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Dallas neighbor has the largest gender pay gap in the U.S., per report

It's 2024 and women are still making less money than men.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Achieving equal pay between men and women is still a long ways off, especially in one North Texas city. According to a new earnings study by Chamber of Commerce, the No. 1 city in the U.S. with the worst gender pay gap is none other than Frisco.

Frisco topped the list, which examined earnings for full-time workers in 170 of the most populous cities in the United States.

The study found that, in 2024, men in Frisco are currently making a staggering $52,216 more than women — representing an increase of $12,357 from 2023, when Frisco came in at No. 2 on the list.

The pay gap in Frisco is also dramatically higher than the national wage gap, which is a little over $11,000.

Elsewhere in Dallas-Fort Worth, McKinney remained in the No. 5 spot for the second consecutive year. McKinney men make $24,568 more than women, which is a $4,400 decrease year-over-year.

Plano's gender wage gap has worsened since 2023: The suburb is now listed among the top 10 worst pay gaps in the U.S., climbing to No. 6. The study says the Plano's wage gap is now $23,415, or nearly $2,300 more than last year.

In 2023, Dallas had one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the nation. But the city's tone has changed over the last year, and the gender pay gap is now $6,500 in 2024.

Things are much better in Garland where women make $1,377 more than men.

Here's how other North Texas cities fared, along with their gender pay gaps:

No. 33 – Irving ($13,592)
No. 65 – Grand Prairie ($9,792)
No. 81 – Fort Worth ($8,699)
No. 125 – Arlington ($6,228)

Statewide gender pay gap
Chamber of Commerce found Texas' gender pay gap has increased since last year: The 2023 study found women made nearly $11,000 less than men, and that number has increased in 2024 to nearly $12,000.

However, Texas' ranking has improved 10 spots from No. 29 last year to No. 19 this year.

For added context, New Hampshire has the No. 1 worst pay gap in the nation, with men making over $18,000 more than women.

Other Texas cities that earned spots in the report are:

No. 20 – Amarillo
No. 22 – Laredo
No. 24 – Austin
No. 30 – Corpus Christi
No. 31 – Pasadena
No. 52 – Lubbock
No. 59 – El Paso
No. 121 – San Antonio
No. 142 – Houston
No. 167 – Brownsville

dallas frisco mckinney reports

Under the Sun

Solar power poised to surpass coal for the first time in Texas

Photo by Bill Mead on Unsplash

Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in Texas.

Solar power promises to shine even brighter in Texas this year. A new forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that for the first time, annual power generation from utility-scale solar will surpass annual power generation from coal across the territory covered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Solar generation is expected to reach 78 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 in the ERCOT grid, compared with 60 billion kilowatt-hours for coal, the EIA forecast says. The ERCOT grid supplies power to about 90 percent of Texas.

“Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in ERCOT as solar capacity additions help meet rapid electricity demand growth,” the forecast says.

Although natural gas remains the dominant source of electricity generation in ERCOT, accounting for an average 44 percent of electricity generation from 2021 to 2025, solar’s share of the generation mix rose from 4 percent to 12 percent. During the same period, coal’s share dropped from 19 percent to 13 percent.

EIA predicts about 40 percent of U.S. solar capacity, or 14 billion kilowatt-hours, added in 2026 will come from Texas.

Although EIA expects annual solar generation to exceed annual coal generation in 2026, solar surpassed coal in ERCOT on a monthly basis for the first time in March 2025, when solar generation totaled 4.33 billion kilowatt-hours and coal’s totaled 4.16 billion kilowatt-hours. Solar generation continued to exceed that of coal until August of that year.

“In 2026, we estimate that solar exceeded coal for the first time in March, and we forecast generation from solar installations in ERCOT will continue to exceed that from coal until December, when coal generation exceeds solar,” says EIA. “We expect solar generation to exceed that of coal for every month in 2027 except January and December.”

For 2027, EIA forecasts annual solar generation of 99 billion kilowatt-hours in the ERCOT grid, compared with 66 billion kilowatt-hours of annual coal generation.

In April, ERCOT projected almost 368 billion kilowatt-hours of demand in ERCOT’s territory by 2032. ERCOT’s all-time peak demand hit 85.5 billion kilowatt-hours in August 2023.

“Texas is experiencing exceptional growth and development, which is reshaping how large load demand is identified, verified, and incorporated into long-term planning,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said. “As a result of a changing landscape, we believe this forecast to be higher than expected … load growth.”

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This article first appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

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Dallas neighbor has the largest gender pay gap in the U.S., per report

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