Irving, TX Economic Overview
Irving is a bubbling youthful city of just over 200,000 people, which is conveniently located at the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex. Irving grew alongside a railroad originally built to link the two cities. Founded by Otis Brown and J.O. Schultz in 1903, the city was incorporated in 1914, with Mr. Brown serving as its first mayor.
As a city, Irving had a slow start, tethered on agriculture and cotton trade. It was until the 1930s when manufacturing companies started setting up shop in the area that it really thrived. Irving is now a proud host of several Fortune 500 companies and a destination of choice for 3 million visitors every year. Anyone looking for a great place to live or work will find a great home in Irving.
Irving’s economic environment is always welcoming to new ideas. Just recently, it was named by American Express as the third city with the most startups per capita. It has global access, a flourishing business community, and a topnotch entertainment industry.
Its economy is diverse, with hospitality, financial services, high-tech, manufacturing and health care as its core industries. It is home to approximately 50 Fortune 500 companies, 5 of which have their headquarters there: ExonnMobil, Celanese, Fluor, Commercial Metals and Kimberly-Clark. About 65 foreign companies have a presence in Irving making the city the third-leading in Texas as far as foreign business investment is concerned.
There is no income tax in Irving and the sales rate tax is 8.25%.
Irving, TX Commercial Real Estate Market
Backed by a strong economy and a promising job market, the Irving commercial real estate scene is firing on all cylinders. Rising construction costs may drive rental rates for new spaces even higher. Irving office vacancy rates rose to 12.4% in the first quarter of 2017, from the 12.2% of the last quarter of 2016. This increase was attributed to more office space going online. In fact, the net absorption in 2017 was close to 3 times the net absorption in the previous quarter.
Las Colinas commercial real estate saw 920,000 square feet of office space absorbed in the first quarter of 2017. The average gross asking rents in the DFW area office market rose to $24.88 at the start of the year.
High demand for commercial spaces in the Dallas-Fort Worth Mid Cities area cuts across the board, as the absorption rates in industrial spaces observed in 2015 and 2016 were unprecedented. The overall vacancy rate in the area is the lowest in the decade and stood at 6.6% in the last quarter of 2016.
Irving, TX Office Sales Volume
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Irving, TX Office Transactions
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Irving, TX Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 37,919,058 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 4,712,171 SF / 12.43% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 26,015,474 SF / 68.61% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 3,066,413 SF / 8.09% of total office
- > 1M SF: 4,125,000 SF / 10.88% of total office
By class:
- Class A: 14,371,409 SF / 37.9% of total office
- Class B: 19,119,808 SF / 50.42% of total office
- Class C: 817,841 SF / 2.16% of total office
Industrial
Total: 43,218,210 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 5,150,179 SF / 11.92% of total industrial
- 100k to 500k SF: 25,492,244 SF / 58.98% of total industrial
- 500k to 1M SF: 7,524,248 SF / 17.41% of total industrial
- > 1M SF: 5,051,539 SF / 11.69% of total industrial
By class:
- Class A: 23,752,682 SF / 54.96% of total industrial
- Class B: 14,577,694 SF / 33.73% of total industrial
- Class C: 651,595 SF / 1.51% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 5,812,245 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 1,738,276 SF / 29.91% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 4,073,969 SF / 70.09% of total office with retail
Employment in Irving, TX
Irving is the third largest employment hub in North Central Texas, after Dallas and Fort Worth, and has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state of Texas. In April 2017, the unemployment rate was only 3.7%, compared to the average of 4.5% in the state of Texas.
At the end of 2016, the income per capita and the median household income were $26,959 and $50,942, respectively. In that period the job growth was 3.09% and was predicted to be 42.59% after 10 years.
According to the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Annual report, there were 218,000 jobs in Irving. It further stated that 4,232 jobs were created and 3,805 jobs retained.
According to the City of Irving CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) released in September 2016, the principal employers in Irving were:
- Citigroup, Inc, with 6,500 employees
- Irving Mall, with 2,100 employees
- Allstate Insurance, with 2,000 workers
- YRC Freight, with 1,941 workers
- Baylor Scott-White Med Center, with 1,907 employees
- Pioneer Natural Resources Co., with 1,750 employees
- Microsoft Corp., with 1,500 employees
- Neiman Marcus Direct, with 1,500 employees
- Quest Diagnostics, with 1,500 employees and
- Nokia America, with 1,500 employees
Education in Irving, TX
In Irving, schools spend about $10,162 per student, which is lower than the national average of $12,383. The pupil to teacher ratio (1 to 15) is also better than the national average (1 to 16.2).
Irving Independent School Districts serve the majority of Irving children. Notable private schools are Cistercian Preparatory School and The Highlands School.
The biggest institution of higher learning in Irving is the University of Dallas. Others are DeVry University and North Lake College.
Commuting Time in Irving, TX
The DFW area is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in the country, with 7.1 million residents, as of 2015. That partly explains why it is also home to some of the worst commute times. Luckily, traffic in Irving isn’t as bad as the rest of the metroplex. The worst traffic is experienced in areas closer to Interstate 30 HOV, which links Fort Worth and Dallas. In general, the commute time in Irving averages at 22.7 minutes.
Irving Demographics
Population
- Total Population238,637
- Male Population(49.8 %) 118,915
- Female Population(50.2 %) 119,722
- Median Age31.70
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$82,091
- Median Household Income$61,937
- Median Income Under 25$37,166
- Median Income 25-44$63,421
- Median Income 45-64$68,534
- Median Income Over 65$47,984