This is the hottest job in Houston for college grads, says new study

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Petroleum engineers do well in Houston. Photo courtesy of Society for Petroleum Engineers

Are you a newly minted college grad searching for an in-demand job in Houston? If you're a petroleum engineer, you're in luck.

A study published May 27 by RentCafé, a platform for apartment rentals, shows the hottest job in Houston for college grads is petroleum engineer. RentCafé based its list of hot jobs on two factors: median pay and jobs per 1,000. The median pay for petroleum engineers in Houston is $178,240 and the rage of jobs per 1,000 is a mere 2.77

Austin? If you're a software developer, you're in luck.

As identified by RentCafé, here are the five hottest jobs in Houston for college grads:

  1. Petroleum engineer
  2. Sales manager
  3. Computer systems analyst
  4. Geoscientist
  5. Medical and health services manager

What follows are the hottest jobs for college grads in Texas' other major metro areas.

Austin
  1. Software developer / software quality assurance analyst and tester
  2. College education administrator
  3. Database administrator and architect
  4. Information security analyst
  5. Administrative services and facilities manager

Dallas-Fort Worth

  1. Sales manager
  2. Software developer / software quality assurance analyst and tester
  3. Information security analyst
  4. Medical and health services manager
  5. Computer systems analyst

San Antonio

  1. Medical and health services manager
  2. Software developer / software quality assurance analyst and tester
  3. Sales manager
  4. Computer systems analyst
  5. Nurse practitioner
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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

The median income in Houston grew more than 20 percent from 2010 to 2019. Photo by DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

Here's how much Houston's household income grew over past decade

Money matters

Houston's household income jumped in the 2010s, but not as significantly as many other major U.S. metros, a new report shows.

Data compiled by apartment website RentCafé and published December 16 shows median household income inside the city of Houston (not the metro area) jumped 23.9 percent during the decade.

Houston ranks No. 40 for the rise in household income among the country's 50 largest cities. Houston's median household income grew from $42,355 in 2010 to $52,483 in 2019, according to RentCafé. For 2010 income, the website pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau; it estimated 2019 household income based on a predicted 2.5 percent increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

By comparison, the U.S. median household income stood at $63,179 in 2018, according to the Census Bureau, and Texas median household income checked in at $60,629.

"We're better off by almost all measures than we were 10 years ago," Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist for Northern Trust, told the Wall Street Journal in September. "But there are still some … flags that show that economic security remains more elusive for some families."

Only one Texas city ranked among the country's top 10. Austin, No. 8, saw a 54.6 percent hike during the decade, from $47,434 in 2010 to $73,332 in 2019.

As ranked by RentCafé, the top 10 cities for growth in median household income from 2010 to 2019 are:

  1. Atlanta, 60.9 percent
  2. San Francisco, 60.5 percent
  3. Oakland, California, 59.3 percent
  4. Seattle, 59.1 percent
  5. Portland, Oregon, 58.8 percent
  6. Miami, 57.1 percent
  7. Denver, 55.5 percent
  8. Austin, 54.6 percent
  9. San Jose, California, 50.9 percent
  10. Brooklyn, New York, 48.9 percent

Well down the ladder is Dallas, at No. 27. From 2010 to 2019, the city's median household income surged 31.6 percent — from $40,650 to $53,515.

At No. 38 is Fort Worth, where median household income increased 24.2 percent during the 10-year span — from $48,224 to $59,909.

San Antonio hovers close to the bottom of the 50-city list. Alamo City ranked 46th, with a 14.8 percent gain over the 10-year period. Median household income went from $43,758 to $50,250.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Houston will end this decade with 114,100 new apartments having been built in the last 10 years. Photo courtesy of Dolce Midtown Apartments

Houston area sees more new apartments than almost any other city

built up

You might call this the Decade of the Renter in Houston. New data shows H-Town ranks third in the U.S. for most new apartments from 2010 through 2019.

In a housing review of the 2010s published December 16, apartment website RentCafé estimates Houston will end this decade with 114,100 new apartments having been built during the 10-year span.

Houston is eclipsed by only two markets: DFW, with an estimated 149,000 new apartments, and New York City, with an estimated 125,100 new apartments added during this decade. In the rankings, Houston is followed by Washington, D.C. (113,300) and Los Angeles (98,000).

Two other Texas metros made the top 20:

  • Austin, claiming the No. 8 spot with 75,400 new apartments.
  • San Antonio, grabbing the No. 13 spot with 47,700 new apartments.

All told, the four major metro areas in Texas have added 386,200 new apartments from 2010 through 2019, RentCafé data shows. At the same time, their populations have exploded.

From April 2010 to July 2018, the DFW metro area's population soared by more than 1.1 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Houston nipped on DFW's heels from 2010 to 2018, adding almost 1.08 million residents, the Census Bureau says.

During the same period, comparatively rapid growth occurred in the Austin metro area (nearly 452,000 new residents) and San Antonio metro area (more than 375,000 new residents).

As Texas' major metro areas keep experiencing a population surge, the rise of the apartment renter promises to continue.

Data from Richardson-based property management software RealPage shows construction of 22,879 new apartments had been approved from October 2018 to October 2019 in the Houston area. That's a year-over-year jump of 77.8 percent.

The numbers for DFW (19,562 permits, up 7.3 percent) and Austin (13,981, up 15 percent) were lower, but they still ranked among RealPage's top 10 metro markets for the number of apartment construction permits issued.

