Grim statistic

Texas outpaces the nation for COVID-19 deaths, Washington Post study shows

Texans are dying of COVID-19 at a higher rate than the national average.

Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images

A new data analysis puts Texas’ COVID-19 death toll in a harsh light.

The analysis of federal data, published September 15 by The Washington Post, shows 1 in 490 Texans have died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. By no means is that the worst death rate among the states — that dubious distinction goes to Mississippi and New Jersey, each at 1 in 330. But the Texas rate is slightly worse than the national rate of 1 in 500. Hawaii and Vermont boast the lowest rates: 1 in 2,100.

According to data compiled by The New York Times, the Lone Star State had recorded close to 60,800 COVID-19 deaths as of September 15. That’s roughly equivalent to the number of people who live in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville or the Houston suburb of Spring.

Among Texas counties, Harris County had reported the most COVID-19 deaths (nearly 7,700) as of September 15, followed by Dallas County (almost 4,600), Bexar County (nearly 4,400), and Tarrant County (more than 4,000), according to The New York Times. Travis County ranks eighth among Texas counties, with more than 1,200 deaths.

Foard County, located about 70 miles west of Wichita Falls, had seen the highest number of COVID-19 deaths per capita as of September 15 — 866 per 100,000. The statewide rate is 210 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Data collected by the Mayo Clinic shows 49 percent of Texans have been fully vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19, compared with 54 percent of the U.S. population.

Gov. Greg Abbott steadfastly opposes vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and government-required shutdowns as tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he does embrace vaccination as the “surest way to end the pandemic.” Some local officials around the state have sharply criticized Abbott’s refusal to impose virus-fighting measures.

“I think it’s pretty clear in the data that Texas is in the middle — or beginning, depending on how you look at it — of a really major pandemic surge, and not just in case counts but particularly in looking at healthcare needs across the state,” Spencer Fox, associate director of the COVID-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune in August. “Many regions are now facing numbers that we haven’t seen since the winter.”

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family

Grim statistic

Texas outpaces the nation for COVID-19 deaths, Washington Post study shows

income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

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