Calm Down

Houston can't shake troubling title of most-stressed city in Texas

Houston needs to relieve some stress.

Photo by W. Ross Wells/Getty Images

It can be relationships, work, money — even the ridiculous traffic during your morning commute. There's always something that weighs hard on us, especially in Houston, according to a new study.

Personal finance website WalletHub compared 182 U.S. cities to determine which are home to the most and least stressed-out people in the country. H-Town leads the pack as the most-stressed city in Texas and No. 32 nationally.

WalletHub measured each city in four major areas: work, financial, family, and health and safety-related stress.

Houston lands near the top in a couple of categories, which is bad news, ranking 14th in family stress and 20th in work stress, 81st in health and safety-related stress, and 85th in financial stress.

This isn't too big of a surprise, as Houston also was the most-stressed city in Texas in last year's WalletHub study and landed in the bottom half of a 2019 list of the happiest cities.

The degree of stress varies among Texas' major cities. Following Houston are Dallas (No. 46), San Antonio (No. 77), Fort Worth (No. 100), and Austin (No. 110). The DFW suburb of Plano lands near the bottom of the list at No. 177, making it the least-stressed city in Texas and sixth-least troubled nationally.

The most-stressed city in the U.S.? Detroit is the unfortunate winner. And just five slots down the list from Plano is Fremont, California, the country's least-stressed city.

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santa's favorite city

Houston makes the nice list of top 5 most festive U.S. cities in 2024

Photo courtesy of City Lights

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Houston's unending love for the winter holidays is shining bright this year, as the city was just declared the No. 4 most festive city in America for 2024.

Home services provider Thumbtack's recently released report compiled data from millions of holiday light installation requests across all 50 states between October 2023 to October 2024 to reveal its list of the most festive cities in the nation.

Houston previously held the coveted No. 3 spot in 2023 before slipping to No. 4 this year. The city previously ranked No. 4 in 2022.

Houstonians have plenty of citywide light displays to pull inspiration from for their own homes, including the new Coca Cola Classic Christmas, Memorial Park's Holiday Lights, and many more.

Texas cities are far merrier than many other places in the country, with Austin leading the nation as the No.1 most festive city for the third year in a row, and Dallas ranking just one spot behind as No. 2. San Antonio ranked No. 10 this year, after previously ranking No. 5 in the 2023 report.

Houstonians will have to get creative when it comes to their holiday decorating, as the weather doesn't always cooperate with the classic "White Christmas" theme. But that's to be expected from one of the top 10 best warm-weather travel destinations nationwide.

"In the milder climates, you probably won’t find a winter wonderland, but you might see plenty of twinkling lights, tinsel, and bold colors outside the traditional red, green, and white palette," the report's author wrote. "Neon baubles, vintage plastic Santa molds, and playful LED lights keep properties festive and bright. Native eucalyptus, olive branches, and succulents are used as greenery in place of traditional pine and fir."

Outsourcing that outdoor holiday decorating will cost a pretty penny, according to Thumbtack's analysts. The study said the average cost to hire a holiday lighting specialist can range from $168-$300, depending on the scope of the project and home size. Thumbtack also recommends Houstonians avoid hiring a lighting specialist during Thanksgiving weekend, which is the time period that sees the highest demand.

Thumbtack's top 10 most festive U.S. cities in 2024 are:

No. 1 – Austin, Texas
No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
No. 3 – Seattle, Washington
No. 4 – Houston, Texas
No. 5 – San Francisco, California
No. 6 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 7 – Sacramento, California
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 10 – San Antonio, Texas

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