North Texas is still the king of corporate flight.
Dallas-Fort Worth gained more corporate headquarters than any other metro in the United States between 2018 and 2024, further cementing the region’s dominance as a relocation hub for both public and private firms, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The total market cap of public companies based in the Metroplex doubled to $1.5 trillion.
The region added 100 new company headquarters during that period, beating out Austin (81), Nashville (35), Phoenix (31) and Houston (31), according to Visual Capitalist.
The surge comes amid a steep drop-off in coastal business hubs like San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Bay Area lost 156 headquarters over the same span, while Greater L.A. lost 106. New York City and Chicago lost 27 and 15, respectively.
The data, drawn from 561 relocation announcements with research from CBRE, reflects a long-term shift in corporate site selection trends. Companies have long cited Texas’ low taxes, regulatory flexibility and growing talent pool as key drivers.
Recent DFW arrivals include high-profile names:
- KFC U.S. is relocating its headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano.
- Somnigroup International, a newly formed mattress firm, will be based in Dallas after a $5 billion merger involving Houston-based Mattress Firm and Tempur Sealy.
- Other inbound HQs include German AI company Coginy, aviation startup Aerolane, and medical tech firm Koya Medical from Oakland, California.
Major corporate expansions include TIAA, which moved more than 700 employees into a 500,000 square feet Frisco building last year, and Bell Textron, which is investing over $600 million into a new Fort Worth plant for its V-280 Valor aircraft.
Local developers say the market is heating back up after the pace of relocations dipped in 2023 and early 2024.
“We have started to see more activity than we’ve seen in the last six to eight months, which is really exciting,” Eric Hage, president of Dallas-based KDC Real Estate Development, told the outlet.
— Judah Duke
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