Austinruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Semiconductors & hardware
Samsung Austin Semiconductor, NXP, Applied Materials, Infineon
Samsung's Taylor fab north-east of the city is one of the largest private investments in Texas history and has pulled an entire supplier ecosystem with it.
Technology & enterprise software
Dell, Oracle, IBM, Indeed, Atlassian, Cloudflare
Dell in Round Rock is the long-standing anchor; Oracle moved its headquarters here in 2020 and a wave of Bay Area companies opened large offices in the years after.
Electric vehicles & advanced manufacturing
Tesla Gigafactory Texas, SpaceX (Starbase and Bastrop), Firefly Aerospace
Tesla's Gigafactory east of the city changed the region's manufacturing labour market and drew a supplier base with it.
Music, film & creative industries
SXSW, Austin City Limits, Rooster Teeth alumni studios, Austin Film Society
The 'Live Music Capital' branding is real in venue density, though musicians will tell you the cost of living has made it much harder to sustain a career here.
Government & higher education
State of Texas, University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School
Austin is the state capital, and the combination of state government and UT provides the stable employment base underneath the tech cycle.
Health & life sciences
Ascension Seton, St. David's HealthCare, Dell Medical School, Luminex
A younger cluster than the tech sector, growing around Dell Med, which only opened in 2016.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.