Not worthy

Fort Worth gets flabby score in ranking of healthiest and unhealthiest cities

Run, Fort Worth, run.

Photo by Raul Mosley

When it comes to the well-being of its residents, Fort Worth is crawling, not running. A new WalletHub ranking of the healthiest and unhealthiest places among the country’s largest cities puts Cowtown at No. 121 — a decidedly anemic showing.

To determine which cities prioritize the well-being of their residents, WalletHub compared more than 170 of the most populated U.S. cities across 40 key indicators of good health. The data includes the cost of a doctor’s visit, the typical consumption of fruits and vegetables, and the number of fitness clubs per capita.

WalletHub then bundled the data into four buckets: health care, food, fitness, and green space.

Here’s how Fort Worth fares in each category:

Health care — No. 107
Food — No. 86
Fitness — No. 112
Green space — No. 132

Dallas outperforms Fort Worth in the rankings. Big D shows up at No. 97 on the list of healthiest and unhealthiest cities. Here are the numbers for Dallas:

Health care — No. 133
Food — No. 59
Fitness — No. 82
Green space — No. 98

Only one suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth outranks either Dallas or Fort Worth. Plano leapfrogs all other major cities in the Metroplex to land at No. 39. Here are the category rankings for Plano:

Health care — No. 7
Food — No. 58
Fitness — No. 34
Green space — No. 60

Here’s how things shaped up for four other DFW suburbs:

Irving — No. 127

Health care — No. 130
Food — No. 113
Fitness — No. 147
Green space — No. 104

Arlington — No. 133

Health care — No. 104
Food — No. 108
Fitness — No. 144
Green space — No. 134

Grand Prairie — No. 138

Health care — No. 124
Food — No. 103
Fitness — No. 169
Green space — No. 123

Garland — No. 140

Health care — No. 132
Food — No. 104
Fitness — No. 146
Green space — No. 145

Among Texas cities on the WalletHub list, Austin is at the head of the spin class, appearing at No. 17. The city benefits from ranking third for the number of healthy restaurants per capita and fifth for the number of running trails per capita.

Here are the category rankings for Austin:

Health care — No. 42
Food — No. 20
Fitness — No. 24
Green space — No. 14

Houston beats both Dallas and Fort Worth in the rankings, while San Antonio is below Dallas but above Fort Worth.

Houston — No. 92

Health care — No. 135
Food — No. 62
Fitness — No. 60
Green space — No. 96

San Antonio — No. 109

Health care — No. 123
Food — No. 99
Fitness — No. 99
Green space — No. 87

income news

This is how much it takes to be a middle class earner in DFW in 2025

Photo by Michael Tuszynski on Unsplash

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Maintaining a middle class status in Dallas-Fort Worth only gets harder as the years go on, and the income ceiling to even be labeled as such has just risen even higher. So says SmartAsset's annual "What It Takes to Be Middle Class in America" report for 2025.

According to the latest findings, middle-class income in big cities has a wide range: Depending on where the city is located, it it can be as low as $49,478 or as high as $71,359. This is up from 2024, when middle-class incomes started at $47,568.

Among Texas cities, Plano holds the No. 1 spot on the list with the highest middle-class income ranges.

A household in Plano would need to make a minimum of $72,389 but no more than $217,188 to be considered "middle class" in 2025. Last year, the necessary salary range to maintain a middle class designation in Plano was between $63,651 and $190,004 a year.

The report used a variation of Pew Research's definition of a middle class household, stating the salary range is "two-thirds to double the median U.S. salary." To determine income limits, the report analyzed data from the Census Bureau's 2023 one-year American Community Survey, where the most recent data was available.

New to the 2025 edition, SmartAsset also determined the middle class income thresholds for all 50 states.

Arlington, Virginia has the highest middle class income range in the country, with households needing to make between $93,470 and $280,438 a year to be labeled "middle class."

Middle class earners across Dallas-Fort Worth
Fort Worth households will also have a hard time maintaining a "middle class" designation, as the city climbed from No. 184 last year to No. 46 this year. Earners would have to make between $51,383 and $154,164 annually to be considered middle class in 2025. Last year, they would have needed to make between $47,680 and $143,054 a year.

In a shift from the 2024 report, SmartAsset decided to analyze only the top 100 most populous U.S. cities, after previously ranking 345 cities. That means DFW suburbs like Allen and McKinney – which were among the top 40 cities with the highest middle class income threshold nationwide in 2024 – were left out of this year's analysis.

Here’s what it takes to be middle class in other DFW cities:

No. 43 – Irving: $52,885 to $158,670 yearly
No. 55 – Garland: $47,815 to $143,458 yearly
No. 59 – Dallas: $46,743 to $140,242 yearly
No. 61 – Arlington: $46,134 to $138,416 yearly

Elsewhere in Texas
On the opposite end of the scale, middle class earners in Lubbock have one of the smallest income ranges necessary to be labeled middle class in Texas: Between $36,297 and $108,902 a year. The city ranked 92nd nationwide.

The study says cost of living changes, rising inflation rates, and shifting wages nationwide have made it more difficult for Americans to maintain their "middle class" status.

"For middle-class Americans, the dream has long been a life of reasonable comfort — a stable home, the ability to save enough money to retire, and enough left over for periodic splurges like family vacations, updated cars, or home improvements," the report's author wrote. "But with living costs surging over the past few years, that dream is getting pricier."

Here’s what it takes to be a middle class earner in other Texas cities:

No. 18 – Austin: $60,995 to $183,002 yearly
No. 73 – Corpus Christi: $43,421 to $130,276 yearly
No. 75 – Houston: $41,754 to $125,274 yearly
No. 78 – San Antonio: $41,544 to $124,644 yearly
No. 82 – Laredo: $40,476 to $121,440 yearly
No. 86 – El Paso: $38,208 to $114,634 yearly

In SmartAsset's state-by-state analysis, Texas has the 23rd largest middle class income range. Texas households would need to make between $50,515 and $151,560 to be labeled "middle class" this year. The median income for a Texas household in 2023 came out to $75,780.

The No. 1 state with the highest income range required is Massachusetts, with middle class households needing to make between $66,565 and $199,716 yearly in 2025.

income middle class status reports smartasset dallas plano fort worth