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