Tech Mecca

Where does Dallas-Fort Worth rank among the world’s top high-tech places?

Startups, patents — we've got 'em.

Two-step aside, Austin. Dallas-Fort Worth has been deemed one of the world’s most high-tech spots. In a ranking of the world’s top 25 tech-savvy cities published by Business Insider, Dallas-Fort Worth ranks No. 11 — ahead of places like Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. San Francisco leads the list, followed by New York and London.

Dallas-Fort Worth is the only locale in Texas that appears in the top 25; Austin, Houston, and San Antonio are nowhere in sight.

Business Insider tapped Australia-based data provider 2thinknow to compile the 2017 list. Last year, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked 28th. The website says the growth of venture capital and technology integration in DFW accounts for the surge.

The 2thinknow ranking is based on 10 factors, including the area's number of patents, startups, and high-tech venture capitalists.

Last year, commercial real estate services company CBRE put Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 10 on its list of the top U.S. markets for high-tech job growth. Close to one-third of the high-tech jobs in Texas are in DFW, according to the Dallas Regional Chamber, compared with 12 percent in Austin.

“DFW has become a major tech market to be reckoned with. Our tech workforce is twice the size of Austin’s and growing,” Jeff Eiting, vice president and co-leader of the technology and media practice in CBRE’s Dallas office, said in a 2016 release. “Tech companies will continue to be attracted to the large, well-educated labor pool that DFW offers, as well as our relatively low cost of living and cost of office space.”

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Big Business

11 booming Dallas-Fort Worth companies zoom to top of Inc. 5000

Dallas Texas Downtown Drone Skyline Aerial

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Allen-based Yantran is riding the information technology wave all the way to the top of the Inc. 5000’s 10 fastest-growing private companies.

With three-year revenue growth of 258,740 percent, the company appears at No. 3 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list. The prestigious 2026 list ranks private companies based on percentage revenue growth from 2022 to 2025.

Yantran, founded in 2022, is an IT services, technology consulting, and AI-driven product development company. It ranks as the No. 1 fastest-growing IT services company in the U.S., as well as the No. 1 fastest-growing company in Texas and the Metroplex. It's joined by 10 other booming Dallas-Fort Worth businesses in the top 250.

The honorees will be recognized October 14-16 at the 2026 Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala, which will be held in Dallas. The other Dallas-Fort Worth companies at the top of the list are:

No. 12 Paek Management Group, 12,520 percent (Irving)
No. 82 Elite Robotics and Automation, 3,334 percent (Fort Worth)
No. 133 Outamation, 2,291 percent (Southlake)
No. 147 Red Creek Solutions, 2,119 percent (Frisco)
No. 155 JobTread Software, 2,071 percent (Dallas)
No. 164 DAX Eyewear, 1,977 percent (Nevada)
No. 186 Optimized Waste Removal, 1,830 percent (Fort Worth)
No. 204 Freight Flex, 1,642 percent (Denton)
No. 212 Maverick Power, 1,591 percent (McKinney)
No. 229 Innovative Life Sciences, 1,494 percent (McKinney)

The Metroplex leads Texas with the most companies in the top 250 of this year's Inc. 5000. DFW is followed by Austin (10 companies); Houston (seven companies); and San Antonio , El Paso, and Amarillo (one company each):

Austin

No. 9 Investment Watches, 15,741 percent
No. 72 Razor Metrics, 3,856 percent
No. 91 Autonomize AI, 2,921 percent
No. 102 Choose Your Horizon, 2,719 percent
No. 132 Wander Staffing, 2,296 percent
No. 144 Everyday Dose, 2,179 percent
No. 148 NetRise, 2,118 percent
No. 163 Nutrabound Labs, 1,999 percent (Bastrop)
No. 179 Steadily, 1,890 percent
No. 208 Tiny Health, 1,624 percent

Houston

No. 3 Epique Realty, 23,210 percent
No. 27 Empact Technologies, 8,275 percent
No. 60 Action1, 4,512 percent
No 75 Signs By G, 3,684 percent
No. 79 The ’Pause Life, 3,469 percent (Galveston)
No. 110 Turtlebox Audio, 2,576 percent
No. 178 Dahnani Private Equity Group, 1,904 percent (Stafford)

San Antonio

No. 118 Hire With Near, 2,421 percent

El Paso

No. 80, LEH Homes, 3,438 percent

Amarillo

No. 249, Optimum Rope Access Solutions, 1,361 percent

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A version of this article originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.

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