Texas is Top State for Business

• Texas claims the top spot in CNBC’s 2018 America’s Top States for Business rankings.
• Texas has added more than 350,000 jobs in the past year.
• Texas is home to some of America’s most important companies including AT&T, ExxonMobil, American Airlines and Dell.

Riding the rising tide of energy prices—and the job growth that goes with it—Texas claims the top spot in CNBC’s 2018 America’s Top States for Business rankings.

“The Texas economy remains in a broad-based expansion,” per Dallas Federal Reserve economists Christopher Slijk and Jason Saving.

Texas has added more than 350,000 jobs in the past year, with the largest increase in the energy sector. 1 in 7 jobs created in the United States in the past year was created in Texas.

Texas is home to 39 companies in the S&P 500 index, including AT&T, ExxonMobil and Texas Instruments. It also is headquarters for some of the largest privately-held companies, including H-E-B, Neiman Marcus Group and Hunt Oil.

Texas scored top 10 finishes not just in Economy but in five of 10 categories of competitiveness, including Workforce (No. 7), Infrastructure (No. 1), Technology and Innovation (No. 9) and Access to Capital (No. 3).

Since CNBC introduced its rankings in 2007, Texas has never finished outside the top five overall.