new praise for plano

North Dallas neighbor surprises as top 10 best U.S. city to drive in

I-635 US-75 central expressway LBJ freeway

Once you head out of the city, driving's a little less of a nightmare.

Courtesy photo

Dallasites can agree that there's nothing worse than getting stuck in traffic, but one surprising suburb is pulling through as one of the most enjoyable cities to drive in: The North Dallas neighbor of Plano.

That honor is being bestowed by personal finance website WalletHub in its new study ranking the "Best & Worst Cities to Drive In (2024)." The report examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities to determine their "driver friendliness" using 30 metrics across four key dimensions: Costs for vehicle ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety, and vehicle and maintenance accessibility (repair shops, car washes, gas stations, parking garages, etc.).

In all, 13 Texas cities made it on WalletHub's list, and six are located in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Raleigh, North Carolina was crowned the No. 1 best U.S. city to drive in, earning a score of 63.92 points, while Plano ranked No. 10 with a score of 60.52 points.

Plano stood out for its overall "safety" ranking, earning No. 13 nationwide, which encompassed factors like the likelihood of having a vehicle accident in the city versus the national average; the traffic fatality rate per 100,000 residents; the rate of car thefts; among others.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of Plano's rank across the three remaining categories:

No. 28 – Access to Vehicles & Maintenance rank
No. 37 – Traffic & Infrastructure rank
No. 40 – Cost of Ownership & Maintenance rank

Elsewhere around DFW, Arlington ranked as the No. 19 best large U.S. city to drive in, while Garland (No. 27), Fort Worth (No. 34), and Irving (No. 38) all fell farther behind.

Dallas (No. 60), unsurprisingly, was one of the worst-ranked Texas cities to drive in. Just last year, Dallas ranked No. 9 in a Forbes Home study of U.S. cities with the hardest commutes, so this doesn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who lives in the city.

The only city in the Lone Star State that performed worse than Dallas was Houston, which ranked No. 64 nationally. Houston is notorious for having the worst traffic in the country.

According to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo, living in one of the best cities to drive in – such as Plano or Corpus Christi, which ranked No. 3 nationally – can make it easier for residents to own and maintain a car.

"Car prices have gone up significantly over the past few years, and gas remains expensive going into the summer travel season," Lupo said in the report. "However, costs aren’t the only factors that matter; the best cities for drivers also minimize commute times and traffic congestion, have accident rates well below the national average and keep their roads in good condition."

The top 10 best large U.S. cities to drive in are:

No. 1 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 2 – Boise, Idaho
No. 3 – Corpus Christi, Texas
No. 4 – Greensboro, North Carolina
No. 5 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 6 – Orlando, Florida
No. 7 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 8 – Wichita, Kansas
No. 9 – Tampa, Florida
No. 10 – Plano, Texas

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

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who needs a raise?

Here's the income it takes to be in the top 1 percent in Texas in 2026

Hundred dollar bills, top 1 percent earners, income study

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

The income needed to be ranked among the top 1 percent of earners in Texas has snowballed past $800,000.

In a state where local billionaires are wealthier than they've ever been, high-earning Texans need to make $73,000 more than they did a year ago if they want to be among the top 1 percent of earners, a new report has revealed.

SmartAsset's latest study analyzed income thresholds for the top 1, 5, and 10 percent of earners in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using 2022 IRS data for individual tax return filers (the most recent year available), adjusted to 2026 dollars.

Texas has the 11th highest income threshold, with residents needing to make a minimum of $817,158 to be considered among the top 1 percent of earners statewide. In 2025, Texans needed to make about $744,000 to be among the top 1 percent.

For comparison, residents living in the nation's capital must make at least $1.16 million to qualify as top 1 percent earners. The District of Columbia led the nation with the highest income threshold to be a top earner.

To be considered among the top 5 percent of earners in Texas, a resident would need to make $312,671. The income threshold to be considered among the top 10 percent is $210,609.

SmartAsset additionally found that 128,130 Texas residents qualified as top 1 percent earners in 2022. Nationally, the report estimated that fewer than 2 million households earn enough to be considered among the top 1 percent of earners nationwide, but 23 million households rank among the top 10 percent.

"In some places, households can enter the top 1 percent at income levels that fall well below the threshold elsewhere, reflecting an uneven landscape of wages and wealth," the report said.

A separate SmartAsset study that tracked the upper and lower thresholds for middle class households found Dallas residents need to make anywhere from $49,549 to $148,646 to maintain their middle class status. But in other North Texas cities, residents can make up to $291,000 — a figure that would place them between the top 5 and 10 percent of earners — and still be labeled "middle class."

The top 10 states with the highest thresholds to be considered in the top 1 percent of earners in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – District of Columbia ($1,156,664)
No. 2 – Connecticut ($1,147,898)
No. 3 – Massachusetts ($1,006,921)
No. 4 – California ($987,325)
No. 5– New Jersey ($969,976)
No. 6 – New York ($959,562)
No. 7 – Florida ($956,449)
No. 8 – Washington ($903,303)
No. 9 – Colorado ($828,772)
No. 10 – Wyoming ($819,014)

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