When you think about Houston, Texas, you probably picture massive oil refineries, oppressive humidity, and a sub-par baseball team — a far cry from one of the nation's most up-and-coming cities.
But you shouldn't dismiss Houston so easily; the Bayou City is an economic juggernaut.
It's by far the country's No. 1 job creator and home to 26 Fortune 500 companies. A paycheck goes farther here than anywhere else in the country, and it has a medical center larger than downtown Dallas.
Add a thriving restaurant and cultural scene, and you've got a winning case for Houston as the best city in America. Here are 18 reasons you may want to pack your bags and head south.
It's got the jobs. Houston is the No. 1 city for job creation in the U.S. By a lot.
Houston is home to more Fortune 500 company headquarters than anywhere in America except for New York.
There are 26 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Houston, fewer than New York's 72 but well ahead of Dallas's 19 and Washington D.C.'s 20. Many are in the city's "energy corridor," the home of the oil and gas industry.
They include Conoco Phillips, Marathon Oil, Sysco, Apache, Halliburton, and many more.
It hosts the world's largest concentration of healthcare organizations, with scientists working hard to beat cancer.
The Texas Medical Center is the largest single employer in Houston, and the largest medical center in the world, with 21 hospitals, eight academic and research institutions, and 50 total related organizations, all not-for-profit.
The complex is larger than downtown Dallas.
Institutions include the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world's premier cancer treatment and research hospitals, which is spending billions in an aggressive push to cure five types of cancer.
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