Talking Points

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, 2019 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
• Prior to COVID-19, Houston served 184 nonstop destinations
• $197 billion in trade was handled by the Houston-Galveston Customs District in '20: $67 in imports and $130 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 Belgium and ahead of Nigeria
• Since 2001, real (i.e., net of inflation) GDP in the Houston region has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 2.6 percent

• Houston is the nation's seventh largest metro economy
• Twenty-three Fortune 500 companies call Houston home

EMPLOYMENT

• There are 3.1 million jobs in the Houston MSA
• The Health, Education, and Business & Professional Services industries account for nearly 1 out of 3 jobs in the region
• The goods-producing sector accounts for more than 1 in 6 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 230,300 people work in the region's manufacturing industry
• More than 350 aviation and aerospace-related companies are in Houston
• Houston has 8,800 tech-related firms, including more than 700 venture-backed startups
• Houston employs 84,000+ workers in computer & mathematical occupations