Hometown Glory

University of Houston is No. 1 in the country in ...

University of Houston's Melcher Hall, home of the Bauer College of Business
Photo by Brian Reading
Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

It's not news that Houston is one of the top cities in the country for business — just ask Forbes. But the new rankings by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine on the best business programs for entrepreneurs showed the commitment of two Houston schools to keeping our city awash in entrepreneurial spirit.

The University of Houston's Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship earned the top spot on the best undergraduate programs list, with 100 percent of the faculty also entrepreneurs and a combination of academics and outside-the-classroom learning opportunities, including partnerships, clubs, competitions and other activities.

It's the second time in four years that the UH program, part of the C.T. Bauer College of Business, has been ranked first in the country.

"It's a pat on the back for the fact that we have extended these types of programs to a very broad range of students, but also in an sense to community of Houston, which is now regularly ranked as the number one entrepreneurial city in the country," Bauer College of Business Dean Arthur Warga told KUHF.

In graduate programs, Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business also received high marks for its entrepreneurship program, coming in sixth on the list. It's the third time Rice has appeared on the list and its second time in the top 10.

With all faculty also working as entrepreneurs, the Jones School stands out with nearly $1.1 million awarded yearly in business plan competitions, a figure that dwarfs every other program on the list.

As Entrepreneur notes,

"The Rice Alliance program integrates business/science/engineering disciplines in the areas of new technology and entrepreneurship, such as nanotechnology, which is a strong discipline at the school. Among the numerous opportunities for entrepreneurial students is the Wright Fund, a student-run fund valued at more than $850,000."

Looks like business-minded folks can get the bestentrepreneurial education without leaving the city.

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income news

Texas residents earn 11th highest income in U.S. for 2026, study says

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

The highest-earning Texans make over half a million dollars a year.

A new WalletHub study comparing income disparities across America has ranked Texas residents No. 11 on the list of states with the highest earning residents in the nation.

The report, "States Where People Have the Highest Income (2026)," analyzed U.S. Census Bureau income data in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report evaluated the average annual income of the top five percent, the median annual household income, and the average annual income of the bottom 20 percent of residents in every state, all adjusted for the cost of living.

The report's data revealed the top five percent of Texans, the highest earners, make $520,378 on average yearly after adjusting for the cost of living. That's the seventh-highest income among the top five percent of earners nationwide.

Meanwhile, the median annual income of a Texas household is just under $76,000. The bottom 20 percent of Texas residents make $17,651 a year, the report found.

For additional context, the latest data from the Federal Reserve shows an American household's median yearly income is about $83,700. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo also found that the highest earning 10 percent of individuals in the U.S. earn over 12 times more than those in the lowest-earning 10 percent, based on the latest Census data.

"By measuring the income of various percentiles against a state's median income, we can better identify where income disparities are more prevalent, which could help us better understand why residents of certain states struggle more to make ends meet," said Lupo.

Virginia is the state where residents earn the highest income in the U.S., WalletHub said. Based on the report's findings, the top five percent of Virginians make $545,097 on average per year after adjusting for the cost of living. The median annual income of a Virginia household comes out to $95,339, and the bottom 20 percent of residents make $19,671 annually on average.

Conversely, West Virginia is the state where people have the lowest income in the U.S. A West Virginia household makes a median annual income of $56,610, the third-lowest nationally, and the bottom 20 percent of residents make $13,260 on average per year, which is the fifth-lowest in the nation. The top five percent of West Virginians make $372,218 on average per year.

The top 10 states where residents have the highest income are:

No. 1 – Virginia
No. 2 – New York
No. 3 – New Jersey
No. 4 – Washington
No. 5 – Connecticut
No. 6 – Utah
No. 7 – Colorado
No. 8 – Minnesota
No. 9 – Illinois
No. 10 – Massachusetts

income wallethub reports texas