high income earners

Pearland has highest rate of new wealthy residents in Houston

Nearly 22 percent of all Pearland households made $200,000 in 2023.

Photo courtesy of Visit Pearland

Where are the wealthy settling down in H-Town? The Houston neighbor of Pearland has added a larger percentage of high-income households recently than any other local city, and it ranks among the top 50 U.S. places with the biggest growth of high earners.

A new study by financial tech company SmartAsset, "Cities Adding the Most High-Income Households – 2025 Study" examined Census Bureau income data across 352 American cities. They were ranked based on the growth in high-earning households as a percentage of total households between 2022 and 2023. For the purpose of the study, high-income households are defined as those making $200,000 or more per year.

Pearland ranked No. 48 nationwide and No. 9 in Texas.

The study found 21.6 percent of all Pearland households made $200,000 or more in 2023, and added over 2,900 high-income earners during the one-year period. That means the city had an affluent household growth rate of 35.8 percent.

For context, the national median income for a U.S. household in 2023 was $80,610.

Pearland has previously cashed in as one of the richest Texas cities in 2023, and has been consistently lauded as one of the safest American cities. And with the new influx of wealth, Pearland residents can afford to spend the extra cash on small businesses and local restaurants, such as the popular Killen's Barbecue, BB's Tex-Orleans, and Lotus Seafood.

SmartAsset also mentioned that up-and-coming cities like Pearland can be greatly impacted by their wealthy households in many other ways.

"[The] prevalence of high-income households also can help describe the relative quality of life of a population, or tell stories about potential wealth gaps or local growth," the report said. "Changes in a city’s relative proportion of households earning high income may change due to dynamics in the local job market, housing market, cost of living, age demographics, opportunities elsewhere, and beyond."

Other high-earning cities in Texas
The Texas city that brought in the most high-earning households from 2022 to 2023 was the South Texas city of Brownsville, which also ranked No. 4 nationally.

Only two additional Houston-area cities appeared in the top 100: Atascocita (No. 82) and League City (No. 99). Atascocita added 1,623 affluent households from 2022 to 2023, while League City added 1,130 new wealthy residents.

Other Texas cities ranked among the top 100 with the most high-earning households include:

No. 15 – Edinburg
No. 24 – Lewisville
No. 25 – Round Rock
No. 29 – Abilene
No. 30 – Denton
No. 35 – New Braunfels
No. 41 – Killeen
No. 59 – Tyler
No. 61 – Amarillo
No. 63 – Carrollton
No. 77 – San Antonio
No. 97 – Richardson

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4th of July Fun

Houston shines as a top city in Texas to celebrate 4th of July

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Houston is looking pretty patriotic this summer. H-Town has just been named the third-best city in Texas for celebrating the Fourth of July, and it lands among the top 50 in the nation for its Independence Day festivities in 2026.

Houston ranks No. 3 statewide and No. 47 nationally in WalletHub's annual report comparing the "Best & Worst Places for 4th of July Celebrations." WalletHub's experts annually ranks the 100 biggest U.S. cities across 18 metrics like affordability, the variety of celebrations on July 4th, weather favorability, safety, and more. Last year, Houston ranked 39th nationwide.

The three best cities in the U.S. for celebrating the Fourth of July in 2026 — marking the nation's monumental 250th birthday — are Las Vegas (No. 1), New York City (No. 2), and Orlando (No. 3).

Among individual categories, Houston is the 8th most affordable U.S. city to visit over the Fourth of July holiday, and it ranks 16th in the "attractions and activities" subcategory — based on a separate survey of the best and worst cities for recreation. Houston also ranked 37th overall for its abundance of July 4th celebrations. Local festivities in honor of America's 250th birthday will include spirited performances from Keith Urban and Collective Soul at the Freedom Over Texas festival.

Houston's predictably hot weather forecast for the holiday earns it a bottom-tier ranking at No. 92 overall, and the city's safety and accessibility comes in 95th place.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth ranked as the top two best cities in the Lone Star State for celebrating America's founding, and ranked 39th and 42nd nationally. The remaining 10 Texas cities that appeared in the report ranked among the bottom 50.

This year's festivities are expected to be meteoric compared to previous years to commemorate the milestone anniversary, according to the report.

"This year, the National Retail Federation projects that U.S. households will spend a collective $9.4 billion on food for Fourth of July festivities alone," the report's author wrote.

Here's how the rest of Texas stacks up in the report:

No. 57 – El Paso
No. 63 – Lubbock
No. 74 – San Antonio
No. 80 – Arlington
No. 81 – Plano
No. 84 – Austin
No. 91 – Corpus Christi
No. 93 – Irving
No. 99 – Laredo
No. 100 – Garland

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