Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

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US Senator

John Cornyn

Republican Party

US Senator

Ted Cruz

Republican Party

2024 Median Age

35.4

0.283% 1-year increase

2024 Poverty Rate

13.9%

2.11% 1-year increase

2024 Median Household Income

$82,168

2.13% 1-year growth

2024 Employed Population

3.57M

2.32% 1-year growth

About

None of the households in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

86.2% of the residents in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are Lone Star College System (13,085 degrees awarded in 2024), Lone Star College System (13,085 degrees), and University of Houston (11,470 degrees).

Most people in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 29.9 minutes. The average car ownership in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX was 2 cars per household.

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX borders Bay City, TX, Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX, Brenham, TX, El Campo, TX, and Huntsville, TX.

Photo by Thomas Hawk

United States Texas

Population & Diversity

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX is home to a population of N/A people, from which 86.2% are citizens. As of 2024, 24.1% of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX residents were born outside of the country (1.79M people).

In 2024, there were 1.85 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (2.44M people) in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX than any other race or ethnicity. There were 1.32M Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) and 1.26M Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

86.2%

2024 Citizenship

86.6%

2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 86.2% of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX residents were US citizens, which is lower than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX was 86.6%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

White (Non-Hispanic)
2.44M ± 4.33k
Two Races Including Other (Hispanic)
1.32M ± 17.7k
Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
1.26M ± 5.95k

38.2%

Hispanic Population

2.85M people

38.2% of the people in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX are hispanic (2.85M people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the MSA level, so we are showing data for Texas.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
2,408,340 ± 36,549 people
India
354,317 ± 14,528 people
El Salvador
223,512 ± 11,564 people

In 2024, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Texas was Mexico, the natal country of 2,408,340 Texas residents, followed by India with 354,317 and El Salvador with 223,512.

Foreign-Born Population

24.1%

2024 Foreign-Born Population

1.79M people

23.7%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

1.72M people

As of 2024, 24.1% of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX residents (1.79M people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX was 23.7%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Gulf War (2001-)
86,159 ± 3,409
Vietnam
71,073 ± 1,963
Gulf War (1990s)
46,121 ± 2,361

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX has a large population of military personnel who served in Gulf War (2001-), 1.21 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX.

Health

81.5% of the population of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX has health coverage, with 46.2% on employee plans, 13.9% on Medicaid, 9.08% on Medicare, 11.3% on non-group plans, and 1.07% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in Texas see 1,657 patients per year on average, which represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,657 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1590 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 590 patients per year.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 49.5% were men and 50.5% were women.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

1,657 to 1

Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in Texas

Primary care physicians in Texas see an average of 1,657 patients per year. This represents a 0% change from the previous year (1,657 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Texas in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

Health Care Diversity

In 2024, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in 27.4% under 18 years, 22.1% between 18 and 34 years, 38.2% between 35 and 64 years, and 12.2% over 64 years.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 49.5% were men and 50.5% were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

18.5%

Uninsured

46.2%

Employer Coverage

13.9%

Medicaid

9.08%

Medicare

11.3%

Non-Group

1.07%

Military or VA

Between 2023 and 2024, the percent of uninsured citizens in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX declined by 1.11% from 18.7% to 18.5%.

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

Economy

The economy of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX employs 3.57M people. In 2024, the largest industries in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX were Health Care & Social Assistance (417,258 people), Retail Trade (372,196 people), and Construction (338,006 people), and the highest paying industries were Management of Companies & Enterprises ($123,955), Mining, Quarrying, & Oil & Gas Extraction ($123,578), and Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($111,002).

Employment

Occupations

3.57M

2024 Value

± 21,062

2.32%

1 Year growth

± 0.803%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX grew at a rate of 2.32%, from 3.49M employees to 3.57M employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, are Management Occupations (407,345 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (364,684 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (341,401 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Texas (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

Industries

Employment by Industries

3.57M

2024 Value

± 21,062

2.32%

1 Year growth

± 0.803%

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX grew at a rate of 2.32%, from 3.49M employees to 3.57M employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, are Health Care & Social Assistance (417,258 people), Retail Trade (372,196 people), and Construction (338,006 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, though some of these residents may live in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

$56,940

Median earning men ± $480

$41,425

Median earning women ± $394

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($122,951), Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($81,832), and Information ($78,232).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining ($84,380), Manufacturing ($60,029), and Public Administration ($55,924).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

Y-Axis

4.59%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 13.8M people employed in Texas. This represents a 4.59% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 9.63%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Texas.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

15,650
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
9,797
Retail Trade
9,457
Health Care and Social Assistance

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$24M
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
$23.3M
Health Care and Social Assistance
$22.5M
Management of Companies and Enterprises

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Texas went to Donald J. Trump with 56.1% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (42.5%), followed by Jill Stein (0.726%).

