Jobs are heading south once more as population shifts originally driven by the Covid pandemic become entrenched and work patterns changed over a five-year period.

Cities in Texas were among the biggest job gainers, according to a RealPage Analytics report. Nationally the Dallas/Fort Worth metro saw the largest increases in work opportunities. Dallas added 450,000 jobs, boosting its employment base by 17.1%, while in Fort Worth an influx of 140,000 jobs resulted in 13.2% growth. Percentage-wise, however, Austin was the big winner, growing its workforce by 22.3% and 245,000 jobs. Houston's 263,000 new positions lifted its jobs base by 8.4%.

In absolute number of new jobs added, Atlanta came second only to Dallas/Fort Worth. The Georgia metro added 273,000 positions to its payrolls, hiking total employment by 9.6%. Education, health services, leisure and hospitality were the main draws.