America's Best Hospitals

M.D. Anderson ranked No. 1 in latest U.S. News & World Report survey of the besthospitals

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center is ranked No. 1 in the nation for cancer treatmentin the latest U.S. News and World Report survey of Best Hospitals.
Methodist Hospital ranks among the nation's top hospitals in 13 of 16specialties.
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital ranks No. 4 in the nation in heart and heartsurgery.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center remains the nation's No. 1 hospital for cancer treatment, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report survey of America's Best Hospitals.

The 2010-11 rankings, posted on the magazine's Web site Wednesday, named M.D. Anderson the leading cancer hospital in the nation for the seventh time in the last nine years.

The hospital also is ranked in six adult specialities — No. 6 in ear and throat, No. 10 in urology, No. 11 in gynecology, No. 19 in gastroenterology, and No. 21 in diabetes and endocrinology.

And it is No. 12 in pediatric cancer in the 2010-2011 version of Best Children's Hospitals released last month.

U.S. News evaluated nearly 5,000 hospitals to compile its rankings of Best Hospitals and Best Children's Hospitals. The list includes rankings of 152 medical centers nationwide in 16 specialties, including cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, ear, nose, and throat, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, heart and heart surgery, kidney disorders, neurology and neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, psychiatry, pulmonology, rehabilitation, rheumatology, and urology.

No Houston hospital was named to the Honor Roll of the top 14 hospitals overall in the America's Best Hospital survey, based on rankings in a number of specialities and other factors.

But a number of area hospitals showed up well in various specialties, including heart and heart surgery, rehabilitation, opthalmology, kidney disorders and geriatrics.

Among other Houston hospitals:

Methodist Hospital ranked among the nation's top hospitals in 13 of the 16 specialties. It ranked 12th in ophthalmology, 17th in ear, nose, throat, 18th in urology, 20th in gastroenterology, 20th in geriatrics, 24th in kidney, 25th in neurology/neurosurgery, 26th in orthopedics, 27th in pulmonology, 36th in gynecology, 42nd in heart/heart surgery, 44th in diabetes/endocrinology and 45th in cancer.
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital's Texas Heart Institute ranked fourth in heart and heart surgery. The hospital also ranked 38th in gastroenterology, 39th in urology, 44th in geriatrics, and 45th in kidney disorders.
TIRR Memorial Hermann ranked fifth in rehabilitation.
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center ranked No. 30 in kidney disorders, No. 38 in gynecology, 46th in heart/heart surgery and 48th in urology. It ranks 30th in pediatric kidney disorders in the Best Children's Hospital rankings.
The Menninger Clinic ranked 5th in psychiatry.

In last month's rankings of children's hospitals, Texas Children's Hospital got high marks in 10 pediatric specialties: heart and heart surgery (3rd in the nation), kidney disorders (4th), gastroenterology (4th), neurology and neurosurgery (4th), pulmonology (4th), cancer (5th), neonatology (7th), urology (9th), diabetes and endocrinology (10th), and orthopedics (12th). Texas Children's was also one of only eight hospitals in the nation to make the Best Children's Hospital Honor Roll.

Such rankings are hotly debated in medical circles, but hospitals feature high rankings prominently in advertisements and marketing brochures.

The full survey of America's Best Hospitals will be featured in the August issue of U.S. News & World Report available on newsstands July 27.

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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