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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family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family dallas fort worth arlington smartasset reports livability