Facts About Texas Business

Discover a new world in Texas…

New opportunities. New business. New resources. Companies big and small are flocking to the Lone Star state, one of the fastest growing states in the nation.

Why?
Texas has become a hub for technical engineers and computer wizards.

  • No state or corporate income tax
  • An abundance of natural resources
  • A center of transportation, including the second-busiest US airport and the largest road network in the nation.
  • Home to many Fortune 500 companies
  • The heart of the oil and gas industry
     

Texas Facts At A Glance
Formidable Resources for Business Growth

  • Population - over 20 million residents
  • Popularity - second in the nation with three of the largest U.S. cities, including Dallas
  • Labor Force - over 10.4 million people, and growing by 200,000 each year
  • Personal Income - in excess of $493 billion, with a faster growth than the U.S. average
  • Gross State Product - third in the U.S. with over $649 billion
  • Average Hourly Manufacturing Wage - $12.15, almost 10 percent lower than U.S. average
  • Unemployment Rate - 4.2 percent

Research and Development - over 400 public research centers and site of the nation's most famous research institutes

Pro-business Environment Creates Opportunities

  • Right-to-work state with low unionization
  • No personal income tax
  • Business Taxes - third lowest in the nation as a percentage of total state tax revenues
  • Economic Development - annual sales tax revenues for business are over $231 million
  • Worker Training Programs - Smart Jobs Fund Program
  • Energy Costs - fourth in the nation for the lowest energy costs
  • Export Business - exporting more than $86.9 billion, Texas ranks second in the nation
  • Diversified Economy - defense, electronics, aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, telecommunications, oil and gas, commerce, communications, distribution, agriculture, farming, ranching and service industries

Incentives Encourage Site Location and Expansion

  • State Financial Incentives - Texas Capital Access Fund; Texas Capital Fund Infrastructure Development Program; Texas Capital Fund Main Street Improvements Program; Texas Capital Fund Real Estate Development Program; Texas Enterprise Zone Program; Texas Leverage Fund; Industrial Revenue Bond Program; Texas Linked Deposit Program
  • Local Incentives - Tax Increment-Financing Districts; Tax Reimbursement Plans; Jobs and Investment Tax Credits; Research and Development Tax Credits; and Sales Tax Exemptions are a few of the incentive programs offered by many municipalities
  • Enterprise Zones - 174

Foreign Trade Zones - 28

Quality of Life Assures Long-Term Value

  • Cost of Living - affordable cost of living with the median sales price of a single-family home in major metropolitan areas competitive with, or below, the national average
  • Education - first-rate education system with more than 140 public and private institutions
  • Recreation - 125 state parks, two national parks, a national seashore, 18 national wildlife refuges, four national forests, over 200 major lakes and reservoirs, and over 700 golf facilities
  • Cultural Amenities - more than 700 museums, 5,000 arts organizations, numerous history and science exhibitions and annual cultural events around the state
  • Professional Sports - two Major League Baseball teams, three National Basketball Association teams, two National Football League teams and one National Hockey League team
  • Tourism - second most popular travel destination in the nation
     

Expanding Markets

  • Texas has 21.8 million residents (2002 est.), an increase of 4.8 million since 1990.
  • Texas became the second most populous state in 1994.
  • Three of the 10 largest U.S. cities are in Texas: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.
  • Texas has a civilian labor force of 10.5 million people, which is growing by almost 100,000 annually.
  • The number of persons employed in Texas manufacturing industries surpassed 1 million in 1994. Texas has added more new manufacturing jobs since 1990 than any other state.
  • Texas personal income totaled $607.5 billion in 2001 and has grown faster than the U.S. average in recent years.
  • The gross state product of Texas was an estimated $807.4 billion (current $) in 2002, third among the 50 U.S. states.
  • Texas' geographic position provides convenient access to expanding markets in Mexico and Latin America.
  • Two-thirds of all trade between the United States and Mexico passes through Texas, which shares a 1,248-mile border with Mexico.
  • Texas surpassed California during the first three quarters of 2002 to become the leading exporting state in the nation.
     

Pro-Business Environment

  • Texas is a right-to-work state, with low unionization of the manufacturing work force.
  • Texas has instituted major reforms in workers' compensation, which have lowered employers' costs substantially over the past several years.
  • Texas has no personal income tax.
  • Among the fifteen most populous states, Texas ranks as one of the lowest in business taxes as a percentage of total state tax revenue.
  • The average manufacturing wage in Texas was $12.57 an hour in 2001 which is 15 percent below the U.S. average of $14.83.
  • Texas value added per production worker hour in manufacturing is 17 percent higher than the U.S. average.
  • Total energy costs in Texas rank among the lowest in the nation.
  • Leasing costs for Class A office space in Dallas and Houston are priced far below those in Chicago and Boston on a square foot basis, and are half the cost of office space in New York City (2001).
  • Texas is home to the third highest number of companies on both the Fortune 500 and Forbes 500 listings for 2002.
  • More than 90 percent of the state is in the Central Time Zone, making nationwide and international business easier to conduct.
     

World-Class Infrastructure

  • Texas has the largest road network of the 50 U.S. states.
  • Texas' international airports are among the busiest in the world: Dallas/Fort Worth ranks third in total passenger traffic; George Bush Intercontinental in Houston is one of the fastest growing.
  • Non-stop flights to Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and the Far East offer Texas businesses ready access to foreign markets.
  • Texas has 27 commercial airports in 24 cities. More than 90 percent of the state's population lives within 50 miles of an airport.
  • Fort Worth's Alliance Airport is the first industrial facility of its kind to be planned, designed, and built specifically to serve the needs of businesses.
  • Of the state's 29 coastal and inland water ports, the Port of Houston is the largest in size and handles more foreign cargo than any other port in the United States.
  • Forty railroads operate on almost 12,000 miles of mainline track in Texas. More than 300 million tons of freight are shipped by rail throughout the state each year.
  • Texas has 29 general-purpose foreign trade zones.
     

A Leader in High Tech, Research, and Emerging Industries

  • Houston's Johnson Space Center is one of the country's largest space-related research facilities.
  • Richardson's Telecom Corridor has the nation's highest concentration of telecommunications firms - more than 350 within a two-square-mile area.
  • Austin is home to Sematech, which is one of the nation's premier research consortiums.
  • Texas is the nation's second largest producer of electronic components.
  • The Texas State Technical College in Waco is home to one of the nation's largest state-run aerospace training facilities.
  • The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in College Station is a world leader in the application of biotechnology to agriculture.
  • The Texas Medical Center in Houston is the world's largest medical complex. More than 125,000 pass through it daily and it employs more than 51,000.
  • The Texas higher education system is one of the strongest in the nation with 146 public and private institutions. In Fiscal Year 2001, Texas public universities awarded over 21,000 advanced degrees.
  • The renowned Houston Advanced Research Center in Houston focuses on scientific research and applied technology development. Some 150 companies benefit annually from its research.
  • The Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is the country's third largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development institute.
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