What will the future hold?

Fuzzy reception: There's nothing clear about the union of AT&T and T-Mobile

By now, you've heard the wails of despair from T-Mobile subscribers — and the yelps of glee from AT&T diehards — about cellular behemoth AT&T acquiring the beloved T-Mobile for $39 billion.

It was nothing short of The Shot Heard 'Round the Telecom World. T-Mobile-ites speculated on the anticipated loss of the superior customer service they've come to rely upon, and the AT&T faithful began to hope that their coverage would finally improve, once and for all.

Both camps can hypothesize until the SIM cards come home, but what does this actually mean if you're a part of either network?

First of all, everyone needs to take a deep breath. Neither T-Mobile nor AT&T users will feel the effects for at least 365 days. The deal won't close until a year from now, which means T-Mobile won't get the iPhone until at least 2012.

Sure, when a corporate giant like AT&T swallows a small fish like T-Mobile, the giant emerges a bit more galvanized as a result. But what happens to the fish?

If you ask T-Mobile, not a whole lot is going to change.

On its site, in a Q&A dedicated to dispelling a few merger myths, T-Mobile assures its loyal fan base that things are staying the same.

"T-Mobile USA continues to operate as an independent company," the company said. "The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile USA will offer an even stronger service to customers. Your T-Mobile USA device will operate the same in the future as it does today."

Will it?

Not according to AT&T. AT&T told the Associated Press that T-Mobile's 3G airwaves will be "repurposed" for 4G after acquisition — essentially leaving T-Mobile 3G phones in the dust. The only solution will be to procure phones that use AT&T's frequencies.

Now that sounds like a pretty sizeable change to us.

So which provider comes out the winner here? It depends on who you're rooting for. If you think anything about this deal is clear, we'd like to borrow your spectacles to de-fog the view.

For now, all we have are a lot of guesses and a slew of conflicting, hazy answers at best. But we'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter — logical to harebrained — nonetheless.

Weigh in, dear reader. What does the joint future of AT&T and T-Mobile hold?

unspecified

Stretching the budget

A $100,000 salary in 2026 goes further in Houston than it did last year

Photo by Leo Yao on Unsplash

$100,000 stretches a little further in 2026.

A 2026 income study has good news for big earners in Houston: A six-figure salary goes further than it did last year.

A Houston resident's $100,000 salary is worth $84,840 after taxes and adjusted for the local cost of living, according to the new financial analysis from SmartAsset. That's about $1,500 more than Houstonians were bringing home last year.

The 2026 take-home pay is about eight percent higher than it was in 2024, when the same salary had an adjusted value of $78,089.

SmartAsset used its paycheck calculator to apply federal, state and local taxes to an annual salary of $100,000 in 69 of the largest American cities. The figure was then adjusted for the local cost of living (which included average costs for housing, groceries, utilities, transportation, and miscellaneous goods and services). Cities were then ranked based on where a six-figure salary is worth the least after applicable taxes and cost of living adjustments.

Houston ranked No. 60 in the overall ranking of U.S. cities where $100,000 is worth the least. If the rankings were flipped and the cities were ranked based on where $100,000 goes the furthest, that places Houston in the No. 10 spot nationwide.

Manhattan, New York remains the No. 1 city where a six-figure salary is worth the least. A Manhattan resident's take-home pay is only worth $29,420 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living, which is 3.10 percent lower than it was in 2025.

SmartAsset determined Manhattan has a 29.7 percent effective tax rate on six-figure salaries. Meanwhile, the effective tax rate on a $100,000 salary in Texas (based on the eight cities examined in the report) is 21.1 percent. It's worth highlighting that New York implements a statewide graduated-rate income tax from 4-10.90 percent, whereas Texas is one of only eight states that don't tax residents' income.

Oklahoma City, No. 69, is the U.S. city in the report where a $100,000 salary stretches the furthest. A six-figure salary is worth $91,868 in 2026, up from $89,989 last year.

This is the post-tax value of a $100,000 salary in other Texas cities, and their ranking in the report:

Plano (No. 27): $72,653
Dallas (No. 47): $80,103
Austin (No. 53): $82,446
Lubbock (No. 59): $84,567
San Antonio (No. 62): $86,419
El Paso (No. 67): $90,276
Corpus Christi (No. 68): $91,110

According to the report, getting some "financial breathing room" by making six-figures really depends on where someone lives and what their lifestyle is. For residents living in the 42 states that levy some amount of income tax, their take-home pay dwindles further.

"And depending on how taxes are filed, reaching a $100,000 income may push a household from the 22 percent to 24 percent marginal tax bracket," the report's author wrote. "Meanwhile, locations with high costs across housing and everyday essentials may be less forgiving to a $100,000 income."

smartasset income finance six figures

What will the future hold?

Fuzzy reception: There's nothing clear about the union of AT&T and T-Mobile

Stretching the budget

A $100,000 salary in 2026 goes further in Houston than it did last year

River Oaks lounge reboots around '90s DJ culture and retro bites

4 Houston spots make Texas Monthly's best new restaurants of 2026 list

2 Michelin-recognized pitmasters cooking up Texas barbecue joint in NYC