RIDE-HAILING NEWS

Uber adds option for women riders to request women drivers in Dallas

Uber now allows women riders to request women drivers.

Female Uber riders in Dallas can now specifically request female drivers via the Uber app. The ride-hailing giant has expanded its pilot program called Women Preferences nationwide in response to customer safety concerns.

“When women riders and drivers told us they wanted more control over how they ride and earn, we listened,” wrote Uber in a blog post announcing the move. “That feedback led to Women Preferences, features designed to give women the choice to ride with other women.

"Since our first pilots last summer, we’ve heard just how much that choice matters — from feeling more comfortable in the back seat to more confident behind the wheel.”

According to Uber, women passengers can request to be matched with a woman driver when they request an on-demand ride or schedule a trip in advance. They can also set a preference within the ride app. If wait times are longer than anticipated, the rider can opt to be paired with a driver of any sex.

Women drivers can toggle on a preference to receive trip requests from women riders, the website says. And in cities where teen accounts are available, teens and their guardians can also request women drivers.

The feature is available to female Uber users only.

Uber says it began offering the rides in 2019, after women in Saudi Arabia gained the right to drive. Since then, it has rolled out the program in Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Africa — although in some countries, only drivers can make the match.

The move forward on Women Preferences comes despite a pair of lawsuits aimed at Uber and its main competitor, Lyft. According to Time reporting, the plaintiff’s lawyers argue that women-only rides unfairly limit the volume of rides for male drivers and reinforce gender stereotypes about men.

Lyft rolled out its similar program, Women + Connect, in 2023. The initiative is slightly more expansive than Uber’s preferences, allowing both women and nonbinary people to participate.

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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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Stretching the budget

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

44 Dallas Symphony debutantes make regal bows at 40th Presentation Ball

This is the income it takes to be middle class in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2026

Build-your-own tacos restaurant Barrio makes Texas debut in McKinney