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

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)