A new study contains bad news for Houston. A new study from personal finance website SmartAsset ranks the Bayou City as the second-least safe big city in the U.S. among cities with at least 250,000 residents.

Only Memphis ranked worse than Houston.

The 2026 study looked at 83 U.S. cities' violent crimes, property crimes, traffic deaths, and disaster risk.

Houston fared poorly in all four: 11.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 42.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents, 11.6 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents, and “very high” risk for natural disasters, which makes sense in a city prone to tropical weather and flooding.

For all cities in the study, disaster risk and traffic deaths were measured at the county level.

Houston is the only Texas city to rank in the bottom 10. The other cities are:

• 1. Memphis, Tennessee
• 2. Houston, Texas
• 3. St. Louis, Missouri
• 4. San Francisco, California
• 5. Kansas City, Missouri
• 6. Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 7. Oakland, California
• 8. Nashville, Tennessee
• 9. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 10. Detroit, Michigan

“While no major population center is entirely free from danger, some are more successful than others at creating environments where people can live, work and travel with confidence,” SmartAsset says.

Although this study paints Houston in a poor light, other reports take a more positive view. The "America's Best Cities" report from Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy ranked as No. 9 in America out of 393 cities with a population of 500,000 or more. Houston also boasts Texas’ 10th best park system, according to its ParkScore Index.

While SmartAsset has bad news for Houston, the Dallas suburb of Plano ranked as the study’s second-safest big city. Compared to Houston, Plano fared well in three of the four categories: 1.5 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, 14.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents, and 6.9 traffic deaths per 100,000 residents. It’s only shortcoming is a “relatively high” risk for natural diasters.

Elsewhere in Texas:

• Fort Worth ranked No. 22
• Austin ranked No. 26
• San Antonio ranked No. 54
• Dallas ranked No. 73

Eric Sandler contributed to this article.