H-Town growth spurt

Move over Chicago: Houston poised to become the third largest city in the U.S.

A report from Reuters indicates that Houston is expected to surpass Chicago as the nation's third largest city.

Photo by Jim Olive/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

With strong ties to the energy industry, low taxes, a strong international leaning and a robust job market, Houston is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. We knew that already but did anyone realize that because of that prosperity H-Town is poised to move up the ranks of U.S. biggest cities in terms of population.

According to a new report from Reuters, Houston is forecast to grow in population to the point that the city will surpass Chicago, becoming the third largest city in the nation within the next eight to 10 years.

By 2025, Houston is projected to have a population of between 2.54 million and 2.7 million, while Chicago's population, which has been declining for years, will be only 2.5 million by that time. This according to data Reuters collected from the health departments in Texas and Michigan. Mega-cities New York and Los Angeles are still solidly placed at one and two for population, respectively.

An interesting view of the city's profile offered in the Reuters article: "Apart from domestic migration, about one in five Houstonians is foreign born and more than 90 languages are spoken in the city."

On social issues, Reuters notes that the proportion of area residents giving positive ratings to the overall relations among the city's racial and ethnic groups has increased in all major ethnic communities, according to an annual survey conducted by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University.

In fact, between 2014 and 2015, these ratings improved for Anglos from 53 to 56 percent, were stable among blacks at 37 and 36 percent, and showed significant growth from 35 to 46 percent for Hispanics.

Additionally, according to the survey, the proportion of Houston-area residents who would like to see the U.S. admit more or the same number of immigrants in the next decade as were admitted in the last decade grew from 54 percent in 2009 to 72 percent in 2015.

"We have that international mindset that the rest of the United States never saw," Mayor Annise Parker told Reuters.

reports

holiday budgeting news

Here's how much Houstonians are budgeting for holiday gifts in 2025

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

San Antonio residents are expected to spend over $900 on their Christmas gifts this year, WalletHub found.

Residents living in Houston's well-to-do suburbs aren't stressing about stretching their holiday spending this year: A new report from WalletHub found Pearland, The Woodlands, and Sugar Land residents are all among the top-25 biggest holiday spenders in the nation for 2025.

Pearland gift givers are expected to spend $3,277 on their festive presents, says WalletHub's 2025 "Holiday Budgets by City" report.

Pearland's holiday budget earned it No. 19 in WalletHub's national ranking of cities with largest holiday budgets, with The Woodlands and Sugar Land appearing right behind as No. 20 and No. 22, respectively.

To determine the U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets, WalletHub's experts compared 558 cities across five categories: Income, age, a debt-to-income ratio, residents' monthly income-to-monthly expenses ratio, and their savings-to-monthly expenses ratio.

The three U.S. cities that boast the loftiest holiday budgets are Palo Alto, California (No. 1); Mountain View, California (No. 2); and Newton, Massachusetts (No. 3). Palo Alto residents are expected to spend nearly $4,500 on their Christmas gifts this year, with the latter cities budgeting for $4,266 and $4,069.

Pearland's current holiday budget is $711 higher than it was in 2024, when the city ranked No. 31 in WalletHub's list of U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders. It's also much higher than the $2,127 projected budget from the 2023 report, when Pearland ranked No. 36 nationally. They're definitely competing with Mr. Claus for the "best Christmas present" award.

Festive neighbor The Woodlands ranked as the city with the 10th-highest holiday budgets last year, so its current rank as No. 20 is a bit surprising. Even with a dip in the rankings, The Woodlands residents are still expected to spend a lofty $3,265 on their holiday presents this year, or about $51 less than last year.

Residents living in No. 22-ranking Sugar Land are projected to spend $3,191 on their holiday gifts this year, or $19 less than last year, the report found.

Houston proper ranked 285th on the list with a $1,302 projected holiday budget this year, or $6 more than last year's budget.

Five more Houston-area cities landed in this year's report on the heftiest holiday budgets:

No. 34 – League City ($2,997)
No. 291 – Pasadena ($1,294)
No. 321 – Missouri City ($1,233)
No. 412 – Conroe ($1,063)
No. 490 – Baytown ($890)

Regardless of the dollar amount, Houstonians should pay attention to their spending and pick a budget that works for their financial situation, experts say. The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion this year, and the report warns credit card debt is a major challenge faced by many Americans as they plan their holiday shopping sprees.

"The holidays bring plenty of joy, but they can also spark seasonal stress, much of it tied to overspending," the report's author wrote. "In Q3 2025, the average household carried $10,227 in credit card debt, up 2.3 percent from the year before, according to WalletHub data. Adding holiday shopping on top of that can quickly increase the financial strain, especially if balances roll into the new year."

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 100 biggest holiday spenders include:

No. 4 – Flower Mound ($3,941)
No. 12 – Frisco ($3,491)
No. 28 – Allen ($3,055)
No. 31 – Cedar Park ($3,028)
No. 40 – Plano ($2,812)
No. 47 – Round Rock ($2,641)
No. 55 – McKinney ($2,502)
No. 56 – Carrollton ($2,498)
No. 82 – Richardson ($2,146)
No. 96 – North Richland Hills ($1,985)

According to the study's methodology, a consumer is considered to be in a "comfortable financial position to engage in holiday spending if they have: 1) enough emergency savings to cover at least six months of expenses and 2) a debt-to-income ratio smaller than 22 percent for a renter or 43 percent for a homeowner."

holiday budgets holidays christmas wallethub houston pearland the woodlands sugar land suburbs