This Week's Hot Headlines

2 Houston neighbors named safest cities in Texas and more top stories

Steve Francis home estate Memorial Villages

Memorial Villages is one of the safest places in Texas.

Photo by Kevin Ward

Editor's note: It's time to catch up on the top Houston news of the week, from Texas' safest cities to fresh restaurant openings. Read on for our most popular stories, then visit this guide for more weekend fun.

1. 2 Houston neighbors ranked among the top 10 safest cities in Texas. A new report says the Houston area is home to two of the safest cities in Texas. Home security review site SafeWise has ranked Memorial Villages (No. 3) and Fulshear (No. 8) on its recent list of towns unburdened by crime worries.

2. Johnny Carrabba now serving Southern comfort food at new Bellaire locale. A fast casual, family-friendly Houston restaurant has arrived in Bellaire. After a two-week soft opening, Mia’s Table is now open full time in the Bellaire triangle.

3. Cult-favorite chicken and waffle restaurant opens in Houston this weekend. Lo-Lo’s Chicken & Waffles will open its first Bayou City outpost on Saturday, February 21.

4. The Rustic owners tee up new casual icehouse at Fifth Ward golf course. The team behind The Rustic is taking over operations at a downtown-adjacent golf course. Birdies Icehouse is the newest project from Dallas-based FreeRange Concepts, which operates The Rustic, Bowl & Barrel, and The General Public.

5. Preservationists stage last-ditch attempt to save historic Houston theatre. Houstonians residing in the Heights, Garden Oaks, and far beyond were thrown into a tizzy by the abrupt news that the Garden Oaks Theater had been purchased by commercial developers in a $7.1 million, off-market deal.

money woes

Houston has 2nd most financially distressed residents in America

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houstonians are feeling the financial stress in 2026.

A new study has confirmed what many Houston residents are already feeling: Houston has one of the highest shares of people in financial distress in the nation.

Houston ranked No. 2 in WalletHub's just-released report, "Cities with the Most People in Financial Distress," which analyzed 100 of the largest U.S. cities across nine personal finance metrics: average credit scores and year-over-year changes; the share of residents with accounts in distress and year-over-year changes; the average number of accounts in distress; year-over-year change in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025; and "debt" and "loans" search interest indexes.

For the purpose of this study, WalletHub defined "financial distress" as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments.

Chicago, Illinois led the nation with the No. 1 most financially distressed residents, and Las Vegas, Nevada rounded out the top three.

According to the report's findings, Houston residents signaled a "strong need for borrowing" after having the highest search interest nationally for terms like "debt" and "loans." Houstonians also had the 10th highest increase in bankruptcy filings from September 2024 to September 2025.

"Houston has a high share of the population with accounts in distress compared to most other cities, at over 8 percent, and it also has a high number of accounts in distress per person," the report said.

Here's how WalletHub broke down the rest of Houston's overall ranking:

No. 32 – Credit score rank
No. 35 – Average number of accounts in distress rank
No. 39 – People with accounts in distress rank

High unemployment rates and inflation are major factors contributing to most Americans' financial woes, the report said, and rising property taxes can create an even bigger burden for homeowners and renters alike. Texas residents may feel a greater burden than residents elsewhere in the country after the Lone Star State was dubbed the No. 1 most most financially distressed state in America in 2025. And digging oneself out of the "downward spiral" isn't easy, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off," Lupo said.

Though no Texas city is feeling the financial squeeze as much as Houston, three more of the state's biggest cities also ranked among the top 10 most financially distressed places in America: Dallas (No. 4), San Antonio (No. 6) and Austin (No. 9). Fort Worth ranked 12th overall.

The top 10 most financially distressed cities in the nation are:

No. 1 – Chicago
No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – Las Vegas
No. 4 – Dallas
No. 5 – Los Angeles
No. 6 – San Antonio
No. 7 – Atlanta
No. 8 – New York
No. 9 – Austin
No. 10 – Phoenix

finance wallethub houston