Seven Texas cities ranked in the top 25 U.S. cities in job creation and retention, according to the Milken Institute’s “Best-Performing Cities” report.

Austin landed at number one, Dallas number seven and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown eighth. Four others broke the top 25: San Antonio (12), Fort Worth (16), Corpus Christi (17) and Laredo (22).

The report said some cities in the top tier “reflect how the surging U.S. energy sector is lighting up local economies. The shale oil and gas boom thrust nine metros into the top 25, including Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.”

The institute said the report focuses on where jobs are created and sustained, not factoring in quality-of-life metrics. The index included measures of job, wage and technology performance to rank the nation’s 200 large metropolitan areas and 179 smaller metros.

Source: Houston Business Journal