tops in tech

Houston cashes in with some of the highest salaries in Texas for this in-demand tech job

Houston is a top-paying city in Texas for software engineers.

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It really pays to be a software engineer in Houston, new data shows.

According to figures collected by the professional social network Blind, Houston appears at No. 2 on this list of the best-paying Texas cities for software engineers. Here, the average annual salary is $111,625, and the average annual compensation is $137,987.

“Long before Austin became a magnet for jobs, there was Houston. Long a hub for the aerospace, defense, and energy industries, the aptly named Space City has been a go-to place for a job in tech,” Blind says.

Among the Houston tech employers mentioned by Blind are Aspen Technology, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP.

Software engineers, also known as software developers, create and test apps, computer software, and related technology. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies software developer as one of the most in-demand jobs for 2020 to 2030. The bureau projects the need for an additional 409,500 software developers in the U.S. during that period.

“In nearly every industry, we’re facing a global talent shortage,” says KMS Technology, an Atlanta-based provider of software development, testing, and consulting services. “When it comes to software development, however, the shortage is perhaps the most severe. Companies are struggling to find qualified software engineers to fill jobs, and it’s happening in record numbers.”

Therefore, software engineers continue to be among the highest-paid workers in the country.

Elsewhere it Texas, and not surprisingly given its reputation as a tech hub, Austin ranks as the best-paying city in Texas for software engineers, per Blind. There, the annual base salary for a software engineer is $128,524, and the average annual compensation package (including salary, stock options, bonuses, and other goodies) is $171,981.

“It may be no surprise that Austin is No. 1, as the state capital is home to some of the largest tech giants,” Blind says.

Blind rattles off several tech companies with a big presence there: Apple, Amazon, Dell, Facebook, Google, PayPal, Tesla, and TikTok.

The typical pay for a software engineer in Austin stands in stark contrast to the typical pay for all workers here. Estimates vary widely, but PayScale puts the average local salary at $74,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Dallas ranks third on the Blind list. In Big D, the average annual salary is $113,517, and the average annual compensation is $132,788.

Prominent tech employers in Dallas include FireEye, Match, Palo Alto Networks, and Texas Instruments, according to Blind.

The Dallas suburb of Plano comes in at No. 4. The average annual salary for a software engineer in Plano is $107,251, while the average annual compensation is $121,127.

“North Texas is experiencing strong job growth, and Plano has benefited from the boom,” Blind says.

High-profile tech employers in Plano include IBM, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Red Hat, and Splunk, according to Blind.

Rounding out the top five in Texas is San Antonio. There, the average annual salary for a software engineer is $94,626, and the average annual compensation is $105,254.

San Antonio tech employers highlighted by Blind include Fiserv, iHeartMedia, Oracle, Rackspace, and ServiceNow.

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business expansion

New study ranks Houston in top 10 for growing small businesses

Photo by Kevin Hernandez on Unsplash

Houston ranked No. 6 on the list.

For small businesses looking to expand, Houston might be the right place.

Among 56 major U.S. metros, Houston grabbed the No. 6 spot on a new list of the metros boasting the strongest environments for small-business expansion.

A 2025 report from the state comptroller’s office showed roughly 970,000 small businesses operate in the 13-county Gulf Coast region. The region includes the majority of the Houston metro area.

“Whether it’s a family-owned shop on Main Street or a fast-growing startup, small businesses power our state’s economic engine, create opportunity, and strengthen the character of every Texas community,” Kelly Hancock, who was interim state comptroller when the report was released, said in a press release.

Business lending platform Clarify Capital analyzed five factors to develop the list: job growth, business entry and exit, net job creation, and unemployment.

Overall, the Nashville area claimed the No. 1 spot on the list. Other major Texas metros also cracked the top 10, including Austin at No. 3 and Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 7.

“The highest-ranking metros combine labor-market momentum with steady business formation and relatively favorable local employment conditions,” Clarity Capital says.

The Houston metro ranked sixth for job growth, 11th for business entry rate, 38th for business exit rate, second for net job creation rate, and 50th for unemployment rate.

“For business owners, the ranking is a starting point rather than a guarantee,” Clarify Capital says. “Local demand, competition, operating costs, and access to capital still shape whether an expansion works.”

“Building enough cash-flow room for hiring, equipment, and unexpected expenses can help small and midsize business owners take advantage of a strong market without stretching the business too thin,” the company adds.

Of course, money fuels small-business expansion in the Houston area or anywhere else.

According to an analysis of SBA loan data by feasibility consulting firm MMCG, the Houston metro area saw 1,685 approvals for 7(a) loans and 101 approvals of 504 loans in the federal government’s 2025 budget year. The approval numbers for both loan categories increased from the previous year.

Altogether, the 7(a) and 505 loans exceeded $1 billion.

The data from the U.S. Small Business Administration suggests small-business expansion may be on the rise in the Houston area.

Further potential evidence of small-business expansion in the Houston area: The region experienced a 92 percent rise in account applications from 2024 to 2025 submitted to Bluevine, a small-business banking platform. The Houston metro ranked fifth for the number of Bluevine small-business applications in 2025.

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This story was originally published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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