Why Texas Is the Best State in America to Build a Franchise Platform Right Now
Article Summary
The franchise industry's own 2026 Economic Outlook, prepared by FRANdata for the International Franchise Association, names Texas the fastest-growing state for franchising this year, ahead of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina, with the highest projected unit growth rate of any state in the top ten at 2.6 percent.
It's measurable. Texas added 391,243 residents in the year ending July 2025, the largest numeric gain of any state for the third consecutive year, bringing the population to roughly 31.7 million. Four Texas metros ranked among the ten fastest-growing in the country by numeric gain, in a year when roughly 80 U.S. metro areas lost population outright.
Texas is one of only two states with a median age under 36, and more than half of all Texans are Millennials or Gen Z, the exact cohort driving categories like men's grooming from an occasional purchase into a recurring-spend habit, while also supplying the labor pool multi-unit operators need to staff and promote from.
Chief Executive magazine's annual CEO survey has ranked Texas the best state for business for 22 consecutive years, backed by a $2.9 trillion economy, the eighth-largest in the world if it were an independent nation, no state income tax, and a median household income of roughly $81,500.
Site Selection magazine has ranked Texas first in corporate expansions and relocations for 14 years running. In 2025 alone, companies announced 1,406 qualifying projects representing more than $75 billion in investment and over 42,000 new jobs, meaning the employee base a service franchise depends on keeps growing too.
Every operator believes his own market is the right one. That is not an argument; it is a bias. So when we decided to build a multi-unit franchise platform in a single state rather than scatter units across the country, we tried to answer the question the way an allocator would: not "where do we want to be?" but "where does the data say a platform gets built fastest, cheapest, and with the most exits available at the end?" The answer came back Texas, and it came back for reasons that are documented rather than felt.
What follows is the case as we understand it today.
The Franchise Industry's Own Data Puts Texas First
Start with the sector's own scorekeeper. The International Franchise Association's 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook, prepared by FRANdata, projects that U.S. franchise establishments will grow from 832,521 to roughly 845,000 units this year, that franchise employment will rise by more than 150,000 jobs to nearly 8.9 million, and that franchise output will climb from $907.3 billion to $921.4 billion. Within that national picture, the report names Texas the fastest-growing state for franchising in 2026, ahead of Florida, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina. Franchise Times, reporting on the same study, notes that Texas carries the highest projected unit growth rate of any state in the top ten, at 2.6 percent.
The regional data reinforces it. FRANdata forecasts the Southwest as the strongest region in the country in 2026, with establishment growth of 2.5 percent, employment growth of 2.8 percent and output growth of 2.5 percent, while the Midwest, Northeast and West are expected to land somewhere between 1.1 and 1.4 percent. For a platform that intends to open a defined number of units on a schedule, that spread is not a rounding error. It is the difference between building into a tailwind and building into a headwind.
Demand You Do Not Have to Manufacture
Consumer-facing franchise units live or die on rooftops and traffic. Texas keeps adding both. Census Bureau estimates released in January 2026 show Texas added 391,243 residents in the year ending July 1, 2025, the largest numeric gain of any state, for the third consecutive year, bringing the state to roughly 31.7 million people.
That growth is broad-based rather than concentrated in one corner of the state. Four Texas metros ranked among the ten fastest-growing in the country by numeric gain last year, and nine more placed in the national top 150, in a year when roughly 80 U.S. metro areas lost population outright. For an operator, that means site selection is a question of choosing among good markets rather than hunting for the one that still works.
The composition of that population matters as much as the count. Texas is one of only two states with a median age under 36, and more than half of all Texans are Millennials or members of Gen Z. That profile cuts two ways for a service franchise. It is the consumer cohort that has driven the growth of men's grooming as a recurring-spend category rather than an occasional purchase, and it is also the hiring pool a multi-unit operator has to draw from to staff shops and promote managers. States with older, flatter demographics have to compete for both.
Taken together, that is the structural advantage most states cannot replicate. A platform can open units across the entire state, sharing labor, marketing spend, district management and vendor relationships — without changing regulatory regime, franchisor territory or brand strategy. Scale inside one state line is what turns a collection of stores into an operating company.
A Business Climate That Favors Owners and Employers
Start with the people who actually make the decision about where to put a company. Chief Executive magazine surveys more than 650 CEOs and business owners every year and asks them to rank the states. In 2026 they picked Texas first, for the twenty-second year running. That is not a close call or a recent trend: it is the same answer, from the people signing the leases, for more than two decades. The state's economy now runs about $2.9 trillion a year, which would make it roughly the eighth-largest in the world on its own.
What those companies bring with them is the part that matters to a grooming shop. Headquarters moves and new facilities bring career-track professionals and their families into Texas neighborhoods. The typical Texas household earned roughly $81,500 in 2024, and in a state with no income tax (the Tax Foundation ranks Texas seventh in the country on overall tax structure), more of that is discretionary than the same figure would be elsewhere.
