Jun 3, 2026
The home of the Texas Longhorn is branding itself as the nation’s financial leader. In late May, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an official proclamation at a Texas Bankers Association convention, declaring Texas the “Financial Capital of America.”
“America is choosing Texas,” Texas Banking Association CEO Chris Furlow chimed in. “The world is choosing Texas.”
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In an interview with Site Selection (a publication geared to CEOs, realtors and site selection consultants), Abbott said Texas had the “largest financial services workforce in the nation, even surpassing New York.”
So is it true — or just hype? Here’s a look at whether Y’All Street is taking over Wall Street.
Texas lures financial heavyweights
Certainly a lot of financial heavyweights have moved to the Dallas-Forth Worth region in the past few years, attracted by business- and tax-friendly regulations (notably, there are no state income taxes in Texas).
A ready supply of capital is also appealing. By GDP, Texas is one of the world’s top 10 economies, second only to California in the US and ahead of New York. It’s also a convenient hub for business with Latin America, given its geography.
According to The Guardian, there are now 386,000 financial-sector employees in Texas. JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) employs more people in Texas (31,000) than New York (24,000), including 12,000 workers at a corporate hub in Plano, Texas.
Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) relocated its headquarters from California to Dallas-Fort Worth in 2021. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is building a $500-million financial center in Dallas to house 5,000 employees — the firm’s largest site outside of its New York, where 7,800 work at corporate headquarters.
Texas plans to launch a Texas Stock Exchange, with $270 million in capital investment to date from Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and BlackRock (NYSE: BLK).
Meanwhile, the New York Stock Exchange has set up a satellite exchange — NYSE Texas — in Dallas.
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As The Guardian reports, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s team is actively reaching out to Wall Street execs who might be put off by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plans to increase property taxes. Citadel’s billionaire CEO Ken Griffin has already talked about relocating in the face of Mamdani’s new pied-a-terre tax,
But not all financiers are convinced that the financial map has to be redrawn just yet. Drew McKnight, co-CEO Fortress Investment Group, sees Texas as an up-and-comer but not a replacement at this point. After all, every big financial firm that’s set up in Texas still has a presence in New York, including JPMorgan, which opened up its $3-billion headquarters last fall.
“New York is still the financial capital of the US and one of the financial capitals of the world,” he told the New York Post last fall. “But Texas can compete.”
That’s just what the governor plans to do. But he faces some economic headwinds.
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Economic challenges in Texas
The Texas governor is promoting the financial sector as part of the state’s economic growth, including employment, but economic growth does not always translate into job growth.
According to the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank’s 2026 Texas Financial Outlook, the state grew in 2025 without adding jobs, something that “hasn’t happened since the jobless recovery of 2002-2003.” Employment in the state is expected to grow just 1.1% this year.
Most of the job growth in Texas is not in finance, but in commercial construction amid an AI data center boom. And while there are no income taxes in Texas, there are high property taxes — the very thing that’s putting off New York billionaires — and housing and insurance costs are rising. The Dallas Fed notes this may be why Texans are struggling with mortgage delinquencies, only behind New York and Atlanta. It may also reflect the growing number of wealthy executives who’ve moved to the area, driving up property values.
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Laura Boast is an Associate Editor with Moneywise.com and a lifelong content creator who has reached international audiences at Discovery, CBC, Blue Ant Media, Bond Brand Loyalty and more.
