over the moon

NASA soars to the top of prestigious list of Forbes' best employers in Texas

It's a blast to work at Johnson Space Center.

Johnson Space Center/Facebook

Houston continues to prove it hosts the best of the best employers in Texas as NASA tops Forbes' 2023 list of "America’s Best Employers By State".

The highly anticipated list, published August 22, is a collaboration between Forbes and Statista to survey the satisfaction levels of tens of thousands of workers employed by national companies.

Though the government agency is based in Washington, D.C., NASA's stratospheric presence in Houston (coupled with a great work environment and advancement opportunities) is what propels it to the top year after year. There are currently more than 17,000 workers employed by NASA, according to Forbes.

Earlier this year, NASA was honored as the Best Place to Work in the Federal Government by the Partnership for Public Service for its unyielding dedication to space exploration and discovery.

"The passion and precision of our workforce makes NASA the best place to work in the federal government," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. "Together, we are poised to accomplish more daring feats with new advancements, more scientific contributions on Earth and in the heavens, and more incredible technological breakthroughs that will help shape the 21st century."

While Forbes explains that the national list isn't the same as their best large employers list, it's meant to serve as an in-depth analysis of companies that are "closer-to-home options for every American worker."

NASA's high rank follows shortly after the agency launched a brand new Digital Engineering Design Center fully dedicated to innovating the future of spaceflight. The new center will aid in expanding opportunities for the younger generation to embrace aerospace engineering as a career.

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:

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)

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

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

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)

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)

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innovation begins here

Texas booms as 3rd best state for starting a business in 2026

Texas is chugging along as an innovative state.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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High employment growth and advantageous entrepreneurship rates have led Texas into a triumphant No. 3 spot in WalletHub's just-released ranking of "Best and Worst States to Start a Business" for 2026.

Texas bounced back into the No. 3 spot nationally for the first time since 2023. After dropping into 8th place in 2024, the state hustled into No. 4 last year.

Ever year, WalletHub compares all 50 states based on their business environment, costs, and access to financial resources to determine the best places for starting a business. The study analyzes 25 relevant metrics to determine the rankings, such as labor costs, office space affordability, financial accessibility, the number of startups per capita, and more.

When about half of all new businesses don't last more than five years, finding the right environment for a startup is vital for long-term success, the report says.

Here's how Texas ranked across the three main categories in the study:

No. 1 – Business environment
No. 11 – Access to resources
No. 34 – Business costs

The state boasts the 10th highest entrepreneurship rates nationwide, and it has the 11th-highest share of fast-growing firms. WalletHub also noted that more than half (53 percent) of all Texas businesses are located in "strong clusters," which suggests they are more likely to be successful long-term.

"Clusters are interconnected businesses that specialize in the same field, and 'strong clusters' are ones that are in the top 25 percent of all regions for their particular specialization," the report said. "If businesses fit into one of these clusters, they will have an easier time getting the materials they need, and can tap into an existing customer base. To some degree, it might mean more competition, though."

Texas business owners should also keep their eye on Houston, which was recently ranked the 7th best U.S. city for starting a new business, and it was dubbed one of the top-10 tech hubs in North America. Workers in Texas are the "third-most engaged" in the country, the study added, a promising attribute for employers searching for the right place to begin their next business venture.

"Business owners in Texas benefit from favorable conditions, as the state has the third-highest growth in working-age population and the third-highest employment growth in the country, too," the report said.

The top 10 best states for starting a business in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Florida
No. 2 – Utah
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – Oklahoma
No. 5 – Idaho
No. 6 – Mississippi
No. 7 – Georgia
No. 8 – Indiana
No. 9 – Nevada
No. 10 – California

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