Editor's note: Stories about city life were some of our most-read headlines this year in Fort Worth. Readers devoured stories about suburbs and schools, curious to see what made the best-of cut for scores of rankings. And, of course, we all needed to check in with the world's richest people and see which ones live in Texas.
Here's a look back at the most-read stories from CultureMap Fort Worth's City Life section in 2025:
1. 11 Dallas-Fort Worth companies named best places to work by U.S. News. Nearly a dozen distinguished Dallas-Fort Worth-based companies have been hailed among the best places to work in 2025 by U.S. News and World Report.
2. Fort Worth suburb makes the list of best places to live in the U.S. Similarly, nearly a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth cities, including Mansfield, are among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.
3. Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton is America's richest woman in 2025. America's wealthiest billionaires are $1.2 trillion richer in 2025, bringing their collective worth to a staggering $6.6 trillion. And Fort Worth's own Alice Walton is leading the charge as the wealthiest woman in America, according to the Forbes 400. Walmart heiress Walton, 75, simultaneously holds the title as the richest woman in the world in 2025.
Alice Walton is the richest woman in America and the third richest Texan. Photo by D Dipasupil/Getty Images
4. This is how much the cost to raise a child in DFW increased since 2024. A national study revealed it now costs $411 more to raise a child in the Fort Worth area than it did last year. SmartAsset's report "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2025 Study" compared data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator to determine the annual costs for raising a child in 2024 and 2025 across the 48 biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Factors that contributed to each metro's total included the cost for childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs, and "other necessities."
5. Fort Worth neighbor is the No. 1 most diverse large city in America. Dallas-Fort Worth has always been a diverse place, but there's one city that's truly becoming an epicenter for people of any cultural or socioeconomic background. Give it up for Arlington, which topped WalletHub's rankings of the most diverse large American cities for 2025.
6. 9 DFW universities make U.S. News' 2025 list of top grad schools. Nine prestigious Dallas-Fort Worth universities climbed through the ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s report of the best graduate schools nationwide for 2025. Several graduate programs also appeared among the top 10 in a Texas-wide comparison.
TCU ranked as the 5th best university in Texas for 2026. Texas Christian University/Facebook
7. Fort Worth secures ranking as 3rd safest city in America for 2025. Fort Worth residents concerned about the effects of population growth may feel more secure knowing the city has nearly topped a ranking of America's safest cities. Next-door-neighbor Arlington also ranked among the top 10. Fort Worth ranked as the third-safest city nationwide, outshined only by the California cities of San Jose (No. 1) and Los Angeles (No. 2).
8. 2 Fort Worth high schools rank as America's best in 2025, per U.S. News. Two prestigious Fort Worth high schools are living up to their reputations for top-tier education after being ranked among the best high schools in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings. Two high schools in Fort Worth Independent School District — World Languages Institute and Young Women's Leadership Academy — ranked among the top 50 best high schools in Texas for 2025.
9. How much money you need to live comfortably in Fort Worth in 2025. As the cost of living in Fort Worth fluctuates, a financially secure future is getting harder to attain, it seems. A report has determined that Fort Worth residents need to make almost $1,700 more than they did last year to make living comfortable in 2025.
10. Texas governor steps in with last-minute defense of THC sales. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a bill June 22 to ban all THC consumables, allowing the booming market flush with THC-infused vapes, gummies, and other products to continue to be sold across the state.
