Where to Work

16 Austin companies declared best places to work by U.S. News

The number of Austin-area companies that made the cut for 2026-2027 is higher than it's been in the last two years.

Photo by Wei Liang on Unsplash

A new U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best employers has named 95 Texas companies among the best companies to work in the South, and 16 of them are based right here in Austin.

U.S. News' prestigious "2026-2027 Best Companies to Work For" ratings examine 3,900 public and privately owned companies across 14 industries to help employees and job seekers make decisions about workplaces that may be a good fit.

Each company is rated on a scale of 1-5 across six metrics: quality of pay and benefits; work-life balance and flexibility; job and company stability; physical and psychological comfort; belongingness and esteem; and career opportunities and professional development.

"Job seekers' definitions of 'best' evolve with their needs," said Carly Chase, vice president of Careers at U.S. News. "From new grads in the AI era and seasoned pros seeking a career change, to HR leaders researching organizational trends, the ratings are a central hub that highlights businesses that U.S. News found effectively support their staff."

The number of employers headquartered in the Austin metro that made the cut for 2026-2027 has more than doubled over previous years. A total 16 local public and private companies made the list this year, up from six companies in 2024 and four companies in 2025.

A few familiar names Austinites will recognize include outdoor recreation company Yeti, fashion accessories brand Kendra Scott, info-tech and social networking app Bumble, real estate company Keller Williams Realty, and cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Here are the remaining best Austin-based companies to work for:

Silicon Labs
BigCommerce
Cirrus Logic
Natera
Epicor
Association Member Benefits Advisors
CLEAResult
Dimensional
CDK Global

For the second consecutive year, U.S. News has listed data center services company Digital Realty among Dallas' top employers, but the company's website (and it's own U.S. News profile) state its corporate headquarters is based in Austin. CultureMap previously reported that Digital Realty relocated from San Francisco to Austin in 2021.

In between Austin and San Antonio, San Marcos-based McCoy's Building Supply was also named one of the best places to work for in Texas.

Elsewhere across the state, Dallas-Fort Worth had the highest concentration of top employers with 48 total companies on the list, followed by Houston (24), Austin, and San Antonio (6).

James Avery Artisan Jewelry in Kerrville was the only Texas-based company not part of a major metro that was included in the 2026-2027 U.S. News' rankings.

innovation us news & world report rankings employers

Cashing In

Texas lands among top-10 best U.S. state economies in 2026 report

Photo by Andy Bodemer on Unsplash

Texas maintains its ranking as the 8th best state economy.

A new study gauging the success or decline in economic performance in every state has revealed Texas' economy remains stable in 2026 after it dropped out of the top five to No. 8 last year.

WalletHub declared Texas boasts the No. 8 best state economy in the U.S. this year, according to its annual "Best & Worst State Economies" report. The personal finance website's analysts ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 relevant metrics to measure each state's economic activity and health status, and its "innovation potential."

Notably, Texas leads the nation for the most exports per capita in the U.S. in a five-way tie with Louisiana, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Indiana. Across the study's three main categories, Texas ranked highly for its economic activity (No. 7) and economic health (No. 11), and the state's "innovation potential" rank is the 24th best in the nation.

This is how WalletHub ranked Texas' economic performance, where No. 1 is considered the best and No. 25 is considered average:

No. 6 – Change in non-farm payrolls
No. 8 – Change in GDP
No. 8 – Startup activity
No. 11 – Annual median household income
No. 18 – Government surplus/deficit per capita
No. 21 – Percentage of jobs in high-tech industries
No. 30 – Unemployment rate

WalletHub previously ranked Texas one of the top three states to start a business in 2026, with Austin earning its own entrepreneurial acclaim in separate rankings of the best big cities for new businesses and for starting a career.

"U.S. economic growth depends heavily on the performance of individual states, and some contribute more than others," the report's author wrote. "For example, California, Texas, New York and Florida have economies so large that if they were countries, they would rank in the top 20 in the world."

The five states with the worst state economies in 2026 are Rhode Island (No. 47), Maine (No. 48), Louisana (No. 49), Kentucky (No. 50), and West Virginia (No. 51).

The top 10 best state economies for 2026 are:

No. 1 – Massachusetts
No. 2 – Washington
No. 3 – Utah
No. 4 – California
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – North Carolina
No. 7 – New York
No. 8 – Texas
No. 9 – Colorado
No. 10 – Florida

wallethub texas innovation economy