Who’s the Boss?

Here's why Californians should move to Dallas if they want to be boss

Woman working and drawing at desk with computer

The average self-employed worker earns slightly less than $85,000 a year in Dallas.

Have you ever wanted to be your own boss? If you're living in Big D, you already have a leg up on the competition. A new ranking puts Dallas at No. 5 among the best cities to be self-employed.

To produce the list, personal financial website SmartAsset looked at six economic factors for a city: percentage of self-employed workers, average earnings for self-employed workers, median housing costs, median housing costs as a percentage of self-employed earnings, local tax burden, and unemployment rate.

In Dallas’ favor is the fact that the average self-employed worker earns slightly less than $85,000 a year.

“Thanks to low costs of living in Dallas, that $85,000 goes pretty far. For example, to pay for the median Dallas home, the average self-employed person would only need to spend 13.5 percent of their income,” SmartAsset says.

Dallas is not the only Texas city to perform well in the SmartAsset ranking. Amarillo tops the list, followed by Lubbock at No. 2. Other Texas cities in the top 25 are Plano (No. 15), Laredo (No. 22), and Houston (No. 24).

In part, SmartAsset attributes Texas’ strong showing on the list to the lack of a state income tax.

Meanwhile, the SmartAsset ranking offers no love to California — which helps further explain why so many Californians are relocating to Texas.

“If your dream is to open up your own business and be your own boss, you may want to avoid California,” SmartAsset says. “This state is known for high taxes, high costs of living and high housing costs. Seven of the lowest-ranked cities for self-employed workers are in California.”

rankings lists

helping hands

9 DFW companies clock in among Forbes' best employers in Texas for 2023

Photo courtesy of Texas Oncology

It's a blast to work at Texas Oncology, according to Forbes.

Dallas-Fort Worth continues to prove it's home to some of the best businesses in the state. Two local employers in fact - Texas Oncology and Fidelity Investments - have moved into highly coveted top-10 spots on Forbes' 2023 list of "America’s Best Employers By State".

The prestigious list is a collaboration between Forbes and Statista to survey the satisfaction levels of tens of thousands of workers employed by national companies.

Dallas-based Texas Oncology - the largest cancer treatment and research providers in the state - earned a rank of No. 6. Forbes says there are more than 4,700 workers employed by the oncology network.

On its career website, nurse leader Nicole Forkner, BSN, RN, OCN said Texas Oncology has been her "home away from home" for nearly two decades.

"So many of our patients have left a lasting memory with me. Not only are we healing their heart, mind, and soul, but they are healing ours too," Forkner said. "The guidance we have received from our amazing Texas Oncology leadership team has led us through hurricanes, ice storms, new initiatives, software changes, and the COVID-19 pandemic."

Fidelity Investments made major gains in 2023. Though the company might be based in Boston, Massachusetts, its big presence in Westlake (coupled with a great work environment and advancement opportunities) propels it to the top year after year. The financial services corporation climbed to No. 9 in Texas this year, after ranking No. 22 in Forbes' 2022 list. There are about 61,000 people employed by Fidelity, according to the report.

Forbes explains that those on the list "aren’t the best large or midsize employers nationally, but a deeper look at which companies are closer-to-home options for every American worker."

Forbes and Statista determined their rankings by surveying 70,000 Americans working at employers in the U.S. with at least 500 employees each. The final list features 1,392 highly recommended employers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 270 employers ranked highly in multiple states.

Here are the 30 best large employers in Texas, as determined by Forbes and Statista:

Dallas-Fort Worth:

No. 6 – Texas Oncology, based in Dallas
No. 9 – Fidelity Investments (based in Boston; major corporate hub in Westlake)
No. 14 – Capital One (based in Richmond, Virginia; major corporate hub in Plano)
No. 17 – University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas
No. 22 – Southwest Airlines, based in Dallas
No. 24 – Texas Health Resources, based in Arlington
No. 25 – General Motors (based in Detroit, Michigan; major assembly hub in Arlington)
No. 27 – City of Plano
No. 28 – Toyota North America, based in Plano

Austin:

No. 3 – Google (based in Mountain View, California; major corporate hub in Austin)
No. 13 – Apple (based in Cupertino, California; major corporate hub in Austin)

San Antonio:

No. 2 – H-E-B (based in San Antonio; more than 300 stores in Texas)
No. 26 – University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Houston area:

No. 1 – NASA (based in Washington, D.C.; Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake)
No. 4 – Houston Community College
No. 5 – Houston Methodist
No. 6 – Texas Children's Hospital
No. 18 – National Oilwell Varco
No. 19 – Bechtel (based in Reston, Virginia; major corporate hub in Houston)

Throughout Texas:

No. 8 – Salesforce (based in San Francisco, California; offices in Austin and Dallas)
No. 10 – IKEA (based in Sweden; five stores in Texas)
No. 11 – Costco (based in Issaquah, Washington; 38 stores in Texas)
No. 15 – Cardinal Health (based in Dublin, Ohio; 23 locations in Texas)
No. 16 – Microsoft (based in Redmond, Washington; offices in Austin, Dallas, Friendswood, Frisco, Houston, San Antonio, and The Woodlands)
No. 20 – Leidos (based in Reston, Virginia; locations in San Antonio, Houston, and Webster)
No. 21 – Cisco Systems (based in San Jose, California; offices in Austin, Dallas, Irving, Richardson, Houston, Laredo, and San Antonio)
No. 23 – IBM (based in Armonk, New York; offices in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Frisco)
No. 29 – Nike (based in Beaverton, Oregon; 26 locations in Texas)
No. 30 – Charles Schwab (based in San Francisco, California; 25 locations in Texas)

forbes reports Best Employers texas dallas