Introduction
Texas is home to many successful businesses ranging from oil and gas companies to technology startups. Some of the most successful businesses in Texas include ExxonMobil, Dell Technologies, AT&T, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and the grocery chain H-E-B.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to some of the most successful retail and hospitality businesses in Texas. The retail industry has been booming in Dallas-Fort Worth, with malls such as the Galleria Dallas and NorthPark Center attracting millions of shoppers every year.
Profitable Small Businesses and Ideas
Here are the 20 most profitable small businesses in Texas that can inspire you:
- Create an immersive concept store.
- Open a witchcraft store.
- Develop a restaurant specializing in food and its variations.
- Open an original business: the rental of plants.
Explore the top profitable and thriving businesses to start in Texas, along with expert advice, resources, and success strategies to help you succeed in your entrepreneurial journey.
Here you’ll find our reporting on the future of the Texas startup economy, how some businesses could be born in only Texas, and the backstory of Inc.’s No. 1 Texas company–perhaps not surprisingly, an energy business that’s a tech business as well.
Top Fortune 500 Companies in Texas
The Fortune 500 list is a golden standard in the field of business. Here are the top 25 Fortune 500 companies on Fortune’s 2021 list that are headquartered in the great state of Texas:
- Halliburton
- ANB
For this report, we looked at the companies headquartered in Texas with at least 100 employees. That left us with 3,000 companies. We then ranked each company from most to least current employees to determine the biggest companies in Texas.
Notable companies:
- Dell
- Tesla
- SpaceX
From a civilian workforce of more than 15 million, to unrivaled investment in accessible infrastructure, to one of the nation’s largest deal-closing funds — Texas is proud to offer the most advantageous business climate for expanding and relocating companies.
The largest business in Texas is AT&T, the largest telecommunications provider in the world, serving both businesses and consumers with a wide range of services and solutions. Dell Technologies manufactures computers, laptops, tablets, and other consumer electronics for the company’s namesake brand. Servers, data storage, and network architecture are all part of what Dell EMC Infrastructure Solutions Group offers to companies. Sysco Corporation is a wholesale food distributor that serves establishments like restaurants, hospitals, schools, and hotels.
One of the biggest reasons companies want to do business in Texas is its favorable tax climate. Compared to most states, business taxes are extremely low in Texas, and personal income tax is nonexistent. Businesses with $10 million or less in annual revenue pay 0.575%. They can file it using an E-Z Computation form.
Today, Dell has more than 102,000 employees worldwide and is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. Dell EMC Infrastructure Solutions Group accounts for 41% of Dell’s annual revenue and is the largest manufacturer of servers in the world.
Agriculture plays a significant role in the state’s economy. Texas has the largest number of cattle in the whole country, more than 16 million heads of cattle. The state is the country’s leader in producing goat and sheep products, cotton production, grapefruits, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Agriculture is the second largest industry in Texas, with revenues valued at $22.7 billion in 2011 and earnings from export valued at over $7.6 billion in the same year.