Wrong direction

Houston swerves onto new list of U.S. cities with the worst drivers

Don't drive distracted, Houston.

Locals may think that Houston is one of the most traffic-ridden cities, but its drivers are actually much better than many other U.S. cities, according to a new study by Forbes Advisor.

In its report "Cities With The Worst Drivers, Ranked," published February 8, Forbes Advisor analyzed the 50 most populated U.S. cities across five metrics to determine which have the worst drivers in the country. Those metrics, calculated per 100,000 city residents using a five-year average from 2017-2021, were: total number of fatal car accidents, number of people killed in fatal crashes, and number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk, distracted, or speeding driver.

Houston ranked No. 23 overall, earning a score of 59.27 points out of a possible 100. That means the drivers here are solidly average — and that other Texas cities' drivers are, amazingly, even worse than ours.

The report found approximately 10.81 total fatal crashes occur for every 100,000 city residents in Houston, with less than 12 people (11.36) killed in fatal crashes per 100,000 residents.

Where drunk drivers are involved, Houston ranked No. 9 for the highest per-capita number of fatal crashes. Fewer than five fatal drunk driving crashes (4.44) occurred per 100,000 residents.

This troubling discovery isn't exclusive to Houston, the state of Texas as a whole still struggles with drunk drivers. More than five people are killed in car crashes involving a drunk driver for every 100,000 Texans, according to a 2023 Forbes report.

Here's how Houston fared in the remaining categories:

No. 33 – Number of fatal crashes involving speeding (2.79 per 100,000 residents)
No. 40 – Number of fatal crashes involving a distracted driver (0.24 per 100,000 residents)

Forbes Advisor concluded that three of the top-15 U.S. cities with the worst drivers were located in Texas. Dallas (No. 6) earned a score of 90.97 points to take the crown for the city with the worst drivers in the state. Fort Worth (No. 9) also earned a top-10 spot, and San Antonio ranked No. 12. Austin fell behind Houston into No. 24.

The report found Dallas had the third-highest number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver, with 6.25 crashes per 100,000 residents. Dallas also ranked No. 4 in the category for the highest number of fatal car accidents involving speeding: 5.69 per 100,000 residents.

The most dangerous U.S. city to drive in, Forbes says, is Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque leads with the highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver, at 5.42 crashes per 100,000 city residents.

The top 10 U.S. cities with the worst drivers are:

No. 1 – Albuquerque, New Mexico
No. 2 – Memphis, Tennessee
No. 3 – Detroit, Michigan
No. 4 – Tuscon, Arizona
No. 5 – Kansas City, Missouri
No. 6 – Dallas, Texas
No. 7 – Louisville, Kentucky
No. 8 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 9 – Fort Worth, Texas
No. 10 – Tampa, Florida

The study calculated five-year averages using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool for the years 2017-2021, and U.S. Census Bureau city population data from 2022.

The report and its methodology can be found on forbes.com.

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safe suburbs

Houston neighbor shines on new 2025 list of safest American cities

Photo courtesy of Visit Pearland

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New Year's resolutions can come in many forms, and if relocating to a safe Houston-area suburb is high on the list for 2025, Pearland is the place to be.

Pearland was declared the No. 13 safest city in America for 2025 in a new study by personal finance advisors MoneyGeek. The website's experts examined the most recent FBI crime statistics (from 2023) to determine the cost of crime in 292 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 residents.

The estimated cost of crime in this Houston suburb – which the study calculated as the "societal cost of crime per resident" – was $471 in 2023.

Pearland's crime cost per capita is far lower the national crime cost, which was $2,178 per resident.

The report also analyzed the city's violent crime and property crime rates, and Pearland had the 11th lowest rate of violent crime in 2023 with only 106 crimes committed for every 100,000 residents.

The city didn't fare as well with its property crime rate; there were 1,669 property crimes committed in 2023 per 100,000 residents, which was the 68th lowest rate out of all 292 U.S. cities.

However, that's still a better rate than most places in the country. Pearland residents can be smug that they don't live in Oakland, California, which had the highest property crime rate in the nation with 10,117 crimes committed per 100,000 residents.

Finally, MoneyGeek determined each city's total cost of crime, which the study defines as the "economic losses attributed to crime and its cost to society (individuals, community and nationally) in millions."

In this metric, Pearland had the seventh-lowest total crime cost, which was less than $60 million in 2023.

While some of these statistics may seem scary, Tulane University associate professor of political science Geoffrey T. Dancy warns it is unwise to make assumptions about a city based solely on its crime rates.

"We live in an unequal society," said Dancy in the report. "One often overlooked indicator of that inequality is who gets to engage in the politics of safety. Those who are objectively safe often fear crime and act on it in the counterproductive policies they support. Those who are actually victimized by crime and terrorized by gun violence pay the price and are rarely heard."

Elsewhere in Texas, the Dallas suburb of Frisco nearly topped the list as the No. 2 safest city in America with a $287 crime cost per capita. Other safe Texas cities in the report include Plano (No. 18), Sugar Land (No. 20), McKinney (No. 22), Round Rock (No. 26), Grand Prairie (No. 42), and League City (No. 48).

The top 10 safest American cities for 2025 are:

No. 1 – Ramapo Town, New York
No. 2 – Frisco, Texas
No. 3 – Irvine, California
No. 4 – Fishers, Indiana
No. 5 – Lakewood Township, New Jersey
No. 6 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 7 – Pembroke Pines, Florida
No. 8 – Elk Grove, California
No. 9 – Surprise, Arizona
No. 10 – Sterling Heights, Michigan

For the purpose of the study, violent crime rates were determined based on the number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents; and property crimes were defined as the rates of burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 residents.

houston suburbs rankings pearland

Wrong direction

Houston swerves onto new list of U.S. cities with the worst drivers

safe suburbs

Houston neighbor shines on new 2025 list of safest American cities

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