Within U.S. metro areas, the cities of Houston, Austin, and San Antonio ranked among the top 10 places for apartment construction permits issued from October 2018 to October 2019, according to RealPage.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Dolce Midtown Apartments is one of the many new apartment options in the Houston area. Photo courtesy of Dolce Midtown Apartments

Houston booms among nation's top 10 markets for new apartments

They come, we build

It's not all in your head. Those new apartments you spotted on your way to work probably did just pop up — and it's happening in big numbers in Houston and around the state, according to a new study.

RentCafe estimates 7,143 new apartments will be built in the Houston metro by the end of 2019 — the 10th highest projection nationally. Nearly half of those new units will rise within the city of Houston proper.

And these aren't vanity projects. With more than 90,000 new residents calling the Houston area home, we need all the apartments we can get.

Houston leads the region in terms of projected new apartment units at 3,163, followed by Conroe's 724 expected units and The Woodlands' 678.

Most of Texas is booming, too. No. 1 on RentCafe's list is Dallas-Fort Worth, with 22,196 new units expected by the end of the year. No. 5 Austin is expected to bring 10,783 new units to the region. Meanwhile, 3,510 new units will be built in San Antonio, a steep decline of 41 percent from the 5,993 units built there in 2018.

Nationally, Seattle makes for a distant second behind DFW with 13,682 new units expected, followed by New York City, which was No. 1 in 2018, with 13,418 units planned for this year.

Unlike the Lone Star State, the nation as a whole is seeing a slump in apartment construction. The 299,442 new apartments expected in 2019 represent an 8.2 percent drop from 2018's 326,240 new units, which also were weaker numbers than in 2017, when 331,765 new apartments were built.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Biosciences startup becomes Texas' first decacorn after latest funding

A Dallas-based biosciences startup whose backers include millionaire investors from Austin and Dallas has reached decacorn status — a valuation of at least $10 billion — after hauling in a series C funding round of $200 million, the company announced this month. Colossal Biosciences is reportedly the first Texas startup to rise to the decacorn level.

Colossal, which specializes in genetic engineering technology designed to bring back or protect various species, received the $200 million from TWG Global, an investment conglomerate led by billionaire investors Mark Walter and Thomas Tull. Walter is part owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tull is part owner of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

Among the projects Colossal is tackling is the resurrection of three extinct animals — the dodo bird, Tasmanian tiger and woolly mammoth — through the use of DNA and genomics.

The latest round of funding values Colossal at $10.2 billion. Since launching in 2021, the startup has raised $435 million in venture capital.

In addition to Walter and Tull, Colossal’s investors include prominent video game developer Richard Garriott of Austin and private equity veteran Victor Vescov of Dallas. The two millionaires are known for their exploits as undersea explorers and tourist astronauts.

Aside from Colossal’s ties to Dallas and Austin, the startup has a Houston connection.

The company teamed up with Baylor College of Medicine researcher Paul Ling to develop a vaccine for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), the deadliest disease among young elephants. In partnership with the Houston Zoo, Ling’s lab at the Baylor College of Medicine has set up a research program that focuses on diagnosing and treating EEHV, and on coming up with a vaccine to protect elephants against the disease. Ling and the BCMe are members of the North American EEHV Advisory Group.

Colossal operates research labs Dallas, Boston and Melbourne, Australia.

“Colossal is the leading company working at the intersection of AI, computational biology, and genetic engineering for both de-extinction and species preservation,” Walter, CEO of TWG Globa, said in a news release. “Colossal has assembled a world-class team that has already driven, in a short period of time, significant technology innovations and impact in advancing conservation, which is a core value of TWG Global.”

Well-known genetics researcher George Church, co-founder of Colossal, calls the startup “a revolutionary genetics company making science fiction into science fact.”

“We are creating the technology to build de-extinction science and scale conservation biology,” he added, “particularly for endangered and at-risk species.”

Houston investment firm names tech exec as new partner

new hire

Houston tech executive Robert Kester has joined Houston-based Veriten, an energy-focused research, investment and strategy firm, as technology and innovation partner.

Kester most recently served as chief technology officer for emissions solutions at Honeywell Process Solutions, where he worked for five years. Honeywell International acquired Houston-based oil and gas technology company Rebellion Photonics, where Kester was co-founder and CEO, in 2019.

Honeywell Process Solutions shares offices in Houston with the global headquarters of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies. Honeywell, a Fortune 100 conglomerate, employs more than 850 people in Houston.

“We are thrilled to welcome Robert to the Veriten team,” founder and CEO Maynard Holt said in a statement, “and are confident that his technical expertise and skills will make a big contribution to Veriten’s partner and investor community. He will [oversee] every aspect of what we do, with the use case for AI in energy high on the 2025 priority list.”

Kester earned a doctoral degree in bioengineering from Rice University, a master’s degree in optical sciences from the University of Arizona and a bachelor’s degree in laser optical engineering technology from the Oregon Institute of Technology. He holds 25 patents and has more than 25 patents pending.

Veriten celebrated its third anniversary on January 10, the day that the hiring of Kester was announced. The startup launched with seven employees.

“With the addition of Dr. Kester, we are a 26-person team and are as enthusiastic as ever about improving the energy dialogue and researching the future paths for energy,” Holt added.

Kester spoke on the Houston Innovators Podcast in 2021. Listen here

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