• Major companies have been relocating their headquarters to Texas.
• Since 2020, 200 companies, including Tesla and Chevron, have moved HQs to Texas, state data say.
• Gov. Greg Abbott has cited a good regulatory environment, drawing firms from states like California.

Texas has become a hot spot for the corporate operations of major companies across the US.

Since 2020, a growing number of major businesses have moved their headquarters or reincorporated in Texas, flocking from pricier states like California. Many cite the lower cost of living and benefits for corporations as reasons they chose the Lone Star State.

KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands, announced in February that it would move its US headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky, to dual HQs in Plano, Texas, and Irvine, California. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X, has announced that all three companies will be headquartered in Texas.

HQ relocations were in an "acceleration period" in 2020 and 2021, the office of Gov. Greg Abbott said, with a total of 121 companies moving to Texas during that time. The number of those that moved from California made up more than half of the relocations.

Since then, the rate has leveled out to be consistent with historical data. A total of 200 companies have moved to Texas since 2020, according to the data from Gov. Abbott. In 2024, 24 companies, including Chevron and SpaceX, announced they would establish an HQ there.

The moves are fueled by the "reasonable regulatory environment," "exceptional quality of life," and the lower cost of operating a business in Texas, Abbott's office said in its report.

Here's a list of companies that have shifted their business operations to Texas.

Yum! Brands announced in February that it would establish two HQ locations in Texas and California to "foster greater collaboration among brands and employees."

About 100 KFC corporate workers will have to relocate from Louisville, Kentucky, to Texas over six months. The company said it will also ask 90 US-based remote workers to return to the office and relocate to "the campus where their work happens."

Yum! Brands is the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger & Grill. The KFC Foundation and Yum! Brands are expected to maintain corporate offices in Kentucky.

On February 12, the New York Stock Exchange announced it would move its Chicago branch to Dallas. NYSE Chicago will be reincorporated to NYSE Texas, "offering companies the opportunity to list their securities" there.

"As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere," Lynn Martin, NYSE Group president, said in a press release.

Chevron announced in August 2024 that its headquarters would move from San Ramon, California, to Houston before the end of the year.

The energy giant said the relocation would "enable better collaboration and engagement with executives, employees, and business partners."

The oil company had been sued by California, which accused Chevron and other energy giants of downplaying the risks of fossil fuels.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted, "WELCOME HOME Chevron! Texas is your true home."

Before the move, Chevron had about 7,000 employees in the Houston area and 2,000 in San Ramon. It said it expects all corporation functions to move to Texas by 2029.

Musk announced X's relocation from California to Texas at the same time as SpaceX in July 2024, citing living costs, safety, and political reasons.

He said California laws are "attacking both families and companies" and expressed concerns over the safety of San Francisco. Court filings from September 2024 showed that Musk requested to change X's HQ address from San Francisco to Bastrop, Texas, Forbes reported.

Tesla was the first of Musk's companies to move from Silicon Valley to Texas. Musk officially moved Tesla's headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin in 2021, citing the lack of affordable housing in the Bay Area.

"There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area," Musk said at the time.

Oracle moved its corporate HQ to Austin in 2020, ending its four-decade tenure in Silicon Valley.

The move offered employees "more flexibility about where and how they work," a spokesperson told Business Insider at the time.

Though it's been years since the move, Oracle's California offices employ nearly triple the number of workers than its Texas HQ, Bloomberg reported in 2024.

Brokerage giant CBRE moved its HQ from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2020.

It was established in San Francisco over a century ago, though CBRE said it had large operations in North Texas before the official move to Dallas.

According to data from CBRE, Texas led the pack in net gains of Fortune 500 companies relocating between 2018 and 2023.

AECOM, a Fortune 500 construction firm, said it would relocate its headquarters from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2021.

The company called Texas a "talent magnet" for consulting and engineering, and CEO Troy Rudd participated in the move to AECOM's existing Texas offices from California.

Musk announced his plans to relocate SpaceX from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas, on X in July 2024.

The move is Musk's response to Gov. Gavin Newsom signing AB 1955, prohibiting schools from enforcing policies that would require parents to be notified about students who may identify as transgender.

"Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas," Musk said in an X post.

Financial services company Charles Schwab moved its HQ to Westlake, Texas, in 2021, citing California's high taxes. It was formerly based in San Francisco.

"The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place," Chairman and founder Charles Schwab told Forbes.

McKesson announced that it'd move its HQ from San Francisco to Las Colinas, Texas, in 2018, with plans to move most jobs from Silicon Valley to Texas and other hub locations by 2021.

Four years after the move, CEO Brian Tyler said the city "was absolutely the right community for McKesson to call home."

"Since making the move to Irving, McKesson has quickly benefited from the deep, diverse talent pool in the Dallas area, the ease of travel, and the very engaged business community," he said.