Keep on smilin’

This Dallas-Fort Worth city is the happiest place in Texas for 2022, report says

Plano ranked 24th in the community and environment category.

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

Plano is known as the “City of Excellence.” It might need another motto, though: “City of Happiness.”

A new study from personal finance website WalletHub ranks the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb as the happiest place in Texas and the 22nd happiest city in the U.S.

Fort Worth comes in far down the list, at a rather sad 103rd. Arlington is even lower, at 107th, and Dallas, at a dismal 111th.

To come up with the ranking, WalletHub looked at more than key indicators of happiness for 182 of the largest U.S. cities. Among the factors were depression rate, suicide rate, sports participation rate, separation and divorce rate, and hours worked per day.

WalletHub then placed those numbers into three buckets. Here’s how Plano ranked in that regard:

24th in the community and environment category.
37th in the physical and emotional well-being category.
48th in the income and employment category.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a third of Americans to be so stressed that they sometimes find it hard to make basic decisions. Therefore, it’s vital for people to boost their happiness however they can, whether through family, friends, activities, entertainment or work,” WalletHub says. “What people might not realize is that where they live may also determine how happy they are.”

It's not the first time Plano has made the list — clearly, residents here are very happy.

So, what’s the happiest city in the U.S. According to WalletHub, it’s Fremont, California, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area. And the unhappiest? WalletHub hands that dubious distinction to Detroit.

Here’s how the rest of the Texas cities in the study are ranked:

Austin, No. 30
Grand Prairie, No. 83
Irving, No. 89
Garland, No. 97
Fort Worth, No. 103
Arlington, No. 107
Dallas, No. 111
Houston, No. 112
Laredo, No. 115
El Paso, No. 120
Brownsville, No. 125
San Antonio, No. 130
Corpus Christi, No. 139
Amarillo, No. 143
Lubbock, No. 157

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Police News

Fort Worth police officer fired for unjustified use of force

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A Fort Worth police officer has been terminated following his involvement in a use of force incident. According to a release, Officer Matthew Krueger was let go on December 18, following an investigation into an incident involving someone who was videotaping his actions while he was on duty.

On Sunday, June 23, Fort Worth police officers responded to a hit-and-run collision near 1000 Foch St. The incident involved a suspected intoxicated driver who crashed into another vehicle and a structure before fleeing the scene on foot.

While officers were investigating, a woman approached them and used her cell phone to record their actions. Krueger asked and advised her multiple times to move across the street. When she failed to comply, she was placed under arrest.

During the arrest, Krueger used force to take the woman into custody, resulting in injuries that required medical care at an area hospital.

After being treated, the woman was released from the hospital, booked into jail, and charged with interference with public duties, resisting arrest and/or detention, evading arrest, and making a false alarm or report.

Krueger had been with the department for just under eight years and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau at the time of the incident.

The Fort Worth Police Major Case and Internal Affairs Units began immediate and congruent investigations. Krueger was transferred from Patrol to a unit with no public interaction, pending the outcome of the investigation.

After a review of the Internal Affairs investigation, Krueger’s chain of command determined that the level of force used was unjustified and violated departmental policy. Police Chief Neil Noakes concurred and terminated Krueger’s employment.

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