The same math works on the other side of the counter. No state income tax makes it easier and cheaper to recruit and keep the managers who actually run the shops, and it means more of what the business earns stays available to distribute to investors.
A grooming shop's customers are somebody's employees. So the question behind every location is a simple one: will there still be good jobs nearby in five years? Texas keeps answering yes. Site Selection magazine tracks corporate expansions and relocations each year and has given Texas its top ranking fourteen years in a row. In 2025 alone, companies announced 1,406 qualifying projects in the state, representing more than $75 billion of investment and more than 42,000 new jobs.
Building the Platform
Everything above describes a state where the demand is arriving on its own. The question that follows is how to capture it at scale, and that is a different exercise from opening a location. It requires site selection across multiple markets at once, a management layer that can run shops the principals do not personally visit each week, shared marketing and vendor relationships, and reporting rigorous enough that a buyer can diligence it years later. Building that structure is the work; Texas is what makes the work worth doing.
Scale is also what determines who can buy the business at the end. Multiple locations under centralized management diversify exposure across leases, managers and trade areas, spread fixed overhead across a wider revenue base, and produce the operating discipline institutional buyers require. That is what makes a platform sale a realistic outcome at the end of the hold period rather than an aspiration written into a deck.
SummitView, and its Texas franchise platform H&N Texas Holdings, LP, was built to do exactly that. The Fund holds exclusive statewide development rights in Texas for Hammer & Nails Grooming Shop for Guys, the separate national franchisor of the brand, and is developing a portfolio of 20 to 30 company-managed locations across the state under a single operating platform. Hammer & Nails is an established national system rather than a startup concept, and the Fund's role is to bring professional management, capital discipline and multi-unit scale to that brand inside the one state whose growth data, tax structure and business climate most favor this kind of build.
Texas is not the best state to build a franchise platform because of a slogan. It is the best state because the franchise industry's own forecast, the Census Bureau's migration data, and fourteen straight years of corporate investment counts all point in the same direction at the same time.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any such offer will be made only to accredited investors pursuant to definitive offering documents, which contain important disclosures regarding risks, fees and conflicts of interest. Past performance and market data are not indicative of future results. Forward-looking statements reflect management's views as of the date of publication and are subject to change.
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Sources
1. International Franchise Association — “IFA Predicts Steady Growth For Franchising In 2026 Economic Outlook” (2026 Franchising Economic Outlook, prepared by FRANdata). https://www.franchise.org/2026/02/ifa-predicts-steady-growth-for-franchising-in-2026-economic-outlook/
2. Franchise Times — “IFA Says Franchise Output in 2026 to Exceed $920 Billion” (Texas highest projected unit growth rate, 2.6 percent). https://www.franchisetimes.com/franchise_news/ifa-says-franchise-output-in-2026-to-exceed-920-billion/article_ccb06ad9-5147-4b50-9f6a-7aaf0597dfa7.html
3. FRANdata — “U.S. Franchising’s Economic Outlook in 2026: Jobs, Output, and Growth” (regional growth forecasts). https://frandata.com/u-s-franchisings-economic-outlook-in-2026-jobs-output-and-growth/
4. The Texas Tribune — “Census: Texas led U.S. states in population growth in 2025” (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates). https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/27/texas-population-2025-census/
5. Texas Border Business / U.S. Census Bureau — “Texas Growth Concentrates in Its Largest Metro Areas” (2025 metropolitan area growth rankings). https://texasborderbusiness.com/texas-growth-concentrates-in-its-largest-metro-areas/
6. Texas 2036 — “25 reasons to believe in Texas’ future: The Factsheet” (median age under 36; Millennial and Gen Z share of population). https://texas2036.org/posts/25-reasons-to-believe-in-texas-future-the-factsheet/
7. Tax Foundation — “Texas Tax Rankings | 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index” (no individual income tax; 7th overall). https://taxfoundation.org/statetaxindex/states/texas/
8. U.S. Census Bureau via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis — Real Median Household Income in Texas (2024 estimate). https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSTXA672N
9. Site Selection Magazine — “2025 Governor’s Cups Rankings: Texas tops Site Selection’s annual facility count for the 14th year in a row.” https://siteselection.com/2025-governors-cups-rankings-texas-tops-site-selections-annual-facility-count-for-the-14th-year-in-a-row/
10. Office of the Texas Governor — “Texas Wins Governor’s Cup For Record-Smashing 14th Year In A Row” (capital investment and jobs). https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/texas-wins-governors-cup-for-record-smashing-14th-year-in-a-row
11. Dallas Regional Chamber — “Texas continues record run with 14th consecutive Governor’s Cup” (1,406 qualifying projects). https://www.dallaschamber.org/blog/texas-continues-record-run-with-14th-consecutive-governors-cup/
12. Chief Executive — “Best & Worst States For Business 2026: Inside The Rankings.” https://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business-2026-inside-the-rankings/
13. Office of the Texas Governor — “Texas Named Best State For Business For Record 22nd Consecutive Year” (BEA preliminary 2025 GDP of $2.9 trillion). https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/texas-named-best-state-for-business-for-record-22nd-consecutive-year
Comprehensive Summary
Why is Texas the best state to build a franchise platform right now?
