DALLAS — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
Dallas-Fort Worth is bolstering its claim as the top metro for distribution and warehousing in the United States.
A report released Sept. 26 by CommercialSearch ranked the Metroplex No. 1 overall on a composite index of 20 large metros for this key economic activity. Additionally, DFW ranked No. 1 in three key metrics: most distribution space added in the past four years, largest inventory of distribution space and most airports.
From 2019 to 2023, the Metroplex added roughly 110 million square feet of distribution and warehouse space, more than any other metro in the report. That boosted DFW's total distribution and warehousing space to more than 613 million square feet.
Phoenix snagged the No. 2 spot on the index and added about 58.9 million square feet of distribution and warehouse space from 2019 to 2023, a 44% jump. Savannah, Georgia rounded out the top three with a 64% increase in space from 2019 to 2023, the highest percentage growth among the metros analyzed.
Houston ranked No. 6 overall and the Austin metro was 12th in CommercialSearch's ranking.
CommercialSearch examined the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas by total distribution and warehousing square footage. The metro areas were then evaluated based on three sets of criteria: distribution and warehouse space inventory, distribution indicators and costs and logistics infrastructure.
DFW has long been a distribution hub because of its strategic location along many major highways and railways. Rapid and sustained population growth in recent years has attracted even more warehouses to hold the stuff that consumers order online.
North Texas is also known for being an easy place to fly into and out of, thanks to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field. But the metro's air freight capabilities expand well beyond those two facilities — CommercialSearch counted 17 airports in DFW, including Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport, within Hillwood’s massive AllianceTexas industrial development.
