Prosperous places

10 wealthy Texas cities cash in among the richest in America

RENTCafe Most Expensive Rental Homes Texas September 2015 Frisco house 10584 Tobias Lane 75034

The Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Frisco is No. 3 on the list.

Frisco may be the home base of the Dallas Cowboys, the richest team in the NFL, but it’s also home to some of the richest people in the country.

A recent ranking from data provider HomeSnacks puts Frisco at No. 3 among the richest big cities in the U.S.

Appearing ahead of Frisco in the study are Cary, North Carolina, and Centennial, Colorado. The study features the 306 U.S. cities with at least 100,000 residents. In total, 10 Texas cities rank among the 50 richest.

HomeSnacks looked at three data points to rank the country’s richest big cities: median household income, unemployment rate, and poverty rate.

At the time the study came out, Frisco’s median income was $128,761, the fifth highest showing among big cities. Meanwhile, Frisco’s unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, the 25th lowest rate among the big cities, and the poverty rate was 4 percent, the fourth lowest rate. (In some cases, cities are listed has having the same unemployment rate or poverty rate. But their rankings in those categories differ because HomeSnacks sorted them by carrying out the rates by several decimal points.)

The nine other Texas cities joining Frisco in the top 50 are:

No. 7 Pearland. The median household income was $102,764 (No.19), the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent (No. 29), and the poverty rate was 3.5 percent (No. 7).
No. 10 League City. The median household income was $108,979 (No. 14), the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent (No. 32), and the poverty rate was 5.4 percent (No. 13).
No. 12 McKinney. The median household income was $100,775 (No. 23), the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent (No. 14), and the poverty rate was 6.9 percent (No. 29).
No. 15 Allen. The median household income was $113,719 (No. 11), the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent (No. 59), and the poverty rate was 4.1 percent (No. 5).
No. 19 Plano. The median household income was $96,348 (No. 33), the unemployment rate was 4 percent (No. 41), and the poverty rate was 6.3 percent (No. 17).
No. 23 Carrollton. The median household income was $82,345 (No. 61), the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent (No. 23), and the poverty rate was 6.5 percent (No. 18).
No. 24 Sugar Land. The median household income was $123,261 (No. 7), the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent (No. 93), and the poverty rate was 4.4 percent (No. 24).
No. 30 Midland. The median household income was $83,616 (No. 59), the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent (No. 7), and the poverty rate was 9.4 percent (No. 62).
No. 37 Round Rock. The median household income was $86,121 (No. 49), the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent (No. 88), and the poverty rate was 6.2 percent (No. 16).

rankings

Vehicle News

What to know about new car inspection requirements in San Antonio

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Texas is changing requirements for vehicle registration.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles.

We'll all be free, free, free of the oppression of the safety inspection process. However …

Under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

This name change comes courtesy of the legislature, who want to keep collecting this fee because the funds go to state programs such as construction and expansion of state highways — funds they previously collected from the Safety Inspection Fee.

And while the safety inspection is gone, state law will still require that drivers in 17 counties must pass an "emission inspection" on vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old, in order to get your vehicle registered. In Bexar County, the new requirement will go into effect in 2026.

But what does an "emissions inspection" mean?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) details the following changes:

Safety inspection out, emissions testing in
Until December 31, 2024, safety inspections are required for vehicle registration in all 254 counties. Beginning January 1, 2025, noncommercial vehicles in Texas will no longer be required to have an annual safety inspection. Instead, vehicles will have to get an emissions inspection on gasoline-powered vehicles that are 2 to 24 years old.

What is no longer going to be "inspected"?
Texas Transportation Code §548.051 specifies the list of old-school inspection items which will no longer be checked. Moving forward, they will no longer be checking: tires, wheel assembly, safety guards, safety flaps, brakes, steering, lighting, horns, mirrors, windshield wipers, sunscreening devices, and front seat belts in vehicles on which seat belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment.

What will still be inspected are listed as "Items 12–15": exhaust system, exhaust emissions system, fuel tank cap, and emissions control equipment. These will be part of the emissions inspection process in 17 counties.

Those 17 counties where this is relevant include:

Austin: Travis and Williamson
DFW: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant
Houston: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
El Paso County

In Bexar County, emissions inspections will be required beginning on November 1, 2026.

Where will emissions inspections be obtained?
Emissions inspections can be obtained at DPS-certified vehicle inspection stations in the 17 emissions counties. These will be the exact same inspection locations we've been going to all along, when it was called a safety inspection. Emissions inspections are not available in the other 237 Texas counties.

DPS offers an inspection station locator online.

What is the estimated cost of an emissions inspection?
Vehicle owners will pay an emissions inspection fee of $2.50 annually to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) at the time of registration. The actual fee you'll pay at the inspection station (as listed on TCEQ’s website) will be $25.50. Just like the former "safety inspection" fee.

In short: There is little that's changing about the entire inspection process, except they won't bother making you honk your horn.

transportation