LONE STAR STANDINGS

Texas' business friendliness receives mixed reviews from 2 recent reports

Is Texas one of the best states to do business? There are contradicting views.

Photo by Tom Werner/Getty Images

It’s a tale of two views of Texas’ business-friendly reputation. For the first time ever, the Lone Star State has fallen out of the top five in CNBC’s annual ranking of the best states to do business. Meanwhile, Texas tops Business Facilities’ new ranking of the best state business climates.

On July 11, CNBC released the 2023 edition of its ranking of the top states for doing business. The ranking puts Texas at No. 6, leaving the Lone Star State out of the top five for the first time since CNBC launched its study in 2007. Texas appeared at No. 5 in 2022 and No. 4 in 2021. The state finished first in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2018.

For the second consecutive year, North Carolina leads the CNBC ranking, thus “solidifying its position as an economic powerhouse,” according to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

Despite dropping out of the top five, CNBC acknowledges that Texas remains an economic powerhouse.

Texas grabs CNBC’s No. 2 spot, behind Florida, for the best state economy. And the state witnessed year-over-year job growth of 4 percent through May, the highest rate of any state. Furthermore, Texas ties with California for access to capital, the study says, and snags the No. 2 spot in the workforce category.

Texas’ fall this year includes a slide from No. 15 to No. 24 in the infrastructure category. CNBC mentions the 2021 wintertime collapse of the state’s electric grid in its explanation of the nine-spot drop.

Other knocks against Texas:

A decline from No. 21 to No. 35 in the education category.
A dip from No. 12 to No. 16 in the cost-of-doing-business category.
A plunge from No. 14 to No. 22 for cost of living.
A bottom-of-the-barrel ranking in the life, health, and inclusion category, down from No. 49 last year.

In an email to CNBC, an unnamed spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott shrugged off this year’s sixth-place showing.

“People and businesses vote with their feet, and continually they are choosing to move to Texas more than any other state in the country,” the spokesman wrote.

While Texas didn’t fare as well in this year’s CNBC study, it can brag about its 2023 designation as Business Facilities magazine’s state with the best business climate. In second place: North Carolina.

“The strength and sustained momentum of the Texas economy made the state a clear choice for [No. 1] in this year’s rankings,” Anne Cosgrove, editorial director of Business Facilities, says in a June 26 statement. “Taking the top spot this year is based not only on the impressive capital investment and job creation numbers, but also for diversity of industries, robust infrastructure, and a business-friendly regulatory and tax climate.”

Abbott took the opportunity to publicize the No. 1 ranking from Business Facilities.

“When businesses succeed, so do Texans — and our business climate ensures that Texas continues to offer world-class educational opportunities, good-paying careers to support families, and endless possibilities to prosper,” Abbott says in a news release.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.

Business Facilities ranking CNBC ranking Gov. Greg Abbott Texas economy reports

kick off your career

3 Dallas neighbors hustle onto list of top 20 U.S. career hotspots

Photo by Nancy Jo Lambert on Unsplash

Frisco was the highest-ranked city in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Dallas has already proven to be a major hub for business, and now three of its neighbors – Frisco, Flower Mound, and McKinney – are rising up among the best small U.S. cities for big career opportunities.

A new nationwide survey from CoworkingCafe ranked the three Dallas-Fort Worth cities among its top-20 career hotspots with populations under 250,000 residents.

According to the study, these standout U.S. suburbs "combine economic acceleration with day-to-day livability, offering residents both upward mobility and stable community fundamentals."

Frisco ranked the highest, climbing up into No. 11, and CoworkingCafe said the suburb has a "highly engaged" workforce whose wages have surged 33 percent since 2019. Frisco households make a median income of $145,444 a year, the report added.

"The labor force is highly engaged (74.2 percent) with low unemployment and a strong employer base supported by 3,050 establishments per 100[,000] residents," the report said. "With 95 percent [of residents having] fiber access, excellent healthcare and top-tier safety, Frisco backs its economic strength with day-to-day comfort."

Frisco's high income and fast Wi-FI speeds also make it a highly desirable place to live for remote workers.

Affluent Flower Mound, which was crowned the best place to live in the U.S. in 2025, followed after Frisco in the No. 15 spot. CoworkingCafe said the suburb's $166,624 median household income has grown 25 percent from 2019 to 2024, and the city's "affordability remains favorable relative to income levels." Career-focused Flower Mound residents aren't shy about being big spenders.

If North Texans are seeking affordability over all other factors, No. 20-ranking McKinney is the place to be. The report said McKinney offers the perfect balance between "affordability, opportunity and amenities." It doesn't hurt that households earn a median annual income of $124,177, a figure that has ballooned 24 percent over the last five years.

"The findings reveal two clear paths to success: fast-growing suburban hubs buzzing with innovation and more established tech-driven economies that already have a global reach," the report said. "Together, they show that even smaller places can give you big advantages professionally, sometimes even more than the big metros."

Elsewhere in Dallas-Fort Worth, other career hotspots with populations under 250,000 residents that made it into the top 100 include Mansfield (No. 37), Allen (No. 43), Richardson (No. 58), and Lewisville (No. 80).

Here's how other Texas suburbs fared among CoworkingCafe's top 100 best career hotspots in 2026:

No. 17 – Pflugerville
No. 22 – Cedar Park
No. 31 – Round Rock
No. 59 – Pearland
No. 73 – League City
No. 76 – Sugar Land
No. 89 – Temple
No. 90 – Georgetown
No. 97 – Amarillo

suburbs dallas frisco mckinney flower mound innovation