INCLUSIVE ECOSYSTEM

Dallas ranked among best U.S. metros for Black professionals

A new report finds that Dallas is a top city for Black professionals.

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A study released in 2021 crowned Dallas the fourth most diverse city in the U.S. So it shouldn't really come as a surprise that Dallas ranks among the country’s best cities for Black professionals.

A new ranking compiled by Black employees at Apartment List puts Dallas at No. 5 among the best cities for Black professionals. The Apartment List employees judged 82 cities in four categories:

Business environment for Black professionals. Dallas ranks xx
Black community and representation. Dallas ranks xx
Economic opportunities for Black professionals. Dallas ranks xx
Housing opportunities for Black professionals. Dallas ranks xx

Apartment List combined the scores in each of those categories to come up with an overall score for each city. Dallas' final score was 60.6, with 100 being the highest possible score. The company released the ranking in conjunction with Black History Month.

Apartment List lauds Dallas' showing in three of the four categories, but dings the city for its relatively low score for housing opportunities. The website points out that 42 percent of black households in Houston spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

In praising Dallas' environment for Black professionals, Apartment List cites the city’s fast-growing Black population: In 2010, 14 percent of the population was Black, today that share has risen to over 17 percent, the report says.

Of all businesses in Dallas, 14.5 are Black-owned. "Start your day off at Brunchaholics, then get your hair done at Pressed Roots, and end the day with a workout at BURN, the authors suggest.

Three other Texas cities join Dallas in Apartment List’s top 10:

San Antonio, No. 3, final score of 66.08.
Houston, No. 5, final score of 63.8
Austin, No. 9 (tie), final score of 57.1.

In a 2019 post on Medium, digital marketer and Los Angeles native Shameen Yakubu placed Houston at No. 2 on his list of the six cities he’d considered moving to as a Black professional. (San Antonio topped his list, and his LinkedIn profile indicates he now lives there.) Yakubu cited Houston’s large Black population, diversity, and affordability as some of the factors in the city’s favor.

“One of the things that [attracts] me to Houston is the number of [Black] professionals and entrepreneurs. Texas, in general, is a very pro-business state,” Yakubu wrote.

In descending order, here are the top 10 cities for Black professionals, according to Apartment List:

Washington, D.C.
Atlanta
San Antonio
Houston
Dallas
Raleigh, North Carolina
Lakeland, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Austin (tie)
Baltimore (tie)

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This article originally ran on our sister site InnovationMap.

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career hotspot

Dallas excels as one of America's best cities to start a career

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Dallas is the second-best Texas city to start a career.

College graduates staying in Dallas are in the right place, according to a new WalletHub study. Dallas has made the top-15 on a new list of the best places in America for starting a career.

Dallas ranked 12th out of 182 U.S. cities based on its quality of life and vast opportunities for new college graduates transitioning into the workforce. The study compared each city based on 25 relevant metrics, like the availability of entry-level jobs, each city's annual job growth rate, workforce diversity, median annual income, housing affordability, and others.

Atlanta, Orlando, and Austin respectively comprised the top three best places to start a career.

Dallas ranked No. 11 nationwide for its professional opportunities for new college graduates, and appeared 69th overall for its quality of life. Whether its starting a new business or entering a high-earning job field, Dallas has many more opportunities than the vast majority of other cities on the list.

"The best cities for starting a career not only have a lot of job opportunities but also provide substantial income growth potential and satisfying work conditions," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "It’s also important to consider factors such as how fun a city is to live in or how good of a place it is for raising a family, to ensure life satisfaction outside of your career."

Three more North Texas cities made it into the top 100 best U.S. cities for early career professionals include Plano (No. 32), Irving (No. 42), and Fort Worth (No. 64).

Other Texas hotspots for early career professionals
Austin boasts the best quality of life out of all 182 cities in the report, and the 10th best professional opportunities. The state capital also outperformed all other U.S. cities with the highest monthly average starting salaries for early career workers after being adjusted for the city's cost of living. Austin also offers the 15th highest number of entry level jobs per capita, the report said.

"In addition, Austin’s median annual household income is the 10th-highest in the nation, providing strong earning potential for those starting a career or a business," the report said. "Austin is also the sixth best city for singles, offering a vibrant social scene alongside strong career opportunities for young professionals."

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston ranked 51st on the list, Amarillo ranked 73rd, and San Antonio was No. 85.

The top 10 best cities for starting a career are:

No. 1 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
No. 3 – Austin, Texas
No. 4 – Tampa, Florida
No. 5 – Miami, Florida
No. 6 – Charleston, South Carolina
No. 7 – Pittsburgh
No. 8 – Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 9 – Salt Lake City, Utah
No. 10 – Columbia, South Carolina

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