in good hands

Houston hospitals declared best nationwide in 2026 U.S. News rankings

MD Anderson Cancer Center continues its streak as the best cancer hospital in the U.S. for the 12th year in a row.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Houston Methodist Hospital and over a dozen more Houston-area hospitals have earned bragging rights in U.S. News & World Report's newly released rankings of the Best Hospitals for 2026-2027.

Every year, U.S. News annually evaluates nearly 4,500 U.S. hospitals to determine which meet the publication's rigorous standards and offer the best care for patients across 14 adult specialties and 23 procedures and conditions. New to this year's batch of rankings, U.S. News introduced regional rankings in cancer; cardiology; heart and vascular surgery; orthopedics; and rehabilitation.

Houston Methodist Hospital was the only Texas institution named on U.S. News' Best Hospitals Honor Roll, a prestigious list of the 20 best medical centers in the country. Houston Methodist also reigns as Texas' best hospital for the 15th consecutive year.

The hospital also shines among the nation’s best in 10 specialties:

No. 5 – Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
No. 7 – Obstetrics and Gynecology
No. 10 – Cardiology, Heart, and Vascular Surgery
No. 11 – Pulmonology and Lung Surgery
No. 13 – Neurology and Neurosurgery
No. 19 – Cancer
No. 21 – Orthopedics
No. 23 – Diabetes and Endocrinology
No. 24 – Geriatrics
No. 43 – Urology

Houston Methodist also earned high performing distinctions across one regional specialty (Rehabilitation) and 21 procedures and conditions.

"This recognition reflects the remarkable dedication of our physicians and employees and their tireless focus on delivering unparalleled care to our patients," said Houston Methodist president and CEO Marc L. Boom, M.D. in a press release. "While we are honored by this recognition, its true significance lies in what it represents — an unwavering commitment to putting patients first."

Elsewhere in Houston, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ranked as the No. 1 best cancer hospital in the nation for the 12th year in a row.

"This ranking is a tremendous honor, and it reflects our unwavering commitment to continue making progress in our mission to end cancer," said UT MD Anderson president Peter WT Pisters, M.D. "We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this recognition possible: our faculty and staff, volunteers, donors, and the patients and families we are honored to serve."

MD Anderson also earned national rankings in two specialties — Urology (No. 6) and Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (No. 16) — and it received high performing distinctions in six procedures and conditions: Colon Cancer Surgery; Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery; Gynecological Cancer Surgery; Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Treatment; Lung Cancer Surgery; and Prostate Cancer Surgery.

The additional Houston hospitals that ranked among the best in Texas for 2026-2027 are:

No. 3 – Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital (tied with Baylor University Medical Center Dallas)
No. 5 – Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, Houston
No. 6 – Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston
No. 7 – Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
No. 10 – Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital (tied with St. David's Medical Center, Austin)
No. 14 – Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital
No. 15 – Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, Houston
No. 21 – Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital, Nassau Bay; St. Luke's Health-The Woodlands Hospital; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (also tied with six more Texas hospitals)
No. 30 – Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital (tied with five other Texas hospitals)
No. 36 – HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood (tied with Parkland Health-Dallas)

us news & world report best hospitals rankings houston

quality education

This Houston K-8 school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2027, per U.S. News

Spring Branch Academic Institute students

sbai.springbranchisd.com/

Spring Branch Academic Institute is the No. 1 best K-8 school in Texas, according to U.S. News.

U.S. News and World Report's new list of ranking the best K-8 schools in Texas for 2027 has hailed one Houston ISD school — Spring Branch Academic Institute — the No. 1 best elementary and middle school statewide.

In all, 12 Houston-area elementary and middle schools were named among the top 25 most brilliant beacons of Texas early education in U.S. News' annual Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings.

Over 70,000 public schools were analyzed on the state and district level using publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on students' proficiency in mathematics and reading while accounting "for student background and absolute performance on state assessments." To break ties in overall scores, schools with a lower student-teacher ratio prevailed.

"By incorporating direct state data across all proficiency levels, the 2027 rankings offer a richer, more complete picture of how elementary and middle schools are driving student growth," said Eric Brooks, U.S. News director of education data analysis. "This refined approach gives families, educators and community leaders an even clearer view of academic achievement, helping them identify standard-setting schools and support continued success for all students."

Spring Branch Academic Institute made its debut this year after being unranked last year. According to its U.S. News profile, the school has a 5 to 1 student-teacher ratio, and 100 percent of students scored at or above the proficient level in both math and reading.

"Spring Branch Academic Institute did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state," the profile said. "In Texas, 52 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 42 percent tested at or above that level for math."

SBAI and T. H. Rogers School in Houston ISD were the only two local schools that ranked among the statewide top 10 elementary schools for 2027. T. H. Rogers School ranked as the No. 4 best elementary school in Texas this year, up from its previous No. 13 rank last year, and it ranked No. 5 among the best Texas middle schools.

The other Houston-area schools that appeared among the top 25 best elementary schools in Texas include:

No. 14 – Creekside Forest Elementary, Tomball ISD (down from No. 7 last year)
No. 15 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD (up from No. 28 last year)
No. 19 – Stafford STEM Magnet Academy (down from No. 16 last year)
No. 21 – Commonwealth Elementary, Fort Bend ISD (down from No. 9 last year)

Among the best middle schools in Texas, two Houston schools ranked among the top 10: Cornerstone Academy in Spring Branch ISD (No. 7), which ranked six spots higher than it did the previous year, and Houston ISD's Briarmeadow Charter School (No. 10).

Five more Houston-area middle schools ranked among Texas' top 25 for 2027:

No. 13 – Fort Settlement Middle School, Fort Bend ISD (up from No. 20 last year)
No. 15 – Stafford STEM Magnet Academy (down from No. 12 last year)
No. 18 – Seven Lakes Junior High School, Katy ISD (up from No. 19 last year)
No. 19 – Beckendorff Junior High School, Katy ISD (up from No. 31 last year)
No. 24 – Memorial Middle School, Spring Branch ISD (up from No. 40 last year)

Three local schools that previously ranked in the top 25 last year but have since dropped in the 2027 rankings are: Houston ISD's Mandarin Immerson Magnet School (No. 30, down from No. 18); Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus (No. 70, down from No. 21); and Smith Middle School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (No. 53, down from No. 22).

elementary schools middle schools rankings schools us news & world report anderson

in good hands

Houston hospitals declared best nationwide in 2026 U.S. News rankings

quality education

This Houston K-8 school ranks No. 1 in Texas for 2027, per U.S. News

Houston leads the U.S. with the biggest surge in millionaire renters

Majestic Indian fine dining restaurant now open in Sugar Land Town Square

Inside the former brothel that's now downtown Houston's hottest new bar