Companies all over the country are packing up shop and relocating to Texas for its low taxes, light regulations, and business-friendly environment.
Texas ranked No.1 in the nation for net job gains based on out-of-state business relocations, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
From 2010 to 2019, Dallas and Houston were the top metro areas for business relocations to Texas, accounting for three-fifths of all jobs moving from other states.
Some of the key factors driving businesses to Dallas include the city’s relative size, appetite for economic growth, population density, educated workforce, diversity of industries, robust infrastructure, and access to good schools.
In general, Texas is now one of the go-to markets for small-to-large establishments. While larger corporations (those with 1,000 or more workers) account for only 15% of job gains in the state, medium-sized firms (those with fewer than 500 workers) are responsible for about 75% of jobs coming to Texas.
Establishments with fewer than five workers, meanwhile, constituted about 80% of businesses relocating to Texas.
Smaller firms have more mobility while larger firms bring more jobs, according to the report.
Despite the reduced headcount, smaller establishments moving to Texas “generally exhibit stronger growth than large ones if they succeed,” says the report.
In total, 291 companies moved to Texas between 2015 and 2024. Among the nearly 300 corporate relocations, 6,500 new jobs were added to the state’s labor market, according to data from the Texas Governor’s Office.
In general, the state exporting the most jobs to Texas over the last decade was California. During the period, Texas added 3,255 jobs across 147 establishments that were formerly headquartered in The Golden State.
Professional and business services (30%), manufacturing (17.7%), and trade, transportation, and utilities (17.1%) were among the major employment sectors associated with in-migration over the decade. Despite nearly all of Texas’ major employment sectors benefiting from positive net job migration, the information sector was the only one to lose jobs during the period.
The latest round of companies relocating to Texas include California-based robotics startup Graze Inc. and Massachusetts-based Psychemedics Corporation, according to data compiled by Texas Economic Development & Tourism.
Click here to view a full list of the companies that moved headquarters to Texas between 2015 and 2024.
