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5 Dallas suburbs deemed safest in Texas and more popular stories

Trophy Club is the safest city in Texas.

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Editor's note: The top Dallas news of the week includes a look at Texas' safest cities and a visit from Guy Fieri. Plus, restaurant comings and goings. Catch up on our most popular stories below, then visit our guide to the best weekend events.

1. 5 Dallas neighbors dominate 2026 list of safest cities in Texas. A new report says the Dallas suburbs are home to some of the safest cities in Texas. Home security review site SafeWise has ranked Trophy Club, Parker, Melissa, Murphy, and Colleyville on its recent top-10 list of towns unburdened by crime worries.

2. Guy Fieri shows up for BBQ in this Dallas restaurant news roundup. This edition of Dallas restaurant news welcomes Food Network star Guy Fieri and his Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives camera crew for an episode that aired Friday, February 20.

3. H-E-B to host mass hiring event for newest store in Dallas-Fort Worth. A new H-E-B supermarket in the works between Dallas and Fort Worth is inching closer to completion. And here's proof: They're hiring.

4. New restaurant Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine does it for real in Plano. An authentic Chinese mom-and-pop restaurant has debuted in Plano. Called Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine, it opened in late 2025 at 4140 Legacy Dr. #310, at Coit Road, in the same center as Sprouts.

Fried rice and chicken at Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine. Photo courtesy of Dallas Spicy

5. Dallas chef team to close downtown fine-dining restaurant Sauvage. A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is closing. Sauvage, the high-end restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, will close in March.

happy go lucky plano

Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

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A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.

Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:

No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 22 – Community and environment
No. 72 – Income and employment

Plano and its residents have continued improving their city year after year, whether its through opening new bakeries and restaurants, inviting fun pop-ups for locals, or having a strong job market.

Plano's happiness far outshines the rest of North Texas; according to WalletHub, Irving is the 70th happiest city in the country, the third-happiest in Texas, and the second-happiest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Garland ranked farther behind as No. 92 nationally, and more DFW cities ranked even lower: Grand Prairie (No. 106), Dallas (No. 111), Fort Worth (No. 113), and Arlington (No. 119).

The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."

WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 39 – Austin
No. 128 – Houston
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

wallethub plano reports