This is how much money you need to retire by 40 in Texas, report finds

by the numbers

Here's how big your nest egg needs to be in Texas if you want an early retirement. Photo via Pexels

Many working adults have asked themselves whether or not they'll be able to achieve an early retirement, but the reality is: It's not attainable anywhere in the U.S. without a substantial nest egg (and the income to go with it).

In Texas, that nest egg would have to be at least $1 million in the bank, according to a new annual report by personal finance website GoBankingRates.

The report, "Early Retirement: Here’s How Much Savings Is Needed To Retire by 40 in Every State," examined each state's cost of living and Social Security benefits to determine exactly how much money you'd need to have stocked away to achieve an early retirement.

According to the study's findings, the total cost of living expenses for the average Texan adds up to $3,362.63 per month, or $40,351.50 a year.

Based on those numbers, GoBakingRates calculated that a Texas resident retiring by age 40 would need a jaw-dropping $1,278,894.70 saved up if they were to live until they were 80 years old.

If a 40-year-old Texan lived to be 90, that nest egg would have to be $1,458,966.13, and if they lived to be 100, they'd need $1,639,037.55 in their savings for those remaining 60 years.

Texas came in at No. 20 on the list. Texans can breathe a (small) sigh of relief they aren't retiring in Hawaii, which came in at No. 1 on the list, with the highest amount of savings needed to retire early. The annual cost of living in Hawaii is nearly $107,000, which means a 40-year-old Hawaiian would need more than $3.94 million to retire early and enjoy 40 years of retirement.

California came in second, followed by Washington DC, Massachusetts, and Washington state.

The states with the least amount of savings required to retire by 40 are:

  • No. 1 – West Virginia
  • No. 2 – Mississippi
  • No. 3 – Oklahoma
  • No. 4 – Arkansas
  • No. 5 – Kentucky
  • No. 6 – Louisiana
  • No. 7 – Alabama
  • No. 8 – Kansas
  • No. 9 – Iowa
  • No. 10 – Michigan

GOBankingRates sourced cost of living data and national average expenditure data for retired residents from the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure for Retired Residents, and Zillow’s Home Value Index. These three data points were combined to determine the average annual cost of living for retired residents, and used the typical retirement age of 65 to factor in the full Social Security benefits, thus calculating the average income to be expected in retirement.

The report echoes national ongoing financial strife in regards to inflation and cost of living increases, where not even Houston is immune.

The full report can be found on gobankingrates.com.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Texas has landed in the No. 8 spot for the best states for Black entrepreneurs. Photo by Christina Morillo/Pexels

Report: Texas remains a top state for Black entrepreneurs

by the numbers

The Lone Star State has again ranked among the top states for Black entrepreneurs, but Texas didn't rank as highly as it did in 2022.

According to Merchant Maverick’s latest annual report on the state of Black businesses, Texas has landed in the No. 8 spot for the best states for Black entrepreneurs. While the state maintains a position in the top 10, Texas has dropped from its No. 3 spot last year.

Guided by metrics including Black-owned businesses per million residents, percentage of the state’s workforce employed by Black-owned businesses, average annual payroll of Black-owned businesses, average annual income of Black business owners, regional price parity, a cost of living indicator, unemployment rate, and Top state income tax bracket rates, the report also noted the following key takeaways:

The Lone Star State is:

  • No. 9 for highest average annual income.
  • Home to 360 Black-owned businesses per capita.
  • No. 15 highest in the nation for percentage of the workforce working for Black businesses.

Black businesses continue to see success all over the state.

The largest Black tech conference in the country, the 2023 AfroTech Conference, recently returned to Austin for the second straight year at the Austin Convention Center. The five-day conference united over 300 companies – including Amazon, Meta, and Google – to expand the representation of Black Americans in STEM fields.

In 2022, a ranking by Black employees at Apartment List put Houston at No. 4 among the best cities for Black professionals. The Apartment List employees judged 82 cities in four categories: Business environment for Black professionals. Houston ranks third. Black community and representation. Houston ranks fourth. Economic opportunities for Black professionals. Houston ranks seventh. Housing opportunities for Black professionals. Houston ranks No. 20.

Growth also was reflected post-pandemic for Black-owned startups in Houston according to study by economists at Rice University, Boston University, Columbia University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study found that from 2019 to 2020, the startup rate rose 32 percent in four largely Black areas of Houston: Kashmere Gardens, Missouri City, South Acres, and Sunnyside. The statewide startup rate during that period was 10 just at percent.

Texas recently landed on another Merchant Maverick report, also dropping a few spots in Merchant Maverick’s annual ranking of the top 10 states for women-led startups. The Lone Star State landed at No. 5 for women-led startups in 2023, down from No. 2 in 2022. Last year, Texas ranked second, up from its No. 6 showing in 2021.
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Houston manufacturer names location of its $193.7 million facility

coming soon

Houston-based manufacturer of high-temperature superconducting wires MetOx International Inc. will build a major production facility in Chatham County, North Carolina, which is expected to create 333 jobs, and invest $193.7 million in the state.

MetOx is a leader in High Temperature Superconducting technology (HTS), which is an advanced power delivery technology that is capable of transmitting extremely high power at low voltage with zero heat generation or energy loss. The technology is assisting in the energy sectors like power transmission, distribution, and grid expansion.

“Establishing our new large-scale manufacturing facility in Chatham County is a pivotal step toward securing a reliable, domestic supply of HTS wire for the development of critical infrastructure in the United States,” Bud Vos, CEO of MetOx, says in a news release. “This facility will not only deliver transformative energy technologies that strengthen our grid and reduce carbon emissions but also create high-paying manufacturing jobs in a community eager to lead in innovation. We are proud to partner with North Carolina to drive forward a resilient energy future built on cutting-edge science and strong local collaboration.”

