affluent 'burbs

2 affluent Dallas suburbs have some of America's richest residents

An idyllic home in University Park, complete with matching fluffy white dog on porch.

Photo by Par Bengtsson

America's wealthy, increasingly, are turning away from behemoth cities like Los Angeles or New York City in favor of smaller suburbs and enclaves like Dallas neighbors University Park and Southlake.

So says a new household income study by GoBankingRates, which lists the two Dallas-Fort Worth towns among the wealthiest American suburbs in 2024.

University Park (bordered on the south by Highland Park and on the north, east, and west by Dallas) came out on top as the No. 6 wealthiest suburb in the nation, the report found, boasting the sixth-highest average household income out of all 50 cities in the report.

A University Park household makes an average income of $381,235 a year, and the typical home in the suburb is valued at over $2.3 million.

The town is no stranger to these kinds of richest-lists. In GoBankingRates' 2023 report that examined the wealthiest small American towns, University Park ranked No. 4 nationally.

There's much to like about the area, which is home to idyllic neighborhoods like Idlewild, Preston Place, and Caruth Hills. Residents love to tout its architectural variety, excellent schools, ample parks and green spaces, and proximity to popular destinations like Highland Park Village and Southern Methodist University.

1982 E Highland St., Southlake, mansion Southlake is home to some of the area's biggest homes. Photo courtesy of Engel & Völkers Dallas Southlake via Estately.com

Southlake ranked a little farther down the list, at No. 13, with the the average household making $360,078 annually. The report says the typical home in the suburb is worth more than $1.24 million.

The affluent Tarrant County city has many great local eateries, like the new Prohibition-style restaurant Volstead and pastry shop D'Caramel Patisserie , as well as gaming attractions, med spas, shopping at Southlake Town Square and Central Market, and more. Southlake-based global technology company Sabre was declared one of the best companies to work for in 2024.

Southlake is also home to 26-year-old Annette Addo-Yobo, the recently crowned Miss Texas 2024, who'll go on to compete in Miss America.

Elsewhere in Texas
University Park wasn't the only Texas suburb to earn a spot in the top 10. West University Place in Houston ranked three spots higher than University Park to claim No. 3, and Bellaire (located just west of West U.) ranked outside the top 10 as No. 25.

The report found the average household in West U. makes $403,845 a year, and the typical home is worth more than $1.6 million. In Bellaire, the average household income amounts to more than $294,605 a year, and the average house is valued at nearly $1.08 million.

The top 10 wealthiest suburbs in America are:

No. 1 – Scarsdale, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
No. 2 – Rye, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
No. 3 – West University Place, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
No. 4 – Los Altos, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
No. 5 – Paradise Valley, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona
No. 6 – University Park, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
No. 7 – Hinsdale, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Illinois
No. 8 – Great Falls, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Virginia-Maryland
No. 9 – Orinda, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California
No. 10 – Wellesley, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts

GoBankingRates examined all cities in the U.S. with a minimum of 5,000 households and ranked them based on the highest average household income. The report provided additional details like which metropolitan area the cities are in, plus each city's typical home value in 2024.

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

bellaire dallas fort worth houston miss texas reports southlake suburbs university place west-university-place

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Texas shocks as America's No. 3 least safe state in 2026 report

Photo by Hiroshi Kimura on Unsplash

Texas ranks as the 48th "safest" state — out of 50.

While no state is invulnerable, some do more to protect their residents than others. And a new study has declared Texas one of the five least safe states in America.

WalletHub's "Safest States in America (2026)" report examined all 50 states for their emergency preparedness and for residents' personal and residential, financial, workplace, and road safety. Factors that weighed into the rankings include specific crime rates per capita, the share of the population that is uninsured, road quality ratings, workplace injury statistics, and more.

Texas ranked at the bottom of the list as the 48th "safest" state — or the third least safe state. It's joined by several other Southern states, like Mississippi (No. 50), Louisiana (No. 49), Florida (No. 47), and Arkansas (No. 46).

According to WalletHub, Texas specifically ranks third to last in the nationwide "emergency preparedness" category, which was determined based on the prevalence of climate disasters causing $1 billion or more in damages from 1980-2024, and the loss amount resulting from those disasters.

The Lone Star State also ranked 40th (or 10th worst) across three safety categories: personal and residential safety, financial safety, and road safety. The report additionally found that Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents nationally.

Texas' "workplace safety" was the state's highest-ranking category, landing 30th nationally.

Additional rankings that determined Texas' overall safety include:

No. 30 – Assaults per capita
No. 32 – Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time workers
No. 32 – Sex offenders per capita
No. 35 – Murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita
No. 36 – Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel
No. 41 – Loss amounts from climate disasters per capita

According to the report, the five safest states in America are all located in the Northeast. Vermont leads as the country's safest state in 2026, followed by Massachusetts (No. 2), Maine (No. 3), New Hampshire (No. 4), and Connecticut (No. 5).

Though every state has varying levels of safety, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo asserted that the safest places in the U.S. categorically invest in protecting their residents. Top-ranking states have low crime rates and diligently maintain their road infrastructure, and other states that prioritize their residents' safety have "strong economies and job markets that prevent people from falling into dangerous financial situations."

"[The safest states in America] have high levels of occupational safety and disaster preparedness, too," Lupo said. "In addition, states are made safer by efforts that individual residents take, such as forming a neighborhood watch or working in firefighting and EMT jobs at high rates."

safety texas wallethub reports

affluent 'burbs

2 affluent Dallas suburbs have some of America's richest residents

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Texas shocks as America's No. 3 least safe state in 2026 report