Highs and lows

METRO light rail expansion and sprawling Grand Parkway make Sierra Club's Bestand Worst list

Houston's METRORail projects were lauded for a large ridership and an extensiveroute map.
Grand Parkway, a project split into 11 segments, has generated controversy anddebate each step along the way.
West Houston Association

Just in time for the holiday season, the Sierra Club, staunch in its belief that a car-centric society is a thing of the past, has compiled a naughty and nice list of the 50 Best & Worst Transportation Projects in the United States.

Four Texas projects are featured on the grassroots environmental organization's list, and — unsurprising given the overall transportation trends of this sizable state — only one is given praise.

The Sierra Club marks Houston's METRORail expansion as a "GO," indicating that it is "one of the most-traveled light rail systems in the United States per route mile" and applauding its under-construction and future lines.

Ironically, the light rail project has come to a relative dead end after the unclearly-worded METRO referendum passed during November's election.

Ironically, the light rail project has come to a relative dead end after the unclearly-worded METRO referendum passed during November's election. The North, East End and Southeast Lines, which are currently under construction, will be completed by 2014, while the fate of the Uptown and University Lines will be decided in the future.

Meanwhile, outside of town, the contentious Grand Parkway — specifically Segment E, a piece of the eventual 185-mile loop that is currently under construction — is on the organization's no-no list.

The Sierra Club notes, beyond the issue of encouraging "additional sprawl," the pricey project has severe environmental implications — among them, interrupting the Katy Prairie Wetland Habitat, which interferes with the migration patterns of waterfowl and "poses a flooding threat" to the Addicks Dam and surrounding areas.

Other problematic transportation projects in Texas include the proposed Texas State Highway 45 Southwest, a 3.5-mile toll road to be laid just south of Austin and across the environmentally-sensitive Edwards Aquifer; and the Trinity River Parkway in Dallas, a proposed toll road that is expected to relieve traffic on I-30 and I-35 at the cost of $222 million per mile.

unspecified

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