BHM 2024

San Antonio is the 3rd best U.S. city for Black professionals, report finds

Black professionals can become highly successful in San Antonio.

Photo courtesy of apartmentlist.com/

In February, a new report compiled by Black employees at online rental marketplace Apartment List ranked San Antonio the No. 3 best U.S. city for Black professionals.

Apartment List reviewed 76 cities across four major categories to determine the rankings: community and representation; economic opportunity; housing opportunity; and business environment.

San Antonio earned a score of 65.44 out of a total 100 points, making it the top-ranked city in Texas for Black professionals.

The city earned top-10 rankings in three out of the four main categories:

No. 2 – Economic opportunity
No. 7 – Housing opportunity
No. 10 – Community and representation
No. 20 – Business environment

As the highest-ranked city in the Lone Star State, the study commends San Antonio for its high Black employment rate (94 percent) and its median income for Black employees ($38,151). While the income for Black employees is still 4 percent lower than the rest of the San Antonio population, the study says the city's numbers are "much closer" than the other cities in the top three: Washington, D.C. (No. 1) and Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2).

Similarly to Apartment List's 2022 report – which also placed San Antonio at No. 3 – special recognition was given to local Black-owned businesses, including Black Stallion Boxing Plus, Jamaica Jamaica Cuisine, and Gold Diamonds.

When it comes to education, the report found San Antonio's share of Black graduates is 31 percent. St. Philip's College is the only HBCU in the city, despite Texas having the second-highest number of HBCUs in the nation.

San Antonio also has room for improvement when it comes to its Black homeownership rates, according to the study.

"While the Black homeownership rate is higher than average at 44 percent, the homeownership gap (Black homeownership rate to non-Black homeownership rate) quite low at -19 percent," the report's author wrote. "Perhaps this could be explained by San Antonio’s overall homeownership rate, which is also lower than the state’s average. Additionally, the lower homeownership gap could explain the cost burden rate also being lower than average at 41 percent."

Here's how San Antonio stacked up in other metrics:

Black population share: 9 percent
Black teachers: 8 percent
Black doctors: 8 percent
Black lawyers: 10 percent
Black managers: 7 percent

Elsewhere in Texas
Texas cities dominated the overall top 10. Houston ranked right behind San Antonio, earning No. 4, with Dallas (No. 6) and Austin (No. 7) not too far behind.

Houston came in less than 2.5 points behind San Antonio with a total score of 63.01 points. The report praised Houston's scores across its business environment (No. 3), community and representation (No. 4), and economic opportunity (No. 10). But like San Antonio, Houston fell behind in its housing opportunity score (No. 21).

The report points out that while Houston's Black population share is higher than San Antonio's (19 percent), it's still lower overall than other cities in the top 10.

"Furthermore, the community is well-represented in some critical occupations: 20 percent of teachers are Black, as are 21 percent of doctors," the report said. "Houston is also home to the HBCU Texas Southern University, helping a job market when the median Black income is several thousand dollars above average."

Houston also has the highest rate of Black-owned businesses in the entire state, at 18 percent.

"From the Mitochondria Gallery to Ten Skyncare and Wisdom’s Vegan Bakery, Houston has it all!" the report said.

The top 10 cities for Black professionals are:

No. 1 – Washington, D.C.
No. 2 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 3 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 4 – Houston, Texas
No. 5 – Palm Bay, Florida
No. 6 – Dallas, Texas
No. 7 – Austin, Texas
No. 8 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
No. 9 – Lakeland, Florida
No. 10 – Charlotte, North Carolina

The full report and its methodology can be found on apartmentlist.com.

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Red Light

San Antonio City Council votes to end horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

Life for a horse in San Antonio is about to look a lot different. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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