Three businesses based in the Houston area appear in Forbes magazine's inaugural ranking of the best startup employers.

Forbes teamed up with market research company Statista to identify up-and-coming companies that are liked most by those who work there. Researchers evaluated 2,500 U.S. businesses with 50 or more employees on three criteria: employer reputation, employee satisfaction, and growth. The result: Forbes' first-ever ranking, released March 10, of the country's 500 best startup employers.

To create the ranking, Statista looked at articles, blogs, and social media posts about each employer; employee reviews on job websites like Glassdoor and Indeed; and website traffic and employee headcounts for each startup over a two-year span.

The three Houston-area startups that are ranked are: Houston-based 2nd.MD (No. 280), Pearland-based Code Ninjas (No. 350), and Houston-based Onit (No. 463).

San Francisco-based footwear retailer Allbirds snags the No. 1 ranking on the Forbes list, and the Dallas-Fort Worth leads Texas metro areas for the most startups on the list with its 13 startup companies.

Ranked 25th, the highest in Texas, Fort Worth-based Koddi garners the top ranking among all Texas startups. The company provides marketing software for advertisers in the travel industry. In 2019, the Digiday Worklife Awards program named Koddi the tech company with the most collaborative culture.

"Koddi gives its employees the ability to shape the direction of their own careers and empowers them to succeed," Zachary Rector, associate director of account services, said in a 2017 release. "Every day at Koddi offers a unique challenge to overcome and the opportunity for personal growth. All of your coworkers are fully committed to one another's success and help each other learn. Koddi is a fast-paced, ever-changing, and engaging place to work."

Here are the 12 other Dallas-Fort Worth startups that appear in the Forbes ranking:

• No. 50 — Bestow, Dallas
• No. 59 — Veryable, Dallas
• No. 118 — Sector 5 Digital, Fort Worth
• No. 149 — Stryve Biltong, Plano
• No. 231 — PestRoutes, McKinney
• No. 265 — Titus Industrial, Dallas
• No. 275 — Student Success Agency
• No. 271 — Meritize, Frisco
• No. 272 — Defi Solutions, Westlake
• No. 305 — Crystal Clear Concepts, Grand Prairie
• No. 325 — WellKept, Arlington
• No. 411 — Tap Water Watch, Dallas

Meanwhile, Austin had a dozen startups on the list. At No. 87, Austin-based SchooX is the top-ranked startup in the Central Texas region. The company provides a workplace learning platform.

"Working at SchooX provides an awesome environment with great people that changes the way people learn," employee George Litos says on the company's website. "SchooX is shaping the future of e-learning, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

Here are the 11 other Austin-area companies that claim spots in the top 500:

• No. 97 — Iris Telehealth, Austin
• No. 201 — Jungle Scout, Austin
• No. 226 — RigUp, Austin
• No. 301 — TrustRadius, Austin
• No. 315 — Shipwell, Austin
• No. 399 — AlertMedia, Austin
• No. 430 — Everlywell, Austin
• No. 451 — Innovetive Petcare, Cedar Park
• No. 457 — SubjectWell, Austin
• No. 463 — ScaleFactor, Austin
• No. 478 — Outdoorsy, Austin

This article originally ran on CultureMap.