I NEED A RAISE

Here's what it takes to be a middle class earner in Dallas-Fort Worth, new report finds

Plano has one of the highest middle class income ceilings in the nation.

Photo courtesy of City of Plano

In a world where a six figure salary doesn’t go as far as it used to, how much money do you need to make to be deemed middle class? Out of 13 Texas cities and 100 total in the United States, a Dallas suburb has one of the highest middle class income ceilings in the nation.

Plano has the ninth highest income ceiling for American middle class earners, according to a new study by SmartAsset. To define the term “middle class” and determine income limits, analysts looked at data from the Census Bureau's 2021 one-year American Community Survey to find the median income for households in every state. They also looked at income data from 100 of the largest American cities.

Middle class earners in Plano would need to make between $63,651 and $190,004 a year, with the median household income coming out to $95,002 a year.

Several of the country’s best employers are located in Plano and in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, as discovered by Forbes, which is a helpful boost to the local economy. The study additionally discovered Plano has the lowest average home value out of the top 10 cities (mostly from California and Arizona) at $487,000.

Plano was the only Texas city to make the top 10, with Austin coming in second at No. 23. An Austinite would need to make a minimum of $53,293 to be considered middle class. Other Texas cities included in the study are Corpus Christi (No. 63), San Antonio (No. 77), Lubbock (No. 78), Laredo (No. 84), and El Paso (No. 87).

Here’s what it takes to be middle class in other Dallas-Fort Worth cities:

No. 38 – Irving: between $47,128 and $140,680 a year
No. 44 – Fort Worth: between $45,717 and $136,470 a year
No. 59 – Garland: between $41,277 and $123,214 a year
No. 62 – Arlington: between $40,126 and $119,778 a year
No. 72 – Dallas: between $38,857 and $115,990 a year

Four of the top 10 cities with the highest middle class income ceilings are in California (no surprise there) and three of the four are in the Bay Area. The report found that tech cities like those in the Bay Area are notoriously the most difficult to attain a middle class status. California’s overall high cost-of-living means residents in the No. 1 city of Fremont would need to make between $104,499 and $311,936 a year to be labeled middle class.

The top 10 cities with the highest middle class ceilings are:

No. 1 – Fremont, California
No. 2 – San Jose, California
No. 3 – Arlington, Virginia
No. 4 – San Francisco
No. 5 – Seattle
No. 6 – Irvine, California
No. 7 – Gilbert, Arizona
No. 8 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 9 – Plano
No. 10 – Chandler, Arizona

The full report and its methodology can be found on smartasset.com.

plano dallas irving garland arlington fort worth reports SmartAsset

beyond the stacks

Texas public libraries deliver billions in economic impact, study says

dallaslibrary.org/

Dallas shines a lot brighter with its public library system.

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many Dallasites are already familiar with Dallas Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, free notary services, free admission to local arts and culture events through Culture Pass Dallas, seed libraries, and maker spaces for creative endeavors. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, meeting spaces, tax assistance, and job help.

Residents outside Dallas also have access to services at several other local libraries, depending on their address. For instance, Plano Public Library offers free cards to residents and for residents in reciprocal cities like Allen, The Colony, Frisco, Garland, McKinney, Richardson, and Wylie.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
82 percent provide job application assistance
68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
38 percent provide on-site social services
30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources

"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."

libraries city life dallas dallas public library