H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 66 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 73 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

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Editor's note: It's time to look back at the most popular stories of the week. Two Houston restaurants and a Texas bourbon find the spotlight, plus a long-awaited boutique hotel opens its doors. Get the scoop on our hottest headlines below, and then discover the best things to do this weekend here.

1. 2 Houston restaurants make New York Times best dishes of 2024 list. Two of Houston's most-well regarded eateries made the Times' list, with only one other Texas restaurant in the mix.

2. Texas bourbon named one of 2024's top 10 whiskies. A Texas-based bourbon brand is pouring one of the world's best whiskies, according to Whisky Advocate.

3. First look at new boutique hotel now welcoming guests in Montrose. Montrose has gained a new saint. The posh new Hotel Saint Augustine from Austin's Bunkhouse Group is now open for reservations.

Hotel Saint Augustine entrance The Hotel Saint Augustine has checked into Montrose. Photo by Julie Soefer

4. Texas Roadhouse plans first Houston-area outpost of its casual burger spot. Jaggers, the popular chain's fast-casual sister concept, will open at Katy's Grand Morton Town Center.

5. Houston smash burger pop-up finds permanent home on East End esplanade. One of Houston’s favorite burger pop-ups is making it permanent with a brick-and-mortar location opening early 2025.

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