Texas — 2nd Largest H1B Market

H1B Sponsors in Texas: Top Companies 2026

Texas is the second largest H1B state in the US, accounting for roughly 12% of all petitions. From Austin's tech surge to Houston's energy sector and Dallas's financial services hub, Texas offers H1B opportunities across a uniquely diverse set of industries — with no state income tax as a bonus.

~12%
Share of US H1B Petitions
Austin
Top City
None
State Income Tax
50+
Cap-Exempt Schools

Texas H1B Market Overview

Texas has transformed from an oil-and-gas economy into a diversified technology, financial services, and energy powerhouse. The state attracted major corporate headquarters relocations from California and New York in the early 2020s — Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Charles Schwab, and others moved their HQs to Texas — bringing significant white-collar employment and H1B demand with them.

The Austin-Round Rock metro saw tech employment grow over 25% between 2019 and 2025, with Amazon's East Austin campus, Apple's $1B campus in North Austin, and Meta and Google both maintaining major offices. Dallas-Fort Worth continues to grow as a financial services and corporate consulting hub, while Houston remains the undisputed center for energy-sector engineering roles.

Texas's lack of a state income tax makes H1B salaries effectively higher in real terms than comparable roles in California, New York, or New Jersey. A $150,000 salary in Austin has meaningfully more purchasing power than the same salary in San Francisco, especially given lower housing costs. This dynamic has made Texas increasingly attractive for both employers recruiting talent and workers choosing where to build their US careers.

Top 20 H1B Sponsors in Texas

Ranked by approximate annual H1B petition volume in Texas.

#CompanyPrimary TX CitySectorEst. H1B/Yr (TX)Avg Salary
1Amazon

Growing Austin campus; SDE, ML, DevOps roles

Austin / MultipleTech / E-commerce6,200+$168,000
2Dell Technologies

Headquarters in Round Rock; storage, cloud, sales

Round Rock / AustinTech Hardware/Software1,800+$132,000
3AT&T

HQ in downtown Dallas; network, software, analytics

DallasTelecom1,500+$124,000
4Texas Instruments

Global semiconductor leader; analog/embedded engineering

Dallas / HoustonSemiconductors900+$138,000
5ExxonMobil

HQ relocated from NY to TX; petroleum, chemical engineers

Spring / HoustonEnergy700+$142,000
6Deloitte

One of the largest H1B sponsors nationally; tech consulting

Dallas / Houston / AustinConsulting2,100+$118,000
7Cognizant

Major IT services staffing sponsor in TX

Dallas / HoustonIT Services3,400+$96,000
8Infosys

Has dedicated US training centers; large TX presence

Dallas / Houston / AustinIT Services2,800+$95,000
9Wipro

Strong retail and financial tech practice in DFW

Dallas / AustinIT Services1,600+$92,000
10HCL America

HCL's US HQ is in Coppell, TX

Coppell / DallasIT Services1,200+$94,000
11JPMorgan Chase

Large operations hub in Plano and downtown Dallas

Dallas / HoustonFinancial Services800+$158,000
12American Airlines

HQ near DFW Airport; IT, data science, revenue mgmt

Fort WorthAviation400+$112,000
13Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Relocated HQ from CA to Spring, TX in 2022

Spring (Houston)Tech / Servers600+$136,000
14NTT DATA

Japanese IT firm with major US presence; DFW hub

DallasIT Services900+$97,000
15SLB (Schlumberger)

Renamed SLB; oilfield tech, software, data science

HoustonEnergy Tech600+$128,000
16Halliburton

Petroleum engineers, IT, geoscientists

HoustonEnergy Services400+$122,000
17USAA

Military-affiliated insurer; strong IT and data division

San AntonioFinancial Services / Insurance350+$130,000
18Visa Inc.

Austin innovation center; high-wage SWE and data roles

Austin / DallasFintech500+$172,000
19Oracle

Relocated HQ to Austin in 2020; major cloud hiring

AustinCloud / Database Software1,100+$148,000
20Accenture

Global consulting, very active H1B sponsor in TX

Dallas / Houston / AustinConsulting / IT2,600+$107,000

Source: USCIS H1B Employer Data Hub. Figures are estimates based on public LCA and petition data. See USCIS H1B Employer Data Hub for exact figures.

Texas H1B by City

Austin

Texas's tech hub and fastest-growing major city. Home to Amazon, Oracle, Dell, Apple, Google, Meta, and hundreds of startups. Strong SDE, data science, and product management demand.

TechSemiconductorsFintech
Median Tech Salary: $165,000

Dallas-Fort Worth

Texas's largest metro and a major financial services, consulting, and telecom hub. AT&T, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Toyota, and American Airlines are major H1B employers.

FinanceConsultingTelecomIT Services
Median Tech Salary: $132,000

Houston

The energy capital of the US. ExxonMobil, Halliburton, SLB, Shell, and dozens of energy firms sponsor H1B workers. Growing healthcare corridor with Texas Medical Center.

EnergyHealthcareIT ServicesEngineering
Median Tech Salary: $128,000

San Antonio

Military and cybersecurity hub with growing healthcare sector. USAA, CPS Energy, and several federal contractors are major H1B sponsors.

CybersecurityHealthcareFinanceDefense
Median Tech Salary: $112,000

Texas vs National Average Prevailing Wages

Texas salaries for tech roles are typically 2–6% below national averages but effectively higher in purchasing power due to no state income tax and lower housing costs.

RoleTexas AverageNational AverageDifference
Software Engineer (SWE)$148,000$152,000-3%
Data Scientist$138,000$141,000-2%
DevOps Engineer$132,000$138,000-4%
Product Manager$152,000$162,000-6%
Petroleum Engineer$142,000$128,000+11%
Electrical Engineer$118,000$112,000+5%
Financial Analyst$102,000$108,000-6%
Network Engineer$112,000$116,000-3%

Source: DOL Foreign Labor Certification — Prevailing Wage Data (dol.gov)

Cap-Exempt H1B Options in Texas

For candidates not selected in the H1B lottery, Texas has several major cap-exempt employers. These institutions can file H1B petitions at any time, with no lottery and no numerical cap.

InstitutionTypeEst. H1B/Year
University of Texas at AustinPublic Research University400+/yr
Texas A&M UniversityPublic Research University350+/yr
Rice UniversityPrivate Research University120+/yr
UT Southwestern Medical CenterAcademic Medical Center200+/yr
MD Anderson Cancer CenterNonprofit Research Hospital300+/yr
Texas Children's HospitalNonprofit Hospital150+/yr

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Balaji Ingole

SMIEEE · FBCS · FIETE | 16+ years data engineering | 30+ peer-reviewed papers

Balaji built H1BVisaJobs.com on 10 GB+ of DOL LCA disclosure data (FY2022–FY2025). All immigration data and analysis on this site comes from primary government sources. Read full bio →