Facts and Figures

Houston, the fourth-largest city in the United States, is also one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country. This cosmopolitan and international destination attracts visitors and residents from all over the world. Read on for a few important insider Houston facts.

Size 

At 655 square miles, the City of Houston is larger in area than the cities of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Diego.

Population/Demography 

Houston, with 2.3 million residents, is the fourth most populous city in the United States, trailing only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The city is the largest in the South and the Southwest. 

 

7.8 million residents live in the 10 counties of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

Houston is the nation’s demographic future. In racial and ethnic composition, the Houston of today very much resembles the U.S. 40 years hence.

 

• 38.8% Hispanics
• 32.7% Anglo
• 16.7% African American
• 8.1% Asian/Other
• 3.7% Other

More than 145 different languages are spoken in Houston, with English, Spanish and Vietnamese being the top three, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Just over 35% of the population over the age of 25 holds a bachelor's degree or higher.

Houston has a very young population. Approximately 19.2% of residents are between the ages of 5 to 19, the largest population segment. 

Business/Value

Houston is home to 23 Fortune 500 companies.

 

The Greater Houston Area is ranked in the third place among the most affordable cities to live in the United States.

Overall Culture

Houston was ranked in the top 5 in the list of the Top Best Food Cities in the USA by Travel + Leisure. Houston was the only Texas city in this list.

 

Houston ranks No. 1 in the nation in new construction over the last decade, according to a report from StorageCafe.com.

Green Space

With 665 parks, Houston is one of the cities with more park acreage per capita among U.S. cities with more than one million residents.

 

61 percent of Houston residents live within a 10-minute walk from a park, which represents 6% more than the national average.

 

Whether for walking, running, jogging or biking, the city of Houston offers an extensive trail system, more than 163.12 miles, running through parks, streets and bayous. The network includes bike lanes, bike routes, signed-shared lanes and shared-use paths.

 

There are more than 110 golf courses in the Greater Houston Area, both public and private. Opened in 1922, Hermann Park Golf Course, is the oldest golf course in the city according to Golflink.com.

 

Bird watching enthusiasts may practice their hobby in several Downtown Houston parks, including Sam Houston Park, Buffalo Bayou Park and Hermann Park, listed within the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, Buffalo Bayou Loop.

International Connections 

Houston welcomed more than 3 million international visitors in 2024. The vast majority of those travelers came from Mexico (1.9 million).

 

82 nations have consular representation in the city, ranking Houston’s consular corps as one of the largest in the nation.

Houston has 19 sister-city relationships promoting business opportunities across five continents: Asia (8), Europe (7), Americas (2), Africa (1), and Oceania (1). Houston’s oldest sister-city relationship was established in 1961 with Taipei, Taiwan, and its most recent relationship with Ulsan, South Korea was established in 2021.

Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) offers non-stop service to more than 180 destinations, both national and international, served by 25 airlines. While Hobby Airport (HOU) services 81 destinations with seven airlines.

 

Passenger traffic through Houston Airports was more than 63 million in 2024, according to Houston Airport System.

Hospitality Industry 

The Greater Houston Area received a total of 92.6 million visitors in 2024, an increase of 5.5% year to year. Mexico continues to be the top international market for Houston with near to 2 million visitors in 2024. 

The economic impact for the travel and hospitality industry in Houston was $27.4 million in 2024. The same year, the industry generated 206,589 related jobs.

There are 1,336 hotels and motels in the Greater Houston Area, plus 108 RV sites.

Conventions and Major Events

With more than 4.4 million square feet of convention space, metro Houston ranks at the top of American cities when comparing convention venues. 

In 2022 Houston hosted 417 conventions, events and shows that drew 751,500 attendees to the city’s facilities.

Houston will be one of the host cities for the World Baseball Classic in 2026, games will be played at Daikin Park. Houston will also be home to seven games of the FIFA World Cup 2026, with games to be played at NRG Stadium.

The Arts

Texas has 54 cultural districts designated by the Texas Commission on the Arts, of which seven are in Houston: 1) Greater East End, 2) Midtown, 3) Museum District, 4) Theater District, 5) Arts District Houston (was Washington Avenue), 6) Fifth Ward Cultural Arts District, 7) Third Ward Cultural District.

Houston is one of only a few U.S. cities with resident professional companies in the four disciplines of the performing arts: ballet, opera, symphony and theater.

Theater Facts:

Houston’s Theater District, located in downtown Houston, features seven renowned performing arts organizations and many smaller ones in four venues: Alley Theatre, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Jones Hall and Wortham Theater Center. The Theater District also includes one venue dedicated solely to dance: Houston Ballet’s Center of Dance. 

• Houston Ballet: Hailed by The New York Times as "...one of the nation's best ballet companies"
• Houston Symphony: Founded in 1913, is one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.
• The Alley Theatre has staged more than 25 world premieres in its history, and produces up to 16 performances per year.
• Houston Grand Opera: The only opera company in the world with Grammy, Tony, and Emmy awards.
• Theatre Under the Stars is one of the largest nonprofit producers of musical theater in America.

Museum Facts:

The Houston Museum District is one of the country’s most visited and diverse cultural centers with 21 museums within close proximity. These museums provide rich experiences in art, history, culture, nature and science.

