Texas is the undisputed champion of economic development in America, claiming Site Selection Magazine’s prestigious Governor’s Cup for an extraordinary 13th consecutive year, recognizing Texas as the nation’s epicenter for private-sector investment in 2024.
With an impressive 1,368 corporate investment projects—more than doubling second-place Illinois and surpassing last year’s total by 114—Texas continues its commanding economic leadership. At the heart of this success: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, which generated 489 of these projects.
“Texas continues to lead the nation in economic development, and the Dallas-Fort Worth region remains at the forefront of our state’s remarkable achievement,” said Dallas Regional Chamber President and CEO Dale Petroskey. “As the top-performing metro in Texas, the DFW region’s contribution to the state’s success reflects the strength and vitality of our business ecosystem.”
DFW added 37 projects over its 2023 count, contributing to Texas’ 9% year-over-year rise in corporate investment projects. The region’s claim to 36% of Texas’ total projects—the lion’s share—underscores DFW’s pivotal leadership role in driving the state’s economic engine.
“This recognition is a testament to our community of economic development professionals who work collaboratively across city and county lines for the good of our region,” Petroskey added. “Their dedication to attracting and retaining corporate investment not only creates jobs and opportunities for Texans and their families but also reinforces Dallas-Fort Worth’s position as the top economic engine for continued prosperity in our great state.”
This objective, data-based ranking comes on the heels of site selection consultants naming Dallas the top city for headquarters in a Site Selection Magazine survey.
To qualify for the count of projects for the Governor’s Cup, a corporate project must do at least one of three things: invest at least $1 million, create a minimum of 20 jobs, or add 20,000 new square feet of space.
Each year, the DRC tracks newsworthy corporate location announcements, which yields a smaller but still high-impact number. In 2024, DFW recorded 97 corporate announcements in the region, up from 67 in 2023 and passing the previous one-year high of 94 in 2021. Fifteen regional cities had multiple announcements, and 31 cities had at least one. The announcements spanned 32 different industries.
“Achieving this robust, region-wide prosperity and industry diversity is invaluable to our present and future economic prosperity,” said DRC Senior Vice President of Economic Development Mike Rosa. “We are in a great position with many opportunities for 2025. The relationships and work we enjoyed with our community economic development allies and state partners in 2024 positioned DFW—and Texas—at the top.”
Of the announcements tracked by the DRC in 2024, 24 were made by international companies, representing 12 countries. Canada, Mexico, and Germany were leading source countries. Last year, the DRC joined Gov. Greg Abbott on two international missions covering India, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
The DRC was invited to the Governor’s Mansion in Austin on Thursday, March 6, to join Gov. Abbott’s celebration of the Governor’s Cup victory. Vice President of Economic Development Kevin Shatley represented the DRC.
At the event, Gov. Abbott shared that Texas’ attitude toward corporate growth is the key to our success.
“We genuinely partner with the businesses that come here and grow here because of a simple mathematical formula and that is when those businesses succeed, Texas succeeds,” said Gov. Abbott. “We added more new jobs last year than any other state, and we have exceeded that for three years in a row. Texas also added more than 314 corporate headquarters since 2015, making our state the headquarters of headquarters. Texas truly is the land of economic freedom.”
To learn about the DRC’s economic development work, visit our website. To learn more about DFW’s economic status, explore our Economy in Brief and DFW Region Facts.