Talking Points

POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

• 7.8 million people live in the ten-county Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands MSA.
• The Houston metro is the nation's fifth most populous metro area.
• Metro Houston ranks between Arizona and Washington by population.
• Nearly 1 in 4 Houstonians are foreign-born.
• The City of Houston has 2.3 million residents, the fourth most in the U.S.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 American Community Survey, 2024 Population Estimates

GLOBAL PRESENCE

• Fifteen foreign governments maintain trade and commercial offices in Houston, and the region has 41 active foreign chambers of commerce.
• Cargo activity at the Houston Ship Channel supported 1.5 million direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the state of Texas.
• Houston’s two international airports service 191 nonstop destinations, including 123 domestic and 68 international.
• The Houston-Galveston Customs District handled $373.7 billion in trade in '24, $122.5 billion in imports and $251.2 billion in exports.
• Port Houston is the busiest container port on the Gulf Coast.
• Over 5,000 Houston companies are doing business abroad.
• More than 1,800 Houston companies report foreign ownership.
• Eighteen foreign banks from ten nations are located in Houston.

ECONOMY 

• If Houston were an independent nation, the region would have the 23rd largest economy in the world, ranking between Belgium and Taiwan.
• Since 2018, real GDP in the Houston region has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 2.3 percent.

• Houston is the seventh-largest metro economy in the U.S.
• Twenty-four Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Houston, the third most among U.S. metros.

EMPLOYMENT

• There are 3.5 million jobs in the Houston MSA.
• The Health, Education, and Business & Professional Services industries account for over 1 in 4 jobs in the region.
• The goods-producing sector accounts for nearly 1 in 6 jobs.

INDUSTRIES

• The Texas Medical Center is the world's largest medical complex

Digital Technology & Innovation

• Houston is home to 9,300 tech-related firms, including more than 1,000 venture-backed startups.
• Houston employs more than 84,860 workers in computer and mathematical occupations.
• Nearly 76,530 engineers, architects, and related techs work in Houston. 

Aerospace

• Houston’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) has served as mission control for U.S. space exploration and astronaut training since 1961.
• More than 500 aviation and aerospace-related companies operate in Houston, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.