Hot Headlines

5 Austin suburbs shine among America's best and more popular stories

Cedar Park is one of America's best small cities.

City of Cedar Park, Texas/Facebook

Editor's note: The top Austin news of the week includes local suburbs in the national spotlight and new Austin-based products hitting H-E-B shelves. Catch up on our most popular stories below, then head to this guide full of the best weekend events.

1. 5 Austin suburbs featured on 2025 list of best small cities in America. Five hot Austin suburbs are maximizing their popularity on WalletHub's new list of the best small cities in America.

2. 2 Austin companies win H-E-B's 'quest' for new snacks to sell. The folks at H-E-B have completed their annual Quest for Texas Best, and Austin companies Oca Foods and Tozi Super Foods have taken home the top prizes.

3. New eatery brings breakfast, lunch, and live music to Lady Bird Lake. Fat Rabbit Social House opened October 1, offering a new downtown brunch and lunch option with a side of live music and cocktails on the weekends.

The interior is equal parts nostalgic and modern. Photo courtesy of Fat Rabbit Social House

4. This is how much Austin household incomes have changed in a year. A new income study determined Austin's median income actually fell from 2023 to 2024.

5. Austin suburb residents push back against proposed data center. For the past few months, Taylor residents have been fighting to stop a data center from being built near their homes.

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Austin slips on new list of America's most fun cities for 2025

Rowing Dock downtown Austin Congress Avenue Bridge bats kayaking

Rowing Dock Facebook

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A new WalletHub study ranking the most fun American cities in 2025 has revealed Austin needs to learn how to let loose a little more next year.

Austin currently ranks as the 8th most fun city in the U.S., with Houston surpassing it as 6th most fun American city and the No. 1 most fun city in the Lone Star State.

WalletHub's "Most Fun Cities in America (2025)" study compared 182 U.S. cities across 65 metrics – spanning from the number of sports venues, music venues, and shopping centers per capita to the average cost for a restaurant meal – to determine how "fun" each city is. The metrics were split among three main categories: entertainment and recreation, nightlife and parties, and cost.

Las Vegas, Nevada, continued its multi-year streak as the No. 1 most fun American city.

Across the three key dimensions, Austin scored the highest for its nightlife and parties rank (No. 6), but its entertainment and recreation rank (No. 22) and costs rank (No. 82) still leave room for improvement. But overall, Austin's level of "fun" is far higher than most U.S. cities.

Austin's current "fun" status is two spots lower than its 2024 rank as the 6th most fun American city. In 2023, Austin ranked No. 7 on the list.

Other Texas cities that appeared in the top 100 include: San Antonio (No. 23), Dallas (No. 26), Fort Worth (No. 60), El Paso (No. 62), Arlington (No. 71), Plano (No. 78), and Corpus Christi (No. 94).

"The decision of where to live could save or cost you a lot of money and fun, so it’s fair to wonder what makes a fun city," the report's author wrote. "In a city with enough variety, you won’t have to compromise with your friends, family, or even yourself about the next fun activity to do alone or together."

WalletHub's top 10 most fun U.S. cities in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Miami, Florida
No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 5 – New Orleans, Louisiana
No. 6 – Houston, Texas
No. 7 – San Francisco, California
No. 8 – Austin, Texas
No. 9 – Portland, Oregon
No. 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio

Surprisingly, both Chicago and New York City dropped out of the top 10 most fun American cities. Chicago now ranks as No. 11, and New York City ranks 14th on the list.

wallethub rankings austin

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let loose atx

Austin slips on new list of America's most fun cities for 2025