AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is in the process of installing more than a dozen bat boxes at the Walnut Creek Bridge on I-35. The goal is to provide habitats for bats that live under bridges being demolished near Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

The multi-million-dollar Interstate 35 Capital Express North Project will come with the installation of 36 artificial roosts for the bat population in Austin. This summer, TxDOT says it’s installing 18 of those under the Walnut Creek Bridge along interstate 35.

“I am upset about the entire project. It has affected my neighborhood because I live on the east side close to the highway, so I don’t think they have given enough attention and thought and sympathy to humans, but I am glad they are doing something about relocating the bats,” says Austin resident Steve Wilson.

TxDOT plans to demolish a pair of bridges that the bats live in the crevices of during the construction of the project that was created to improve the flow of traffic.

“We have bats on bridges, two bridges, Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway,” says TxDOT biologist Tracy White.

According to TxDOT, the bat boxes range from $3,000-4,000 and are capable of providing roosting and maternity colony opportunities for thousands of bats.

“You pop it in, and you wedge it in, so these struts kind of lodge up against the beam so they fly here, land here, and then crawl up in roost. These bat boxes can last anywhere from upwards of 10 years, even 20 years,” says White.

“It looks like a nice system they have figured out for their relocation to get them started, it sounds like some type of artificial colony that would help them maybe jump start a new home here,” says Wilson.

TxDOT says the Walnut Creek Bridge was selected because it is distant from humans and close to natural resources in the area.

“I think it would be a reliable source of water and mosquitos for them and plenty of places to kind of perch and fly around without much hassle and confusing light at night,” says Wilson.

“They eat tons and tons of insects annually. They help farmers, we want a good functioning ecosystem, and we want to take care of our natural resources, which are these bats,” says White.

The latest installations will support the Brazilian free-tailed bats. TxDOT says it may take some time for the bats to find their new accommodations.

Construction for the I-35 Capital Express North project started in March 2023 and is expected to be completed in late 2028.

Austinites who want to catch a glimpse into the lives of the one percent may be surprised to learn that the pre-tax income required to be considered one of the highest earners in Texas amounts to $762,090 in 2024. So says a new study from SmartAsset that analyzed the top one percent income floors for all 50 states.

Compared to SmartAsset’s 2023 report, Texans now need to make $130,241 more in 2024 to maintain their status as one of the highest earners in the state. Last year, the income threshold was $631,849. For the second consecutive year, the Lone Star State maintains the 14th highest pre-tax salary needed to be considered in the top one percent of earners in the U.S.

To determine the income needed to be in the top one percent of earners in each state, SmartAsset analyzed 2021 IRS data for individual tax filers, which is the most recent year where data was available. Income data was then adjusted to June 2024 dollars.

Texas’ one percent income threshold is not too far off from the national average, which is $787,712.

The study further revealed 126,128 Texans are within the top one percent of earners. For more context, the U.S. Census Bureau says over 30 million people lived in Texas as of 2022, and Austin’s population grew to nearly 980,000 residents in 2023.

Connecticut continues to lead the nation with the highest income threshold required to be in the top one percent, with residents needing to make over $1.15 million pre-tax.

If Austinites aim to be within the top five percent of earners in Texas, the pre-tax income threshold is substantially lower, at $280,676. For many Austin residents, however, even achieving a “middle class” status means making between $59,604 and $178,830 a year, according to a separate SmartAsset report.

Meanwhile, the study says the median income in the U.S. comes out to roughly $75,000, and half of Americans are making even less than that. The income disparity is plainly obvious when high-income earners make (at a minimum) 10 times more than the national median income.

The report goes on to say top-earning Americans make up a “disproportionately large part of the tax base,” as their income results in paying a 37 percent federal tax bracket rate. (That is, if these high earners are even paying taxes in the first place, considering America’s wealthiest are already evading over $150 billion a year in taxes.)

“While state and local level taxes may impact the spread of high earners in those areas, the cost of living can also be drastically different nationwide,” the report said. “As a result, what it takes to be considered a top one percent income earner can differ by over $500,000 from state to state.”

The top 10 states with the highest thresholds to be considered in the top one percent of earners in the U.S. are:

• No. 1 – Connecticut ($1,152,254)
• No. 2 – Massachusetts ($1,113,662)
• No. 3 – California ($1,035,673)
• No. 4 – Washington ($989,649)
• No. 5 – New Jersey ($975,645)
• No. 6 – New York ($965,645)
• No. 7 – Colorado ($865,700)
• No. 8 – Florida ($852,206)
• No. 9 – Wyoming ($843,121)
• No. 10 – New Hampshire ($811,098)

As July comes to an end, Texas students are turning their attention to the upcoming school year. And it’s not just kids — college students are preparing to move to campuses and begin the 2024 fall semester.

Hundreds of thousands of students will soon occupy now-quiet college campuses as they either return for another year or step onto the grounds as students for the very first time.

With 1.56 million students, the Lone Star State has the second-most college students among U.S. states, topped only by California.

Here are move-in and start dates for top universities across Texas:

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Texas A&M University at College Station: Aug. 19

Texas A&M is the largest university in Texas as well as the entirety of the U.S. Over 74,000 students take classes there, according to the latest data from BestColleges. Last fall, the Texas A&M University System, which spans 11 universities, enrolled a record 154,865 students in classes. Its main campus at College Station welcomed about 12,540 freshmen that semester.

