DALLAS – A Growing Financial Hub
Lenwood Brooks has spent many years working in Washington, where he was the chief of staff at an agency for credit unions. When he moved to Texas in 2023, he discovered that many of his colleagues were also making the same transition. He quickly found a position at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and later accepted a role at a rapidly expanding investment bank in the area. Embracing the local culture, he even bought a fancy cowboy hat.
“There’s a lot of opportunity here in finance, and it’s really on the rise,” said Brooks, who recently joined a firm called Performance Trust.
Brooks is just one example of a significant trend. For several years, many financial companies and their employees have been relocating to Texas, drawn by benefits like lower taxes, less strict regulations, and welcoming efforts from state leaders. This migration has been noticeable, particularly in Dallas.
Recently, Texas introduced its own stock exchange in the city, aiming to compete with New York’s financial scene. In the bustling Uptown district, Bank of America is constructing a new office tower, while Goldman Sachs plans to build a campus for over 5,000 employees, making it their largest U.S. office outside of New York. Last year, Wells Fargo opened a new campus near Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, and JPMorgan Chase is expanding rapidly, now employing more people in the state than anywhere else.
Locals have even dubbed the growing financial area “Y’all Street,” and some officials are considering a street name change to celebrate this new identity. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has labeled Texas the financial capital of the nation, and statistics support his claim. Since February 2020, finance jobs in Dallas have surged by 23.2%, significantly outpacing the 6% growth in New York City, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
As of June, the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors employed about 317,000 people in Dallas, accounting for 10.1% of all jobs, slightly higher than New York City’s 9.9%.
However, top executives from the biggest financial institutions still reside in New York. The Texas Stock Exchange, which celebrated its first month of trading in July, has yet to secure a permanent corporate listing. Texas leaders are confident that more businesses will follow soon.
“We’re just getting started,” said state Senate Majority Leader Tan Parker, predicting that financial leaders will soon move to Texas, just as tech and other corporate figures have done.
Parker has actively encouraged the growth of the finance sector in Texas. As chair of the Texas House Financial Services Committee about ten years ago, he identified finance as a key industry and pushed for policies to attract firms, such as eliminating taxes on securities transactions and updating laws to protect executives from litigation.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has also been vocal about the benefits of moving to Texas. After the recent New York mayoral primary, he invited New Yorkers to consider relocating, emphasizing Dallas’s support for businesses, law enforcement, and free market principles.
The influx to Texas goes beyond just banking. Austin has emerged as a hot spot for tech leaders seeking to escape California, with notable figures like Elon Musk and Joe Lonsdale making the move. Local entrepreneur Alex Zekoff, who founded a healthcare AI startup there, noted that many talented founders are now looking to Texas for its lower costs and a more open political climate.
Greg Ferrari, a former Nasdaq executive, moved to Dallas this spring to help launch the Texas Stock Exchange, drawn by the opportunity to work on something new and be closer to family.
While some may think Texas’s lack of a state income tax is the main attraction, Aasem Khalil, head of Goldman Sachs’s Dallas office, argues it’s more about lifestyle. He moved from New York and quickly fell in love with the community and business philosophy in Texas, which emphasizes collaboration.
Goldman has operated in Dallas since the late 1960s, and its office has expanded significantly. JPMorgan Chase is another prime example: it has grown from around 4,000 employees in the Dallas area in 2003 to nearly 18,500 today.
The Texas Stock Exchange has already secured significant investment, including funds from financial giants like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs. It plans to raise even more capital and hopes to see its first corporate listings this fall, with an official home expected to open in 2027.
As Texas develops as a financial center, the city’s real estate market is also seeing a boost. Finance professionals are choosing upscale areas to settle, while younger workers tend to rent near their jobs.
Many newcomers are surprised to find Dallas more sophisticated than its cowboy image. However, some still carry romanticized visions of Texas, hoping for sprawling ranch-style living.
For Brooks, the cowboy hat he purchased hasn’t seen as much action as he expected. He’s worn it only a couple of times, and while he considers it an investment, he jokes that it’s not a very good one, as it takes up significant space when not in use.
In essence, Texas is rapidly transforming into a hub for financial services, blending opportunity with cultural charm.