• Children’s Museum of Houston is the highest attended youth museum in the country for its size and rated No. 1 in the country by Parents magazine. 
• The Houston Zoo, which celebrated its first Centennial in 2022, seeks to provide a fun and inspirational experience fostering appreciation, knowledge and care for the natural world. Houston Zoo houses over 6,000 animals from about 900 species and attracts over 2 million guests each year.
• The Menil Collection: Considered one of the most important private collections of the 20th century.
• The Health Museum: This interactive science center that opened in 1996 is also one of the member institutions of the Texas Medical Center. Most visited health museum in the country.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston: Is one of the 10 largest art museums in the country. Its beautiful campus encompasses three art gallery buildings, a fine dining restaurant, an art school and a sculpture garden.
• Rothko Chapel: The only ecumenical center of its kind in the world was founded in 1971.

Education 

The Greater Houston area has 21 major institutions of higher learning and more than 60 degree-granting colleges, universities and technical schools. 

Houston (Rice University) is the birthplace of nanotechnology.

Tier One research universities in the Houston region include: Rice University, the University of Houston and Texas A&M University. 

Food

Houston is considered to have one of the best and most diverse culinary scenes in the country, with cuisine from around the world. There are more than 13,000 restaurants in the Houston area with culinary choices that represent more than 70 countries and American regions.

In 2024, Houston received the Michelin designation as part of the MICHELIN Texas Guide. A total of 30 restaurants received some type of Michelin recognition including six restaurants with One Star Michelin.

Houston was named as “the new capital of good food” by Food & Wine magazine, and the most exciting gastronomy city by Tasting Table magazine.

Space 

Houston is home to Johnson Space Center, the training base and home for our nation's astronauts and the site of Mission Control. For more than three decades, JSC has been the world leader in human space flight operations for NASA.

In 1969, "Houston" was the first word spoken from the moon. The Apollo 11 mission established a place in history for the city when astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke the now-famous line, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

2019 was the year where Johnson Space Center celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing, and opened back to the public the restored Apollo Mission Control Center.

Space Center Houston is the official visitor center of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, which is NASA's center for spaceflight activities. Space Center Houston is a Smithsonian affiliate and one of the main attractions in Houston, from its opening in 1992, it has welcomed more than 20 million visitors.

Houston is also home to a space port. Houston Spaceport is part of the Houston Airport System and has become one of the most important hubs for space aeronautics and aviation worldwide. Houston Spaceport supports a wide range of commercial initiatives like space manufacturing and education while its tenants develop innovative technologies that contribute in great part to the regional economy. https://www.fly2houston.com/spaceport/

Film 

Hollywood directors frequently film in Houston because of the vastly diverse terrain and unique locations found in the Greater Houston area, from the urban landscape seen in Jason’s Lyric and Reality Bites to the NASA favorites Apollo 13, Armageddon and Space Cowboys. 

In fact, Houston’s varied topography can sometimes be unrecognizable. Who would have guessed that the lush, green landscape on the Rushmore campus was not filmed in New England but in Houston just 10 minutes from downtown? Or that Houston doubled for Arlington, Virginia in the thriller Arlington Road?

Other blockbusters filmed in Houston:

• Boyhood
• Terms of Endearment
• Evening Star
• RoboCop 2
• Tin Cup
• Flags of Our Fathers
• Mao’s Last Dancer
• Tree of Life
• MO -Netflix Series
• Red Rocket
• Top Chef, Season 19 (TV series)

Medicine 

Texas Medical Center (TMC) is the largest medical complex in the world, with 63 member institutions, including several that consistently rank within the best in the country per recognitions from U.S. News and World Report.

TMC is home to renowned hospitals including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the No. 1 cancer hospital in the country, plus Texas Children’s, Houston Methodist and Memorial Hermann. Within TMC member institutions are several support organizations, academic and research institutions, nursing programs, public health organizations, medical schools, universities, pharmacy schools and a dental school.

The TMC handles approximately 10 million patient visits annually. This medical campus in Houston has 120,000 employees.

More surgeries are performed in the Texas Medical Center than anywhere else in the world. More than 180,000 annually.

The first successful human heart transplant was performed in Houston by Dr. Denton Cooley (1968).

Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital is the birth place of Life Flight™ (1976).

History 

• 1836: On April 21, General Sam Houston's army wins Texas' Independence from Mexico in the Battle of San Jacinto.
• 1836: Houston founded on Aug. 30 by brothers Augustus C. and John K. Allen, who pay just over $1.40 per acre for 6,642 acres near headwaters of Buffalo Bayou.
• 1837: General Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas, signs an act authorizing Houston to incorporate. Houston is capital of the Republic from 1837-1839.
• 1853: Houston's first railroad - the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad - begins operations.
• 1868: Houston's first trolley cars (mule-drawn) appear.
• 1899: First Houston city park opens. (This site, now Sam Houston Park, contains several of Houston's earliest buildings.
• 1912: Rice Institute (now Rice University) begins classes.
• 1913: Houston Symphony is established.
• 1914: The 25-foot-deep Houston Ship Channel is completed and formally dedicated.
• 1924: Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the first fine arts museum in Texas, opens
• 1932: First Houston Fat Stock Show & Rodeo (now Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) held.
• 1943: Texas Medical Center is founded.
• 1962: NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center moves to Houston.
• 1969: Houston Intercontinental Airport begins operations.
• 1969: "Houston" is the first word spoken from the lunar surface.
• 1970: The Galleria opens.
• 2004: Houston's first modern rail line - 7.5 miles long - begins operations.
• 2017 and 2022: Houston’s MLB baseball team, the Houston Astros win the World Series Championship.
• 2021: Rothko Chapel celebrates its 50^th anniversary.
• 2023: Houston hosts the NCAA Men’s Final Four for the fourth time.