Dallas-Fort Worth is fastest growing metro in US. But how will it fare in recession?
Dallas-Fort Worth is the fastest growing metro in the U.S. and the expansion isn’t stopping anytime soon, real estate experts say.
The Metroplex is already home to 7.8 million people, but by 2045 that number could increase by 3.4 million people, according to new forecasts from the commercial real estate agency JLL. Migration from cities on the East and West coasts will continue to be a major source of population increase.
While DFW is still smaller than major metros New York City and Los Angeles, it surpassed both cities in percentage of jobs added. The Metroplex saw 6.5% job growth in the year ending in October, while LA and New York saw 4.3%, according to JLL’s latest DFW Resiliency report.
Meanwhile, DFW had the greatest industry diversity compared to Texas’ other major cities. The diversity of job sectors helps the DFW economy maintain its strength and withstand declines in select industries.
More than 20% of DFW’s employment came from trade, transportation and utilities, and more than 18% came from professional and business services. Other major job sectors include education and health services, government, leisure and hospitality and financial activities.
Beating out New York and Los Angeles, DFW has led the nation in sales from real estate investments bought and sold since 2020. The Metroplex generated sales volume of more than $43 billion from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2022, according to JLL’s report.
DFW also has the largest industrial development pipeline across the nation due to greater need for industrial space. The Metroplex has more than 62 million square feet of industrial space under development.
While economists have predicted a looming recession, DFW is positioned to weather the storm well and recover quicker thanks to consistent job growth, wide range of employment industries and proven resiliency in past downturns. During previous economic declines, the Metroplex recovered quicker than major cities like New York, Austin and Houston.
This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 12:36 PM.
