Research shows Texans want to feel heard, participate more amid rapid business growth

Texas has grown rapidly in recent years, and data indicates that development is not slowing down. The Lone Star State gained about 168,000 jobs from September 2024 to September 2025, leading the nation in job growth, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The overview

Texas is attractive to businesses looking to relocate or expand their operations due to its tax incentives and grants, lack of a personal income tax and roughly 200 higher education institutions, business leaders said during a Dec. 10 summit held in College Station by industry network YTexas.

Amid “global volatility” due to inflation and tariffs, “Texas could, in many ways, be a safe haven for those not necessarily looking to escape the global volatility, but rather be on firmer ground... [with] the ability to land and expand and have this runway of opportunity to move in and continue to grow,” said Dean Browell, the chief behavioral officer for Feedback, a digital ethnographic research firm.

Feedback studies what people are saying online “unprompted” by analyzing comments and discussions on social media sites and forums. The firm conducted a study looking at the attitudes of business leaders, entrepreneurs and residents surrounding Texas’ economic growth, which Browell presented at the Dec. 10 summit.

As businesses of all sizes continue to move to Texas, local governments and associations also need to “support the ones that are already here,” Browell said.

Zooming in

Feedback’s October study found that long-term Texas residents want to live in growing communities with strong education systems and plentiful job opportunities. That growth, however, can lead to rising property taxes and living expenses before residents begin feeling the benefits, Browell told Community Impact in a Dec. 11 interview.

He said some Texas residents, including those in fast-growth areas such as the Greater Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas, are “paying for that growth on the front end, while at the same time enduring infrastructural woes because much of the promised infrastructure to support that growth hasn't necessarily come to fruition as fast.”

To thrive in Texas, businesses need access to a skilled workforce, reliable infrastructure, affordable real estate and accessible health care, Browell told summit attendees Dec. 10. Businesses also look for state and local support such as tax incentives, federal opportunity zones and the chance to collaborate with others through business associations or local initiatives.

Texas has about 3.5 million small businesses which employ 5.1 million people, according to a December report from the state comptroller’s office. Small and midsize businesses are hardest-hit by issues like tariffs and employee turnover, Browell said, noting that some of these companies are “having trouble meeting new demand because of new uncertainty.”

He said this is where community officials, chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations come in by providing resources and connecting people.

“That way, the feeling isn't that everyone's just looking upward, staring at the large business, [but] figuring out how we can provide the foundation for those businesses who already exist there,” Browell told Community Impact. “The people who staff those existing small and midsize businesses, that's the regular citizenry that's later down the line... watching whether or not you extend those roads and the traffic gets worse. They're the current employees in those regions.”

One more thing

Feedback will provide more details about its findings on Texas businesses and growth during a webinar in early 2026, Browell said. Texans interested in learning more can sign up here.

“Any economic development summit risks only talking about the tip of the spear and the... most positive things,” Browell said. “Getting out too far ahead of ourselves without listening is a real danger. [The study] really, to me, showcases that... people are waving flags—it's up to us to notice them.”