jenna in houston

Jenna Bush Hager heads to Houston for Junior League education event

Jenna Bush Hager will headline the Junior League of The Woodlands event.

One of America’s favorite faces is headed to Houston for a smart event. Jenna Bush Hager, co-host of NBC’s morning show Today with Hoda and Jenna, will serve as keynote speaker for the 2022 IMPACT event, the Junior League of The Woodlands announced.

Hager will headline the event on Saturday, March 5. Admission to the virtual program is free and open to the public. Participants must register here by Friday, March 4 to receive login information.

Aside from her hosting duties, Bush Hager is also a six-time bestselling author, a leader of the TODAY book club, #ReadWithJenna, and an editor-at-large for Southern Living magazine. She plans to share her personal experiences as a teacher, humanitarian aid worker, and correspondent, according to a press release.

A former teacher in Washington D.C. charter school, Hager works with UNICEF in effort to prevent childhood deaths. She has co-authored two children’s books with her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush.

Additionally, she penned the novels Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope inspired by her service with UNICEF, Sisters First a memoir co-authored with her sister, Barbara Pierce Bush, about growing up in the White House.

Most recently, she released Everything Beautiful In Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss, a tribute to her grandparents, George HW Bush and Barbara Bush.
In April, Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush will co-headline A Celebration of Reading for the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation.

The IMPACT program is a partnership between the Junior League of The Woodlands and more than a dozen school districts and numerous private schools.

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money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houstonians are feeling the financial stress in 2026.

A new study has confirmed what many Houston residents are already feeling: Houston has one of the highest shares of people in financial distress in the nation.

Houston ranked No. 2 in WalletHub's just-released report, "Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress," which analyzed 100 of the largest U.S. cities across nine personal finance metrics: average credit scores and year-over-year changes; the share of residents with accounts in distress and year-over-year changes; the average number of accounts in distress; year-over-year change in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025; and "debt" and "loans" search interest indexes.

For the purpose of this study, WalletHub defined "financial distress" as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments.

Chicago, Illinois led the nation with the No. 1 most financially distressed residents, and Las Vegas, Nevada rounded out the top three.

According to the report's findings, Houston residents signaled a "strong need for borrowing" after having the highest search interest nationally for terms like "debt" and "loans." Houstonians also had the 10th highest increase in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025.

"Houston has a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities, at over 8 percent, and it also has a high number of accounts in distress per person," the report said.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of Houston's overall ranking:

No. 32 – Credit score rank
No. 35 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 39 – People with accounts in distress rank

High unemployment rates and inflation are major factors contributing to most Americans' financial woes, the report said, and rising property taxes can create an even bigger burden for homeowners and renters alike. Texas residents may feel a greater burden than residents elsewhere in the country after the Lone Star State was dubbed the No. 1 most most financially distressed state in America in 2025. And digging oneself out of the "downward spiral" isn't easy, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off," Lupo said.

Though no Texas city is feeling the financial squeeze as much as Houston, three more of the state's biggest cities also ranked among the top 10 most financially distressed places in America: Dallas (No. 4), San Antonio (No. 6) and Austin (No. 9). Fort Worth ranked 12th overall.

The top 10 most financially distressed cities in the nation are:

No. 1 – Chicago
No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – Las Vegas
No. 4 – Dallas
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – San Antonio
No. 7 – Atlanta
No. 8 – New York
No. 9 – Austin
No. 10 – Phoenix

finance wallethub houston

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money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America