a "middle class" designation, as the city climbed from No. 213 last year to No. 59 this year. Earners would have to make between $46,743 and $140,242 annually to be considered middle class in 2025. Last year, they would have needed to make between $43,596 and $130,800 a year.

In a shift from the 2024 report, SmartAsset decided to analyze only the top 100 most populous U.S. cities, after previously ranking 345 cities. That means Dallas-area suburbs like Allen and McKinney – which were among the top 40 cities with the highest middle class income threshold nationwide in 2024 – were left out of this year's analysis.

Here’s what it takes to be middle class in other DFW cities:

No. 43 – Irving: $52,885 to $158,670 yearly
No. 46 – Fort Worth: $51,383 to $154,164 yearly
No. 55 – Garland: $47,815 to $143,458 yearly
No. 61 – Arlington: $46,134 to $138,416 yearly

Elsewhere in Texas
On the opposite end of the scale, middle class earners in Lubbock have one of the smallest income ranges necessary to be labeled middle class in Texas: Between $36,297 and $108,902 a year. The city ranked 92nd nationwide.

The study says cost of living changes, rising inflation rates, and shifting wages nationwide have made it more difficult for Americans to maintain their "middle class" status.

"For middle-class Americans, the dream has long been a life of reasonable comfort — a stable home, the ability to save enough money to retire, and enough left over for periodic splurges like family vacations, updated cars, or home improvements," the report's author wrote. "But with living costs surging over the past few years, that dream is getting pricier."

Here’s what it takes to be a middle class earner in other Texas cities:

No. 18 – Austin: $60,995 to $183,002 yearly
No. 73 – Corpus Christi: $43,421 to $130,276 yearly
No. 75 – Houston: $41,754 to $125,274 yearly
No. 78 – San Antonio: $41,544 to $124,644 yearly
No. 82 – Laredo: $40,476 to $121,440 yearly
No. 86 – El Paso: $38,208 to $114,634 yearly

In SmartAsset's state-by-state analysis, Texas has the 23rd largest middle class income range. Texas households would need to make between $50,515 and $151,560 to be labeled "middle class" this year. The median income for a Texas household in 2023 came out to $75,780.

The No. 1 state with the highest income range required is Massachusetts, with middle class households needing to make between $66,565 and $199,716 yearly in 2025.

income middle class status reports smartasset dallas plano fort worth