Talking Points
Published on 8/24/20
Talking Points Q3-20
POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS
- 7.1 million residents live in the nine-county Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA
- The Houston metro is the nation's 5th most populous metro area, larger than Missouri or Maryland
- Approximate number of city of Houston residents: 2.3 million
- Houston is the nation's 4th most populous city
- Nearly 1 in 4 Houstonians are foreign born
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey
GLOBAL PRESENCE
- Fifteen foreign governments maintain trade and commercial offices in Houston and the region has 41 active foreign chambers of commerce
- 17.3% of the region's economy is tied to exports and exports support 330,000 jobs
- The Houston Airport System served 59.7 million passengers in '19, and flew to 67 international destinations and 117 domestic destinations
- Houston serves 184 nonstop destinations
- $237 billion in trade was handled by the Houston-Galveston Customs District in '19: $85.2 in imports and $151.8 in exports
- Houston has the largest export market in the U.S.
- Port Houston is the largest Gulf Coast container port
- Over 5,000 Houston companies are doing business abroad
- More than 1,700 Houston companies report foreign ownership
- Seventy-eight nations have consular representation in Houston, the third largest representation in the nation
- Sixteen foreign banks are located in Houston from 9 nations
ECONOMY
- If Houston were an independent nation, the region would have the 27th largest economy in the world, behind Thailand and ahead of Austria
- Since 2001, real (i.e., net of inflation) GDP in the Houston region has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 2.4 percent
- Houston is the nation's seventh largest metro economy
- Twenty-two Fortune 500 companies call Houston home
EMPLOYMENT
- There are 3 million jobs in the Houston MSA
- The Health, Education, and Business & Professional Services industries account for 1 out of 3 jobs in the region
- The goods-producing sector accounts for nearly 1 in 5 of the region's jobs
INDUSTRIES
- The Texas Medical Center is the world's largest medical complex

- Houston is home to 84,560 engineers and architects
- Approximately 234,900 people work in the region's manufacturing industry
- 42 of the 113 publicly-traded oil and gas exploration firms are housed in Houston
- 630 exploration and production firms and 800 oil field service companies are located in the Houston region
- Houston employs 26% of the nation's oil and gas extraction jobs
Demography
Economy