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).

gas price news

This is how much Texas gas prices have fallen since May 2026

Close-Up of Woman Paying For Gas With Credit Card

Getty Images

Millions of Americans will be traveling for the Fourth of July weekend.

Houstonians planning to travel over the holiday weekend will be relieved to know Texas is among the top 10 states with the biggest dips in gas prices since May.

A new SmartAsset study analyzed the changes in average gas prices across all 50 states between May 21 and June 28, 2026, and used the data to determine each state's "gas-price burden" — meaning the cost of filling a 15-gallon tank represented as the share of the estimated median weekly household income.

Texas had the fifth highest surge in gas prices in April, and prices across the U.S. continued soaring until reaching an annual peak in late May. On May 21, regular gas prices peaked at $4.09 in Texas, and the latest data has revealed statewide gas prices have dipped nearly 24 percent since then.

Now as of June 29, Texas gas prices have eased by 79 cents and now stand at $3.30 per gallon. Unfortunately, prices have not dwindled as much in Harris County. Many Houston residents will be seeing gas prices at around $3.38 on average.

Based on a Texas household's median weekly income of $1,617, the cost of filling up a 15-gallon tank of gas eats up 3.1 percent those earnings, the report added. That means Texas' gas-price burden is the 9th lowest in the U.S.

Texas has the second-cheapest price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. (behind Indiana) and it ranks 6th in the national comparison of states with the biggest gas price declines since May.

Colorado led the nation with the biggest dip in the price of gas since May, with prices declining by 29.2 percent. Gas now costs $3.89 per gallon, down from $4.77.

Declining gas prices are a welcome relief for commuters and for Texas residents hitting the road for the Fourth of July weekend. But that isn't the case for residents in other states like Hawaii, Alaska, or Washington, where gas prices have not seen as much relief.

"Lower prices and higher household incomes make a fill-up relatively affordable in some states, while gas costs consume a larger share of household income in others," the report said. "Three Pacific states continue to have the nation’s highest pump prices. A gallon of regular gasoline averages $5.52 in Hawaii, $5.46 in California and $5.20 in Washington."

The top 10 states with the biggest gas price drops since May 21 are:

No. 1 – Colorado
No. 2 – Kentucky
No. 3 – Indiana
No. 4 – Tennessee
No. 5 – Ohio
No. 6 – Texas
No. 7 – Iowa
No. 8 – Wisconsin
No. 9 – Oklahoma
No. 10 – Illinois

gas prices texas smartasset reports fourth of july