Tree News

Dallas' big free tree giveaway this weekend could use a tiny bit of help

The trees given out won't be quite this big.

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If you're looking for a quick and easy volunteer opportunity, look no longer: Dallas Water Utilities could use some help in its free tree giveaway this weekend.

Called Branch Out Dallas Arbor Day Event, it'll take place on Saturday November 5, from 9 am-12 noon, when the city will distribute free five-gallon trees to Dallas residents who registered for the event.

A spokesperson says that the project is a popular event not only among residents who love getting free trees but also as a service project volunteer opportunity that draws volunteers from local schools, neighborhoods, and business communities.

Volunteering will consist of checking in residents, loading five-gallon trees into vehicles, and directing traffic.

Volunteers are needed in these six locations:

Shelton School at 17301 Preston Rd
Marsh Lane Baptist Church at 10716 Marsh Ln
White Rock Church of Christ at 9220 Ferguson Rd
Tyler Street UMC at 927 W. 10th St
Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep Innovation Center at 9701 San Leon Ave
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School at 4019 S. Hampton Rd

To volunteer, email BranchOutDallas@dallas.gov with your contact information and preferred location.

The Branch Out Dallas program provides 2,500 trees across the City to residents to place in their yard. It debuted in fall 2018. Interest was so overwhelming that they did it twice in 2019, in March and November, distributing more than 5,000 trees.

The program was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic, but resumed in 2021, and now it's back for 2022.

All 2,500 trees that will be distributed are spoken for, but residents who missed out on registration can show up at any of the six sites on Saturday from 11:30 am-12:30 pm to see if there are any leftover trees that have not been picked up; those are first come, first serve.

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Stretching the budget

A $100,000 salary in 2026 goes further in Dallas than it did last year

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A 2026 income study has good news for big earners in Dallas: A six-figure salary goes further than it did last year.

A Dallasite's $100,000 salary is worth $80,103 after taxes and adjusted for the local cost of living, according to the new financial analysis from SmartAsset. That's nearly 4 percent higher than last year, when the same salary had an adjusted value of $77,197.

Six-figure earners in Plano also got a slight — 2 percent — value boost to their salaries this year, the report revealed. A $100,000 salary in Plano is worth $72,653, compared to $71,372 last year.

SmartAsset used its paycheck calculator to apply federal, state and local taxes to an annual salary of $100,000 in 69 of the largest American cities. The figure was then adjusted for the local cost of living (which included average costs for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, and miscellaneous goods and services). Cities were then ranked based on where a six-figure salary is worth the least after applicable taxes and cost of living adjustments.

Plano ranked 27th and Dallas ranked 47th in the overall ranking of U.S. cities where $100,000 is worth the least.

If the rankings were flipped and the cities were ranked based on where $100,000 goes the furthest, that places Dallas in the No. 22 spot and Plano as No. 43 nationally.

Manhattan, New York remains the No. 1 city where a six-figure salary is worth the least. A Manhattan resident's take-home pay is only worth $29,420 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living, which is 3.10 percent lower than it was in 2025.

SmartAsset determined Manhattan has a 29.7 percent effective tax rate on six-figure salaries. Meanwhile, the effective tax rate on a $100,000 salary in Texas (based on the eight cities examined in the report) is 21.1 percent. It's worth highlighting that New York implements a statewide graduated-rate income tax from 4-10.90 percent, whereas Texas is one of only eight states that don't tax residents' income.

Oklahoma City, No. 69, is the U.S. city in the report where a $100,000 salary stretches the furthest. A six-figure salary is worth $91,868 in 2026, up from $89,989 last year.

This is the post-tax value of a $100,000 salary in other Texas cities, and their ranking in the report:

Austin (No. 53): $82,446
Lubbock (No. 59): $84,567
Houston (No. 60): $84,840
San Antonio (No. 62): $86,419
El Paso (No. 67): $90,276
Corpus Christi (No. 68): $91,110

According to the report, getting some "financial breathing room" by making six-figures really depends on where someone lives and what their lifestyle is. For residents living in the 42 states that levy some amount of income tax, their take-home pay dwindles further.

"And depending on how taxes are filed, reaching a $100,000 income may push a household from the 22 percent to 24 percent marginal tax bracket," the report's author wrote. "Meanwhile, locations with high costs across housing and everyday essentials may be less forgiving to a $100,000 income."

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Tree News

Dallas' big free tree giveaway this weekend could use a tiny bit of help

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A $100,000 salary in 2026 goes further in Dallas than it did last year

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