Fried Food News

State Fair of Texas gives VIPs unprecedented access to 2014 fried food awards

The 2014 State Fair of Texas begins September 26, and if you can hardly wait to sink your teeth into this year's Fried Thanksgiving Dinner, the State Fair folks are giving you a break.

Fried Thanksgiving Dinner was the entry that won the prize for Most Creative at last year's Big Tex Choice Awards, the annual fried-food contest hosted by the State Fair that has become a major driver in the buzz surrounding the event.

This year, you can get early access to the eight fried-food finalists with the purchase of a $100 VIP ticket to the competition, which takes place on Labor Day. The Big Tex Choice Awards has previously been restricted to media and judges only, and it has never been open to the public.

There's a limited number of tickets: 250, according to State Fair spokeswoman Karissa Schuler, who told the Dallas Morning News that they came up with the idea because they've fielded many requests from people who want to be judges or attend.

Attendees get to watch the judging in action, then sample bite-size portions of all of the finalists' entries. They also get a limited-edition Big Tex Choice Awards T-shirt and a one-day admission ticket to the fair. Proceeds will be donated to the State Fair of Texas Youth Scholarship Fund. For tickets, go here.

If that's not proletarian enough for you, they're also offering one person the opportunity to be a judge, with a video contest. You upload a video onto YouTube, 60 seconds or less, explaining why you should sit at the judge's table. The State Fair team will narrow it down to a field of 20 and put it up to a vote from the public.

You must be over 21 years of age, available on the day of the contest and responsible for your own travel to the contest.

The deadline for video submissions is 5 pm Dallas time on August 7. Submit them here. Voting for the finalists begins August 8 at 9 am and ends at 5 pm on August 14.

Big Tex Choice Awards loves fried food.

Fried King Ranch casserole at State Fair of Texas

Photo by Marc Lee

Big Tex Choice Awards loves fried food.

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Money Matters

This is the salary you need to live comfortably in Texas in 2026

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

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A new national report looking at the income it takes to live comfortably in each of the 50 states has revealed Texans need to earn slightly less now than a year ago.

SmartAsset analyzed what a single individual, as well as family of four, must earn to cover minimum basic needs adjusted using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. The resulting estimate represents the annual, pre-tax income needed to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

A single, full-time worker needs to make $90,563 to live comfortably in the Lone Star State, the report found, which is down a meager 0.2 percent from last year ($90,771).

Under the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy, that means a single Texas earner would have $45,282 to spend on necessities like housing and utilities, $27,169 for discretionary spending, and $18,113 for emergencies or retirement savings.

Texas ranked 34th nationally in SmartAsset's list of states with the highest income needed for a single adult to live "in sustainable comfort" in 2026. Only five other states — Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Mississippi — saw a decline in the income needed to live comfortably this year.

For a family of four to live comfortably in Texas, income requirements change significantly, according to the findings. To support a two-child household, a family needs $203,424 in combined total household income to be considered financially stable. This is down slightly from 2025, when SmartAsset reported a family of four in needed $204,922 to live comfortably in Texas.

This is a comfortable lifestyle for a family of four in Texas, according to the report:

$101,712 dedicated to necessities and living expenses
$61,027 dedicated to discretionary spending
$40,685 dedicated to emergencies, savings, or debt repaymen

According to the report, a family of four now needs to make at least $200,000 to live comfortably in 40 U.S. states, a figure that is far out of reach for many American families.

"As housing, grocery, transportation and other essential costs pressure household budgets, earning a six-figure salary no longer guarantees financial comfort in much of the U.S.," the report said. "A single adult now needs at least $80,000 a year to live comfortably in every state, while the threshold exceeds $100,000 in nearly half of states. For a family of four, the income needed to live comfortably is as much as $329,000."

Still, earning the minimum income to live comfortably in Texas doesn't guarantee financial stability in the Lone Star State's major cities. Earlier this year, SmartAsset determined single residents in Dallas need to make nearly $97,000 to qualify as financially stable, while families of four need about $214,500.

texas smartasset reports salaries income finance