Thoughts on Houston/Dallas instead of NYC after graduation

I'm curious what everyone thinks about IB in Dallas or Houston for a class of 29 recruiting this coming sem. 

Potential Upsides: no state income tax, cheaper cost of living, shorter commutes, more space, more affordable social scene, anecdotal reports of better culture (although, I have not heard hours being better), good weather. 

Potential Downside: Mostly energy and industrials, worse exits, worse networking, less optionality after analyst years. 

If anyone has thoughts after spending time in the respective places, I'm curious to hear your opinions. 

 

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Have been doing banking in one of these cities for the last year. I, like most of the people that work for Texas offices of banks, have ties to the state. If you do, having family / close friends around really makes a difference. Sure, you’ll make friends in NY, but after working 90 hours in a week it can be really nice to go back on the weekend and have a home cooked meal.

Houston has a good amount of seats at well known banks, Dallas less so. Dallas is growing as a banking city, but generally speaking, HL has the most established position. JPM and Goldman are growing their offices. Stephens, Jefferies, Moelis all have presence.

Exits from Houston are typically in O&G given that is the overwhelming coverage of banks there, but you can get out of O&G if you are focused. Dallas has some exits into O&G, but bankers here typically stay in the city. Trive / Kainos / Lattice / Tailwater / Havencrest / Gauge / Crux/ Arctos are common to see. People still can exit to other cities, but usually the people who do banking in Dallas want to be here for the long haul.

 

If I’m gonna be working slave hours, I’d rather do it in NYC than Texas.

Also, both culture and hours are actually worse in Texas compared to NYC imo.

 

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