Crack the Whip

These Texans are some of the hardest working people in America

Texans work hard, according to recent rankings by WalletHub.

Common Desk

Research shows that Americans work 20 percent more than their counterparts in Europe, and that's certainly true in parts of Texas. Personal finance website WalletHub recently revealed the hardest working U.S. cities, proving many Texans aren't slacking off.

To come up with those scores, WalletHub's data analysts looked at six key metrics: average workweek hours, labor force participation rate, commute time, workers with multiple jobs, volunteer hours per resident, and leisure time spent on an average day.

North Texans work the hardest in the Lone Star State. Plano earns the No. 3 slot, with a hard-working score of 79.56. Irving is No. 5, scoring 76.09. Other Texas cities in the top 20 include Corpus Christi (No. 12), Garland (No. 18), and Houston (No. 20).

Austin ranks No. 25, with a score of 68.58, about 11 points less than the hardest working Texans. More hard-working Texans can be found in Dallas (No. 22), Arlington (No. 24), and Fort Worth (No. 26).

In Lubbock, they must be pretty lazy (or smart, depending on how you look at it). At No. 92 out of 116, the city gets a hard-working score of 50.46. But they've got nothing on those living in Burlington, Vermont, who don't seem to mind catching a few Z's: The city is the least hard-working in the country, with a score of 18.66.

Folks in Anchorage, Alaska, are burning the midnight oil: The city holds the No. 1 spot, with a total score of 88.42.

Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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