checking all the boxes

Playful Plano excels as 4th best U.S. city for families in 2024

Plano's annual Artfest is a great way to spend time with your family.

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Happy-go-lucky Plano is standing strong as one of the nation's best cities to raise a family, according to a new report from WalletHub.

The 2024 edition of the personal finance website's "Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family (2024)" study ranked Plano in the No. 4 spot for the fourth year in a row since 2021. The top three cities also remained the same since the 2023 report: Fremont, California (No. 1); Overland Park, Kansas (No. 2); and Irvine, California (No. 3). Seattle, Washington rounded out the top five.

The report annually ranks 182 of the most populous U.S. cities across five main categories: Family fun, health and safety, education and childcare, affordability, and socioeconomics. Factors that helped determine Plano's top-five spot in the report include the number of playgrounds per capita, the city's walkability, air quality, school-system quality, cost of living, the city's separation and divorce rate, and much more.

Plano performed the best in the categories for socioeconomics (No. 4), health and safety (No. 5), and affordability (No. 7). The city's education and childcare rank fell a little behind at No. 29, while the family fun rank took the biggest hit in performance, ranking No. 74.

Plano has received a lot of praise for its family-friendly qualities in 2024. A recent SmartAsset study ranked Plano the second-happiest city in the nation, and its amazing park system was (once again) lauded as the best in Texas.

In the report, WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said it can be a challenge for potential parents to find the "right" city to live in that checks all the boxes for raising a family. Besides having an affordable cost of living, families have to consider a city's safety, its education system, and opportunities for recreational activities.

"On top of all of these factors, people also often want to raise their children close to their extended family," Happe said. "Therefore, current or prospective parents can benefit from narrowing down their choices to a few of the best cities that are within a reasonable drive of their family."

Across North Texas

Besides Plano and Fort Worth (No. 86) – which moved up four places from its previous rank as No. 90 last year – it appears a majority of Dallas-Fort Worth cities slipped further down the list in 2024.

Dallas dipped three spots from its former No. 138 rank down to No. 141 in 2024, and Grand Prairie fell from No. 51 to No. 63. Irving sank from No. 85 to No. 97 this year, and Arlington only fell two spots into No. 99. Garland tumbled out of the top 100 into No. 111 this year, after ranking No. 98 in 2023.

Here's how other Texas cities fared in the report:

No. 19 – Austin
No. 72 – Laredo
No. 77 – Brownsville
No. 80 – Amarillo
No. 96 – El Paso
No. 107 – Lubbock
No. 134 – Corpus Christi
No. 138 – San Antonio
No. 145 – Houston

The full report can be found on wallethub.com.

plano reports rankings wallethub families

money woes

Texas is no longer the No. 1 most financially distressed state in U.S.

Photo by Image Source/Getty Images

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After spending an unfortunate year as the No. 1 state with the most people in financial distress, Texas has slightly recovered. But the Lone Star State isn't out of the woods yet: it's still among the five most financially distressed states in America for 2026.

According to WalletHub's 2026 report, Texas sits in the No. 4 spot this year, while Kansas, Louisiana, and Florida moved up to become the top three states with the most financially distressed residents.

The personal finance website's experts compared all 50 states based on residents' average credit scores, the share of people with "accounts in distress" (meaning an account that's in forbearance or has deferred payments), the one-year change in bankruptcy filings from March 2025, and search interest indexes for "debt" and "loans."

Despite improving in the overall ranking, the study found Texas has had the fourth-biggest spike in bankruptcy filings nationally from March 2025 to March 2026. Texas residents also have the 10th worst average credit scores in the country, according to the findings.

This is how Texas ranked across the study's six key dimensions, where No. 1 means "most distressed:"

No. 4 – Change in bankruptcy filings from March 2024 to March 2025 rank
No. 5 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 8 – "Loans" search interest index rank
No. 8 – People with accounts in distress rank
No. 12 – Credit score rank
No. 13 – “Debt” search interest index rank

It feels like inflation and affordability are top-of-mind for many Americans over recent years, and uncertainty around the national economy also adds another level of distress. That's especially true for Dallas residents, which were dubbed the fourth most financially distressed people in America earlier in 2026.

"Americans have faced significant financial challenges in recent years, as inflation, shifting unemployment levels, public health emergencies, and natural disasters have made it more difficult for many households to stay on top of their bills," the report said.

The top three states that have the least financially distressed residents are Maine (No. 50), Rhode Island (No. 49), and Hawaii (No. 48).

The top 10 most financially distressed states in America for 2026 are:

No. 1 – Kansas
No. 2 – Lousiana
No. 3 – Florida
No. 4 – Texas
No. 5 – South Carolina
No. 6 – Wyoming
No. 7 – Georgia
No. 8 – California
No. 9 – North Carolina
No. 10 – Kentucky