The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area (Houston MSA) consists of 10 counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller. The metro area:
Ranks sixth among U.S. metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 5,728,143 as of mid-2008.
Covers more than 10,000 square miles.
Had a gross product of $435.9 billion, according to The Perryman Group.
Recorded 2.55 million payroll jobs in May 2009, more than the job counts of 29 U.S. states, including Arizona, Colorado and Alabama.
Gross Area Product
Real Gross Area Product in Houston forecasts sustained growth over the next quarter century.
Real (i.e ., net of inflation) Gross Area Product (GAP) in the Houston region is expected to grow 3.76 percent annually, on average, from 2005 to 2035 according to The Perryman Group.
Compound annual growth rates over the forecast period are highest in information (4.46 percent), durable goods manufacturing (4.23 percent), nondurable goods manufacturing (4.05 percent) and finance, insurance and real estate (4.04 percent).
Economic Base Diversification
The Houston region has worked very hard and methodically to diversify its economic base, sharply decreasing its dependence on upstream energy. In fact, diversifying sectors account for 74 percent of net job growth in the base since 1986.
Employment by Industry
The Houston region continues to demonstrate a favorable location quotient for oil and gas extraction and 7.35 for support activities for mining, reflecting the overwhelming concentration of the nation's oil and gas exploration and production activities - largely corporate headquarters, other offices and research facilities, plus oilfield services - in this region.
Other industries in which Houston location quotients exceed 1.2 include construction, fabricated metal products manufacturing, agricultural, construction and mining machinery manufacturing, computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, petroleum refining, chemicals manufacturing, durable goods wholesale trade, utilities, air transportation, pipeline transportation, rental and leasing services, and architectural, engineering and related services.
