INCLUSIVE ECOSYSTEM
San Antonio ranks as the top Texas city for Black professionals
A study released by WalletHub in 2021 noted that the Lone Star State is among the most diverse in the U.S., and while San Antonio fell short in some diversity metrics, it ranked No. 66 among all U.S. cities. So maybe it won’t come as a surprise that Alamo City ranks among the country’s best cities for Black professionals — and the top city in Texas.
A new ranking compiled by Black employees at Apartment List puts San Antonio at No. 3 among the best cities for Black professionals. The Apartment List employees judged 82 cities in four categories:
- Business environment for Black professionals. San Antonio ranks 14th.
- Black community and representation. San Antonio ranks 14th.
- Economic opportunities for Black professionals. San Antonio ranks third.
- Housing opportunities for Black professionals. San Antonio ranks seventh.
Apartment List combined the scores in each of those categories to come up with an overall score for each city. San Antonio’s final score was 66.1, with 100 being the highest possible score. The company released the ranking in conjunction with Black History Month.
The top-ranking Texas city, San Antonio is praised in the study for its relatively high local Black employment rate (93.9 percent), its share of Black graduates (26.8 percent), and its wealth of Black-owned businesses.
“There’s no lack of Black-owned businesses to support in San Antonio,” Apartment List notes. “Start your day off by taking a boxing class at Black Stallion Boxing Plus. Then eat some lunch at Jamaica Jamaica Cuisine. Lastly, spend the remainder of the day shopping at Gold Diamonds.”
Elsewhere in Texas, Houston was the next highest-ranked city in the Lone Star State, coming in at No. 4 with a final score of 63.8. Dallas was ranked No. 5 with a final score of 60.6. Austin ranked No. 9 (in a tie with Baltimore), with a final score of 57.1.
Apartment List lauds Houston’s showing in three of the four categories, but dings the city for its relatively low score for housing opportunities. The website points out that 42 percent of black households in Houston spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
In 2016, Black Enterprise magazine dubbed Houston the country’s “Next Great Black Business Mecca.”
In a 2019 post on Medium, digital marketer and Los Angeles native Shameen Yakubu placed Houston at No. 2 on his list of the six cities he’d considered moving to as a Black professional. (San Antonio topped his list, and his LinkedIn profile indicates he now lives there.) Yakubu cited Houston’s large Black population, diversity, and affordability as some of the factors in the city’s favor.
“One of the things that [attracts] me to Houston is the number of [Black] professionals and entrepreneurs. Texas, in general, is a very pro-business state,” Yakubu wrote.
In descending order, here are the top 10 cities for Black professionals, according to Apartment List:
- Washington, D.C.
- Atlanta
- San Antonio
- Houston
- Dallas
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Lakeland, Florida
- Orlando, Florida
- Austin (tie)
- Baltimore (tie)
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This article originally ran on our sister site InnovationMap.