Ranking It

Dallas deemed among top U.S. metros for corporate relocation in 2019

DFW takes the third spot in this impressive ranking.

Photo courtesy of Dallas CVB

A recent report shows that Texas rules the nation's corporate relocation and expansion kingdom.

Site Selection magazine ranks the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin metro areas among the top 10 large U.S. metro areas for the number of corporate relocation and expansion projects landed in 2019.

On the list, published in the magazine's March issue, Houston replaces Dallas-Fort Worth in the No. 2 spot among metros with at least 1 million residents. DFW comes in at No. 3, and Austin takes the No. 6 spot.

Last year, Houston landed 276 projects that met the magazine's ranking criteria. Dallas-Fort Worth scored 261 projects in 2019, while Austin snagged 95. With 416 projects, Chicago earned the No. 1 spot.

Qualifying projects for the rankings must have a minimum investment of $1 million, create at least 20 new jobs, or involve at least 20,000 square feet of new space.

The magazine notes that tenants continued to fill office and industrial space throughout the DFW market. Specifically, Site Selection highlights Gulfstream Aerospace's new $35 million service center at Fort Worth Alliance Airport, announced in late February to open by fall 2021 and create 50 new jobs. (Note: The announcement was made before the coronavirus crisis began to impact the economy.)

In the Houston metro area, expansions included Bill.com's first expansion outside Silicon Valley, with 125 new jobs housed in 25,000 square feet in the Westchase district, and Amazon Web Services' new technology hub, with 150 new jobs housed in 25,000 square feet at CityCentre.

And for Austin, the magazine highlights RV rental company Outdoorsy, which moved from San Francisco to downtown Austin, and Apple, which broke ground on its $1 billion North Austin campus late last year.

The Houston-DFW-Austin trifecta of top-performing markets for corporate relocation and expansion in 2019 helped propel Texas to win Site Selection's Governor's Cup Award for the eighth consecutive year.

In accepting the award, Gov. Greg Abbott called Texas "the most dynamic economy in the nation."

"Texas' skilled, diverse, and ever-expanding workforce drives our booming economy," Abbott said. "I want to thank all of our local, regional and statewide economic development teams for their work to expand economic opportunity in Texas, as well as the companies that continue to invest and create more jobs throughout the Lone Star State."

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

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State of innovation

Texas ranks among 5 best states to start a business in 2025

Photo by Mykyta Kravčenko on Unsplash

Texas' friendly business climate has allowed the state to regain its rightful position among the top five best states to start a new business.

As one of the largest states in the U.S., it's no surprise Texas is big on business and entrepreneurship. Now the state is earning new praise among WalletHub's 2025 list of "Best & Worst States to Start a Business."

The Lone Star State claimed the No. 4 spot in the report's rankings — putting Texas in a better shape than it was last year when it earned No. 8 in WalletHub's 2024 report.

The study compared all 50 states across 25 metrics to determine the best places to start, grow, and find success with a new business. Factors that were considered include the number of startups per capita, job growth rates, financing accessibility measures, labor costs, and corporate tax rates.

The three states to outperform Texas are Florida (No. 1), Georgia (No. 2), and Utah (No. 3). Idaho rounded out the top five.

Across the study's three main categories, Texas performed the best in the "business environment" rank, earning No. 1 nationally. This section compared the states based on its five-year business survival rates, average business revenues growth, and more.

Texas ranked No. 12 in the nationwide comparison of "access to resources" – which covers working age population growth, venture investment amounts per capita, and other means – and earned a fair No. 34 in the report's "business costs" ranking.

But Texas can still do better with its business friendliness to reclaim a top-three overall ranking, which the state last earned in 2023.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report that it is imperative for potential new business owners to establish their enterprise in a place that can maximize their ability to succeed.

"Around half of all new businesses don’t survive five years, so the idea of becoming a business owner can be daunting, especially with the current high cost of living," Lupo said. "The best states have low corporate tax rates, strong economies, an abundance of reliable workers, easy access to financing and affordable real estate. On top of that, you’ll need to make sure you start in a place with an engaged customer base, if you’re operating locally."

Dallas has also proven to be at the top of the destination list for entrepreneurs who are looking for their next venture.

The top 10 best states to start a new business in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Florida
No. 2 – Georgia
No. 3 – Utah
No. 4 – Texas
No. 5 – Idaho
No. 6 – Oklahoma
No. 7 – Nevada
No. 8 – Colorado
No. 9 – Arizona
No. 10 – Kentucky

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