life after 65

Houston suburb Pasadena ranks as 3rd best place to retire in Texas

Pasadena is the third best place to retire in Texas.

pasadenatx.gov/

Texas retirees on the hunt for the right place to settle down and enjoy their blissful retirement years will find their haven in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, which just ranked as the third-best city to retire statewide.

A new study conducted by the research team at RetirementLiving.com, "The Best Cities to Retire in Texas," compared the affordability, safety, livability, and healthcare access for seniors across 31 Texas cities with at least 90,000 residents.

Wichita Falls, about 140 miles northwest of Dallas, claimed the top spot as the No. 1 best place to retire in Texas.

The senior living experts said Pasadena has the best health care access for seniors in the entire state, and it ranked as the No. 8 most affordable city on the list.

"Taking care of one’s health can be stressful for seniors," the report said. "Harris County, where [Pasadena is] located, has 281.1 primary care physicians per 1,000 seniors — that’s almost 50-fold the statewide ratio of 5.9 per 1,000."

Pasadena ranked 10th overall for its livability, and ranked 25th for safety, the report added.

Meanwhile, Houston proper ranked as the No. 31 best place to retire in Texas, but its livability score was the 7th best statewide.

The top 10 best places to retire are in North Texas
This may not be surprising to residents living in Dallas-Fort Worth, but seven of the Lone Star State's top 10 best retirement locales are located in the North Texas Metroplex: Carrollton (No. 2), Plano (No. 4), Garland (No. 5), Richardson (No. 6), Arlington (No. 7), Grand Prairie (No. 8), and Irving (No. 9). McAllen, a South Texas border town, rounded out the top 10.

RetirementLiving said Carrollton has one of the lowest property and violent crime rates per capita in Texas, and it ranked as the No. 5 safest city on the list. About 17 percent of the city's population is aged 65 or older, which is higher than the statewide average of just 14 percent.

Other North Texas cities that were named among the best places to retire include McKinney (No. 16), Lewisville (No. 20), Denton (No. 22), and Frisco (No. 23). Meanwhile, Fort Worth ranked as the 28th best place to retire, and Dallas was 29th.

The top 10 best place to retire in Texas in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Wichita Falls
No. 2 – Carrollton
No. 3 – Pasadena
No. 4 – Plano
No. 5 – Garland
No. 6 – Richardson
No. 7 – Arlington
No. 8 – Grand Prairie
No. 9 – Irving
No. 10 – McAllen

retirement rankings plano carrollton garland richardson irving arlington grand prairie dallas fort worth

good news for singles

Texas romances as 3rd best state for singles in 2026 report

On a date, best states for singles, best places for dating

Photo by Good Faces on Unsplash

Texans are in the right place to find love.

Finding love in the Lone Star State is easier than almost anywhere else in the country, so says a new study.

Texas ranked as the third best state for singles in WalletHub's annual "Best and Worst States for Singles" report, which compared all 50 states based on their "dating economics" (cost of living metrics and date-related costs like average price for coffee or a haircut), dating opportunities (such as an "openness to relationships" score or the share of single adults), and a romance and fun ranking (calculated based on various entertainment venues and attractions per capita).

WalletHub said Texas is the fourth most "romantic and fun" state for singles, and it ranked No. 6 nationally for its ample dating opportunities. In the dating economics category, Texas came in 18th.

Additionally, Texas tied with California for the most movie theaters per capita, and it landed in a four-way tie with California, New York, and Florida for the highest number of restaurants per capita.

In Houston, several local restaurants are gearing up for a romantic Valentine's Day weekend with dinner and drink specials. Or singles can skip a traditional dinner and instead impress their date by taking them to a romantic Valentine's-themed event.

The report's author said Texas offers "endless opportunities" for singles to find love because of its diversity, dense population, and its numerous date venues. Texans are also much more open to relationships than residents in other states, the report found.

"People in the Lone Star State are less likely than people in most states to show signs of 'attachment avoidance,' or discomfort with intimacy, based on nationwide psychological surveys," the report said. "In other words, if you’re looking for commitment, Texas is a good place to search."

WalletHub also gave a small shout-out to Texas' booming economy and high employment growth rates, which show the state has "a robust job market and expanding opportunities for workers across a wide range of industries."

The top 10 best states for singles in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Florida
No. 2 – New York
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – California
No. 5 – Illinois
No. 6 – Wisconsin
No. 7 – Pennsylvania
No. 8 – Massachusetts
No. 9 – Ohio
No. 10 – Minnesota

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