The new facility is funded in part by an $80 million investment from the United States Department of Energy, which the company announced in October. In September, the company closed $25 million in a series B extension round.

In late 2024, MetOx also announced that it received an undisclosed investment from Hawaii-based Elemental Impact, which is a leading climate-focused investment platform. As a national implementation partner for the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Elemental Impact has received $100 million to deploy later-stage commercialized technologies according to the company.

The funding is expected to advance the expansion of MetOx’s Houston production line and the deployment of its HTS wire, which can make transmission cables up to ten times more efficient than traditional copper cables and will be used at the North Carolina facility.

“Building domestic manufacturing capacity for critical grid technologies is essential for America’s energy future," Danya Hakeem, vice president of Portfolio at Elemental Impact, says in a news release. “MetOx’s expansion in Houston demonstrates how we can simultaneously advance grid modernization and create quality manufacturing jobs. Their technology represents exactly the kind of innovation needed to unlock the next wave of clean energy deployment.”

The project in North Carolina will be facilitated with a Job Development Investment Grant formally awarded to a new company being created by MetOx. In the 12-year term of the grant, economists in the Department of Commerce estimated the project will grow North Carolina’s economy by $987.8 million.

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This article originally was published on our sister site, EnergyCapital.

Houston Nobel Prize nominee earns latest award for public health research

Prized Research

Houston vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez can add one more prize to his shelf.

Hotez — dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics — is no stranger to impressive laurels. In 2022, he was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his low-cost COVID vaccine.

His first big win of 2025 is this year’s Hill Prize, awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST).

Hotez and his team were selected to receive $500,000 from Lyda Hill Philanthropies to help fund The Texas Virosphere Project. The endeavor was born to help create a predictive disease atlas relating to climate disasters. Because the climate crisis has ushered in changes to the distribution of diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Chagas disease, typhus and tick-borne relapsing fever, it’s important to predict outbreaks before they become a menace.

Rice University researchers are collaborating with Hotez and his team on a project that combines climate science and metagenomics to access 3,000 insect genomes. The goal is to aid health departments in controlling disease and informing policy.

The Hill Prize, which is being awarded to six innovators for the first time, thanks to a $10 million commitment from the philanthropic organization, is intended to back ideas that are high-risk and high-reward. Each of the projects was chosen for its potential real-life impact on some of Texas's — and the world’s — most challenging situations. Hotez’s prize is the first Hill Prize to be given in the realm of public health. The additional winners are:

  • Hill Prize in Medicine: Kenneth M. Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D., The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
  • Hill Prize in Engineering: Joan Frances Brennecke, Ph.D. (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
  • Hill Prize in Biological Sciences: David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), UT Southwestern Medical Center
  • Hill Prize in Physical Sciences: James Chelikowsky, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
  • Hill Prize in Technology: Robert De Lorenzo, M.D., EmergenceMed, LLC
Read about other Houston-area researchers recognized by TAMEST here.

How Houston's cost of living compares to other major Texas cities in 2025

Calculating Costs

A new cost-of-living index yields a result that many Houstonians will find surprising: Houston is not the most expensive place to live in Texas. Dallas and Austin are costlier.

Numbeo’s cost-of-living index for 2025 shows Dallas ranks first in Texas and 24th in North America, landing at 65.8. The cost-of-living index compares the cost of living in New York City (which sits at 100) with the cost of living in another city. Austin is at 61.7, Houston at 60.6, and San Antonio at 58.8.

Houston ranks 40th overall in North America, out of 52 cities in the index.

Numbeo’s cost-of-living index takes into account the cost of items like groceries, restaurant meals, transportation, and utilities. The index excludes rent.

When rent is added to the cost-of-living index, Houston is still third among Texas cities. Dallas grabs the No. 21 spot in North America (57.1), one notch above Austin (56.6). Houston ranks 35th (51.4), and San Antonio ranks 42nd (34.6).

Rent index
While Dallas holds the top Texas spot on Numbeo’s overall cost-of-living index, Austin faces the highest rent prices. Numbeo's rent index for Austin sits at 50.1, putting it in 12th place among major cities in North America and highest in Texas, above the indexes for Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Houston lands at 27th.

The rent index in New York City, which tops the list, is 100. As Numbeo explains, the rent index estimates the cost of renting an apartment in a city compared with New York City. If the rent index is 50, for example, this suggests the average rent in that city is 50 percent below the average rent in New York City.

Around Texas, the rent index is:

  • 46.2 in Dallas
  • 39.8 in Houston
  • 34.6 in San Antonio

Restaurant index
In contrast to its showing on the rent and cost-of-living indexes, Houston outranks Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio on Numbeo’s restaurant index. This index compares the prices of meals and drinks at restaurants and bars to those in New York City.

Houston sits at No. 25 on the restaurant index, at 68.9. Dallas comes in at No. 32 (67.1), Austin at No. 34 (66.6), and San Antonio at No. 36 (65.2).

The National Restaurant Association reported in December that menu prices in the U.S. had risen 3.6 percent in the past 12 months, outpacing gains in grocery prices and the federal government’s overall Consumer Price Index. Fortunately for diners, that was the smallest 12-month increase in menu prices since August 2020, according to the association.

Toast, which provides a cloud-based restaurant management system, says the higher menu prices reflect higher food prices.

“Food prices have been increasing due to inflation, labor expenses, fuel costs, and supply chain disruptions, all of which impact restaurant profitability, Toast says. “While raising menu prices is one option to combat rising food costs, some restaurants have introduced service charges and simplified menus to avoid passing all costs onto customers.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

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