- The franchise industry's own scorekeeper says so: the IFA's 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook, prepared by FRANdata, names Texas the fastest-growing state for franchising this year, ahead of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina.
- The growth rate leads the entire top ten: Franchise Times, reporting on the same study, puts Texas's projected unit growth at 2.6 percent, the highest of any state in that group.
- The regional data reinforces it: FRANdata forecasts the Southwest as the strongest region in the country in 2026, with establishment, employment, and output growth all outpacing the Midwest, Northeast, and West.
- For a platform on a defined build schedule, that spread matters: building into a regional tailwind rather than a headwind changes the timeline and cost of hitting a unit target, not just the ceiling on how big the platform can eventually get.
Is Texas's population growth actually driving franchise demand, or is that just a talking point?
- The numbers are specific and recent: Texas added 391,243 residents in the year ending July 2025, the largest numeric gain of any state for the third consecutive year, bringing the population to roughly 31.7 million.
- Growth isn't concentrated in one corner of the state: four Texas metros ranked among the ten fastest-growing in the country by numeric gain last year, and nine more placed in the national top 150.
- That breadth changes what site selection looks like: in a year when roughly 80 U.S. metro areas lost population outright, an operator is choosing among good Texas markets rather than hunting for the one market that still works.
- Scale inside one state line compounds the advantage: a platform can open units across Texas while sharing labor, marketing spend, district management, and vendor relationships, without changing regulatory regime, franchisor territory, or brand strategy.
Why does Texas's demographic profile matter for a consumer service business specifically?
- Texas skews younger than almost anywhere else: it's one of only two states with a median age under 36, and more than half of all Texans are Millennials or Gen Z.
- That cohort is what's driving the category: this is the consumer group that has turned men's grooming into a recurring-spend habit rather than an occasional purchase, directly supporting a membership-based revenue model.
- The same demographic is the hiring pool: a multi-unit operator draws staff and future managers from that same younger population, something states with older, flatter demographics have to compete harder for.
- States without this profile face a double disadvantage: they're competing for both the customers and the labor a service franchise depends on, while Texas supplies both from the same demographic trend.
What makes Texas favorable for business owners specifically, not just consumers?
- CEOs themselves rank it first, and have for over two decades: Chief Executive magazine surveys more than 650 CEOs and business owners annually, and picked Texas number one for the 22nd year running.
- The scale behind that ranking is real: Texas's economy now runs about $2.9 trillion a year, which would make it roughly the eighth-largest economy in the world on its own.
- No income tax changes the math for both households and the business: Texas has no state income tax and ranks seventh nationally on overall tax structure, meaning more of a typical household's roughly $81,500 income is discretionary, and more of what a business earns stays available to distribute.
- That combination compounds for an operator: it's simultaneously easier to recruit and retain the managers who run the shops, and more of what those shops generate flows through to investors.
How does Texas's business-recruitment track record translate into franchise demand?
- The state's corporate relocation record is unmatched and sustained: Site Selection magazine has ranked Texas first in corporate expansions and relocations for 14 consecutive years.
- 2025 alone was a record year: companies announced 1,406 qualifying projects in Texas, representing more than $75 billion of investment and over 42,000 new jobs.
- Every one of those jobs is a potential customer: a grooming shop's customer base is somebody's employees, so continued corporate relocation directly feeds the question every location depends on, whether there will still be good jobs nearby in five years.
- Texas keeps answering that question the same way: 14 straight years of the same ranking is not a single strong year, it's a sustained trend an operator can actually underwrite.
What is SummitView's actual strategy in Texas, and how does that connect to everything above?
- The rights are exclusive, not shared: H&N Texas Holdings, LP holds exclusive statewide development rights in Texas for Hammer & Nails Grooming Shop for Guys, the separate national franchisor of the brand.
- The target is a platform, not a scattering of units: the Fund is developing a portfolio of 20 to 30 company-managed locations across the state under a single operating platform.
- Scale is what makes an eventual sale realistic: multiple locations under centralized management diversify exposure across leases, managers, and trade areas, spread fixed overhead across a wider revenue base, and produce the operating discipline institutional buyers require.
- Texas is the reason the build is worth doing at this scale: the franchise industry's own forecast, Census Bureau migration data, and 14 straight years of corporate investment counts all point in the same direction, which is what turns a defined build plan into a platform a buyer will actually pay for.