Student move-in dates for the Fall 2024 semester are between Thursday, August 15th and Sunday, August 18th and vary by location. Students must sign up for a move-in appointment after completing their online Annual Housing Orientation. Information about how to access the scheduler was emailed to students in early July.

The 5,200-acre campus has a total of 25 residence halls. Classes at Texas A&M University begin Monday, August 19th.

Click here to see Texas A&M University’s Fall 2024 schedule.

University of Texas at Austin: Aug. 26

Nearly 52,000 students attend UT Austin, which is among the largest and best research universities in the country. This year, it was ranked the ninth top public school by U.S. News & World Report. Despite its “Forty Acres” nickname, UT Austin’s main campus now sits on 431 acres, but the university owns a total of nearly 1,500 acres.

Though students can move to UT Austin’s campus as early as Monday, August 19th, most students will do so on Friday, August 23rd and Saturday, August 24th, in a centralized check-in at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Students may schedule their move-in appointments via the housing portal.

Classes at UT Austin start Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see UT Austin’s Fall 2024 schedule.

More on UT Austin: How a Texas Historical Commission vote may further delay plans for new UT football field

University of North Texas: Aug. 19

Like Texas A&M University, the UNT saw record-high enrollment last fall, with nearly 47,000 students enrolled in classes. It was also the top choice for career readiness and among the nation’s largest public research universities. UNT’s main campus spans about 900 acres, with its Frisco location raising the total to 1,000 acres and 15 residence halls.

UNT students can move onto campus as early as Friday, August 9th. They are instructed to sign up for a move-in date and time through the eHousing portal. Classes begin Monday, August 19th.

Click here to see the University of North Texas’ Fall 2024 schedule.

University of Houston: Aug. 19

The University of Houston claimed 46,676 students last fall on its 894-acre campus. Over 6,000 of those students were freshmen.

Students will move onto campus between Wednesday, August 14th and Saturday, August 17th. All students with a filed Housing Agreement received move-in instructions via email in early July.

The first day of classes is Monday, August 19th.

Click here to see the University of Houston’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Texas Tech University: Aug. 22

Over 40,000 students were enrolled at Texas Tech University in Fall 2022. Spanning a whopping 1,900 acres in Lubbock, TTU is the second-largest contiguous campus in the U.S. It is also the only college in the Lone Star State with an undergraduate and a graduate university, law school and medical school all on one campus.

TTU students will move in Thursday, August 15th through Sunday, August 18th and should have signed up for a move-in date and time this past weekend. The first day of classes is Thursday, August 22nd.

Click here to see Texas Tech University’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Texas State University: Aug. 26

As of this spring, over 35,000 students were enrolled in Texas State University. TXST set multiple enrollment records that semester, with freshmen enrollment up by 59% from Spring 2023. The university has several campuses throughout the Lone Star State, with two main campuses in San Marcos (517 acres, 245 buildings) and Round Rock (101 acres, six buildings).

New students will move onto the TXST campus from Saturday, August 17th to Monday, August 19th. The move-in deadline for other students is Monday, August 26th. Students should have selected a move-in appointment via their housing portal. The first day of classes is Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see Texas State University’s Fall 2024 schedule.

University of Texas at San Antonio: Aug. 26

A new freshmen enrollment record was made last fall at the University of Texas at San Antonio, with a total of nearly 35,000 students enrolled. UTSA has five urban campuses on a sum of 758 acres: Main Campus, Park West Campus, Downtown Campus, Southwest Campus and Hemisfair Campus.

Students will move into UTSA from Tuesday, August 20th through Friday, August 23rd, organized by residence halls. Classes begin on Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Fall 2024 schedule.

University of Texas at El Paso: Aug. 26

Another school to break records for freshmen enrollment last fall was UTEP, which reported over 24,000 students in total. It was the second consecutive year of enrollment increases. It was also ranked first in social mobility by the Wall Street Journal in September 2023. The campus’s 89 buildings sit on 367 acres.

Students will begin moving onto UTEP’s campus Friday, August 23rd. They will be able to choose a move-in date and time starting Wednesday, August 1st. The first day of classes is Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see the University of Texas at El Paso’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi: Aug. 26

As of Fall 2022, nearly 11,000 students were enrolled at Texas A&M’s Corpus Christi campus. The campus is 364 acres located in the city, though most students live off-campus.

TAMU-CC’s first-year students and those living on Miramar’s Islander Housing will move in on Wednesday, August 21st, while those living on Momentum Village’s Islander Housing can move in on Saturday, August 24th. Classes begin Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Angelo State University: Aug. 26

In Fall 2022, 10,600 students were enrolled at Angelo State University. Its main campus is 268 acres, with over 60 buildings centered around a tree-lined pedestrian mall, giving it a park-like feel.

Angelo State students will move onto campus throughout the day on Wednesday, August 21st, according to which floor they live on. Classes begin Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see Angelo State University’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Rice University: Aug. 26

As of 2022, Rice University had an enrollment of over 8,500 students. The private university in Houston sits on about 300 acres with more than 70 major buildings.

Students will move onto the Rice University campus on Sunday, August 18th for O-Week. The first day of classes is Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see Rice University’s Fall 2024 schedule.

Sul Ross State University: Aug. 26

Sul Ross State University had an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students in Fall 2022, almost half of whom were first-generation students. The college sits on 647 acres, divided into a main campus and a central campus. An additional 468 acres serve as a working ranch.

New students will move into Sul Ross State University on Friday, August 23rd, while returning students will do so on Saturday, August 24th. Classes begin on Monday, August 26th.

Click here to see Sul Ross State University’s Fall 2024 schedule.