John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are the senators currently representing the state of Texas. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Texas is currently represented by 38 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

Voting results are not available for Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX. Showing the available data for Texas.

2024 Election Results

Donald J. Trump (56.1%)
Republican Party
Kamala Harris (42.5%)
Democratic Party
Jill Stein (0.726%)
Green Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Texas went to Donald J. Trump with 56.1% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (42.5%), followed by Jill Stein (0.726%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Texas for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Texas

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for Texas.

John Cornyn

Senator from Texas

Assumed office on December 2, 2002
Phil Gramm resigned (effective November 30, 2002) a few weeks before the expiration of his term in hopes that his successor, fellow Republican John Cornyn, could gain seniority over other newly elected senators. However, Cornyn did not gain additional seniority due to a 1980 Rules Committee policy.

Ted Cruz

Senator from Texas

Assumed office on January 3, 2013

John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are the senators currently representing Texas.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Texas over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

Education

In 2024, universities in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX awarded 76,088 degrees. The student population of Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX in 2024 is skewed towards women, with 136,070 male students and 189,641 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX are Hispanic or Latino (29,409 and 41%), White (16,874 and 23.5%), Black or African American (14,119 and 19.7%), and Asian (7,411 and 10.3%).

The largest universities in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX by number of degrees awarded are Lone Star College System (13,085 and 17.2%), Lone Star College System (13,085 and 17.2%), and University of Houston (11,470 and 15.1%).

The most popular majors in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX are Liberal Arts & Sciences (6,921 and 9.1%), General Business Administration & Management (5,362 and 7.05%), and General Studies (4,076 and 5.36%).

The median tuition costs are $24,260 for private four year colleges, and $5,976 and $15,978 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University

Measure

In 2024 in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, the percentage of applicants admitted was 59.2%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 22.4%. The number of students enrolled in 2024 was 325,711 (41.8% men and 58.2% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2024 there were 325,711 students enrolled in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, 41.8% men and 58.2% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in Hispanic or Latino with 127,477 records, of which 59.7% were women and 40.3% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

Liberal Arts & Sciences
6,866 degrees awarded
General Studies
3,928 degrees awarded
General Business
1,592 degrees awarded

In 2024, the most common concentation for Associates Degree recipients in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX was Liberal Arts & Sciences with 6,866 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Associates Degree from schools in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

Lone Star College System
13,085 degrees awarded
Lone Star College System
13,085 degrees awarded
University of Houston
11,470 degrees awarded

In 2024, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Lone Star College System with 13,085 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

University

In 2024, 32,527 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX, which is 0.747 times less than the 43,561 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2024, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was Hispanic or Latino students. These 29,409 degrees mean that there were 1.74 times more degrees awarded to Hispanic or Latino students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, White, with 16,874 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above ($24,260) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2024.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,517) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2024.

Private for-profit, 2-year ($1,990) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Housing & Living

People in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX have an average commute time of 29.9 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Housing

Rent vs Own

61.2%

Homeownership

2024

65.2%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2024

In 2024, 61.2% of the housing units in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 61.2%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$82,168

Median Household Income

± $590

2.66M

Number of Households

± 16,941

In 2024, the median household income of the 2.66M households in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX grew to $82,168 from the previous year's value of $80,458.

The following chart displays the households in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $200k+ range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX is from Texas.

0.475

2024 Wage GINI in Texas

0.475

2023 Wage GINI in Texas

In 2024, the income inequality in Texas was 0.475 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.0391% decline from 2023 to 2024, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Texas was higher than than the national average of 0.474. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Texas in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Texas across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024

Drove Alone (71.6%)
Worked At Home (13.4%)
Carpooled (10.1%)

In 2024, 71.6% of workers in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX drove alone to work, followed by those who worked at home (13.4%) and those who carpooled to work (10.1%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

29.9 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX have a longer commute time (29.9 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 2.52% of the workforce in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

13.9% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX (1.02M out of 7.35M people) live below the poverty line, a number that is higher than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Females 25 - 34, followed by Females 35 - 44 and then Males 6 - 11.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX is Hispanic, followed by White and Two Or More.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.