Taking the temperature

This Dallas neighbor weighs in as the healthiest county in Texas, says U.S. News

The typical life expectancy in Collin County is 82.7 years, compared with 77.5 years nationwide.

Photo courtesy of City of Plano

For babies and baby boomers alike, Collin County stands out as the healthiest county in Texas, according to a new study by U.S. News & World Report.

Collin County lands at No. 50 on U.S. News’ list of the 500 healthiest counties in the U.S., making it the healthiest county in Texas. U.S. News assessed 2,735 of the 3,143 counties across the U.S. but ranked only 500 of them.

For the study, U.S. News examined 89 metrics across 10 categories tied to health:

Community health
Health, income, education, and social equity
Education
Economy
Housing
Food and nutrition
Environment
Public safety
Community vitality
Infrastructure

Collin County earned its highest score in the economy category (95) and its lowest score in the housing category (50). Data published by U.S. News highlights Collin County’s health status. For instance:

The typical life expectancy is 82.7 years, compared with 77.5 years nationwide and 79.2 years statewide.
The smoking rate is 12.4 percent, compared with 20 percent nationwide and 15.5 percent statewide.
Cancer and heart disease are less prevalent than in the U.S. or Texas.
12.5 percent of residents under 65 lack health insurance, compared with 11 percent nationwide and 20.7 percent statewide.

Collin County — home to more than 1.1 million people — also appeared at No. 1 in a report released in May by University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute that ranks the healthiness of the state’s 254 counties. This report relied on criteria similar to those used by U.S. News.

“Where we live, learn, work, and play matters to our health. And Collin County appears to be in great shape,” the Collin County government website boasts.

Two other counties in Dallas-Fort Worth made the top 500 in the U.S. News study.

Rockwall County wound up at No. 70. Its highest score was in the economy category (87), and its lowest score was in the housing category (54).

Further down the list was No. 180 Denton County. Its highest score was in the economy category (88), and its lowest score was in the housing category (43).

Other Texas counties that fared well in the U.S. News study are:

No. 91 Kendall County (San Antonio). Its highest score was in the economy category (79); its lowest score was in the housing category (53).
No. 121 Williamson County (Austin). Its highest score was in the economy category (93); its lowest score was in the housing category (52).
No. 291 Fort Bend County (Houston). No. 291. Its highest score was in the economy category (90); its lowest score was in the environment category (25).
No. 295 Travis County (Austin). Its highest score was in the infrastructure category (92); its lowest score was in the equity category (41).
No. 453 Comal County (San Antonio). Its highest score was in the economy category (75); its lowest score was in the environment category (43).

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Turkey Day news

Dallas eats up top-5 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Photo courtesy of Razzoo's

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Dallas is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

Dallas ranked No. 5 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a huge leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 17, and remains the highest-ranking Texas city.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The category that Dallas ranked the highest in was the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 2), and the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 9), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 82). Other categories that determined Dallas' overall ranking were affordability (No. 60), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 26).

Dallas restaurants are getting prepared for their big Turkey Day feasts, and CultureMap has rounded up a thorough list of all of the local restaurants hosting holiday feasts, from brunch to dinner.

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, Dallas will be fully decked for the December holidays. Dallasites who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. Dallas-Fort Worth goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Across North Texas, three Dallas-area cities also made big improvements from their 2023 rankings. Irving moved up 10 spots to claim No. 19 this year, and Garland jumped up 21 spots on the list as No. 34. Arlington made the biggest improvement in the region, moving from No. 78 last year to No. 55 this year.

Meanwhile, Plano and Fort Worth slipped in the rankings, falling into No. 44 and No. 45 in 2024, respectively. Plano previously ranked No. 38 in 2023, and Fort Worth was No. 36.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

dallas fort worth thanksgiving wallethub rankings