Let Me Sum Up

Ted Cruz may be a liar, but at least he's ineffective. Plus: Skeeters!

It’s time for the Friday 5, that day of the week when I get to gripe about Ted Cruz, city council members and overpaid CEOs in the same column. It’s like liberal Christmas!

1. Ted Cruz shoots self in foot over gun filibuster.
See what I did there? Yeah, my favorite “smart” U.S. senator promised he would have the votes to prevent debate on bipartisan gun control legislation. Turns out, no, not so much. (Which was really problematic for me, because I wrote an entire column that hilariously imagined what that filibuster would have sounded like, then scrapped it after hearing that Cruz’s efforts failed.)

As Cruz will now be forced to deal with the bill, we’ll be getting plenty of chances to mock his feeling that the Second Amendment is sacrosanct and shouldn’t be touched. For example, we’ll point out that the only thing we’re messing with is the modern interpretation of that amendment, that his “slippery slope” arguments against any gun legislation are textbook examples of logical fallacy arguments, and that changes in society and technology should make us review even the First Amendment. (Example: Apple is now a publisher, and its drone-app censorship should be considered as such.)

For now, though, let me just leave you with the other Cruz news of the day: the politically neutral fact-checking site PolitiFact deciding to reexamine Cruz’s statements about Medicaid. The site had rated as “False” this statement from Cruz:

Our friends who are saying they want healthcare do not realize that expanding Medicaid will worsen healthcare options for the most vulnerable among us in Texas.

Cruz’s people argued that rating and sent supporting documents. So the site reconsidered and conducted more extensive interviews and research. The result? Still “False.” Why? Because he’s a liar.

2. It still looks like Sunset’s kick-ass principal will leave.
In Tuesday’s column, I told you about how blogger/activist Bill Betzen broke the news (in an online comment) that Anthony Tovar may be leaving the school he turned around. Unfair Park follows up on this sad development.

3. Is a non-endorsement an endorsement?
The Dallas Morning News editorial board says that District 3 should vote for Vonciel Jones Hill. Why? Because even though she isn’t very effective and lets city leaders run all over her, the other candidates are awful. Put that in your LinkedIn endorsement.

4. Tom Horton looks up from his iPad, where he’s been shopping online at TheBillionaireShop.com, and reads his Google News alert.
He then gets very sad, closes that tab and fires up Angry Birds.

5. Are we sure the JC Penney customer is right?
I get why the DMN says that ousted CEO Ron Johnson should have done more testing of his concepts before implementing them. Because that might have saved his job. But I think we’re overlooking that perhaps Johnson was just trying to prevent the tragedy of more people buying clothes from JC Penney. Hero?

Retweets

Skeeters! Gaaahhh!

From City Hall: The City of Dallas is Fighting the Bite. Help us prevent #westnile fb.me/2VIP2Eioy

— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) April 12, 2013

Phrasing.

Mmmmm you can almost smell it! fb.me/Cr2w0BcR

— Pearl Cup Coffee (@PearlCupCoffee) April 12, 2013

A bankruptcy judge told AA CEO Tom Horton, "No soup for you!"

unspecified

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