And then there are others which see their HQ location as a business decision and are happy to pick up shop if it meets a larger financial goal.
This chart tracks the states which saw the most number of Fortune 500 headquarter relocations from 2018–2023. Data is sourced from CBRE published March 2024.
California lost eight Fortune 500 firms between 2018–2023, and seven of them moved to Texas.
The biggest name among them: Tesla, which moved from Palo Alto to Austin in December 2021.
| State | State Code | Net Change in F500 HQs |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | TX | +10 |
| Florida | FL | +4 |
| Georgia | GA | +3 |
| Colorado | CO | +2 |
| Illinois | IL | -2 |
| New York | NY | -3 |
| New Jersey | NJ | -3 |
| California | CA | -8 |
Why Texas? Remember this is mid-pandemic, and Elon Musk ran afoul of California’s pandemic restrictions when re-opening a factory in Fremont. In comparison, Texas had much looser regulations for businesses.
Longer-term factors like lower taxes, costs, and commercial real estate prices also ended up tipping the scales, and are a big reason for other headquarter shifts.
Also, what’s happening in Colorado? As it happens, the Centennial State has become an emerging tech hub over the last few years.
Its relatively low-corporate taxes, educated workforce, and prime location between the two coastal timezones make it an ideal spot for corporate relocation.
Zooming out, what does this mean for California? It’s still the country’s largest economy and most-populous state. The Bay Area tech hub is still thriving even with these big ticket moves.
And finally even if HQs have moved, it doesn’t mean that companies won’t continue operations in the Golden State. Which means employees will continue to pay income taxes and support state finances.
Credit: Visual Capitalist
