Texas tops California, New York, with the most Fortune 500 headquarters

Texas is the only state to have two cities in the top five with the most headquarters: Houston and Dallas. 

New York City has the most, 43, followed by Houston’s 25, Chicago’s 14, Atlanta’s 13 and Dallas’ 11. No city in California made the top five list.

With Texas’ new stock exchange operating in Dallas, the number of headquarters relocations is expected to grow in Texas, and in Dallas specifically over the next year and beyond.

"Texas is the undisputed headquarters of headquarters,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. “The world’s leading businesses invest with confidence in Texas because of our welcoming business climate, predictable regulatory environment, and skilled and growing workforce. People and businesses are choosing Texas because Texas works.” 

The 2026 Fortune 500 list ranks the largest U.S. corporations based on 2025 fiscal year revenue. The revenue threshold for making the list was $7.5 billion, up 5% from the previous year, Fortune said.

The companies on the list represent two-thirds of the total U.S. GDP with $21 trillion in combined revenue. They have a combined $2.1 trillion in profit, a combined market value of $55 trillion and employ a combined 30.5 million people worldwide. 

The top 10 companies on the list are Amazon, Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, Apple, Alphabet, CVS Health, Berkshire Hathaway, McKesson, Exxon Mobil and Cencora. 

Of the top 10, two are headquartered in Texas. McKesson is headquartered in Irving, Exxon Mobile in Spring. Two other companies in the top 10 are headquartered in California. The others are headquartered in Arkansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. 

Texas surpassing California is the result of businesses leaving California over the last few decades citing increasing corporate taxes, crushing regulatory burdens and high cost of living for employees. 

Since 2005, 377 businesses have left California with 152 heading to Texas, according to the California Policy Institute. 

While California and New York consistently rank last in business climate, economic development and job creation rankings, Texas consistently ranks first. Abbott has joked he’d impose a 100% tariff on New Yorkers who continue to flee the Big Apple, after increasing taxes and costs are forcing an exodus there as well. 

“The eighth-largest economy in the world has the best business climate in the U.S. Texas has once again emerged as the state most likely to succeed when it comes to attracting capital investment from the private sector,” Site Selection magazine said last fall when the latest ranking came out. “That’s because from the governor’s office in Austin to economic development offices in communities large and small across the Lone Star State, those charged with marketing Texas know they have an easy sell – no corporate tax, sensible business regulations, business-dedicated courts, unbeatable logistics infrastructure and a huge labor force, among other factors. Their challenge is to keep it that way.”

Texas is also consecutively ranked the top state for business, job creation and capital investment for more than a decade by Area Development magazine. Texas received the top ranking again last year because of “an astonishing $10.6 billion in total capital investment across a dozen high-impact projects,” the magazine said. Amazon also won the “Non-Manufacturing Project of the Year,” for investing $200 million in a project in Cleburne, Texas, estimated to create 1,000 jobs. Amazon has been expanding operations in Texas over the past few years, The Center Square reported.

Since 2015, every year that Abbott’s been governor, Texas has ranked first as the best state for economic development, as well as the best state for business 20 years in a row, including a few years preceding Abbott, The Center Square reported. 

Nationwide, 95 financial companies were on the Fortune 500 list, leading all sectors, Fortune notes. Their combined revenue topped $4.1 trillion. 

Their revenue was surpassed by Nvidia, which became the first $4 trillion dollar Fortune 500 company, moving past Apple to claim the most valuable company title.

Eleven percent of Fortune 500 companies are led by women, 55, including “some of the most recognized names in the business,” Fortune said.

The print edition of the list hits newsstands June 16.