Official Federal Data
Harris County, Texas
FIPS 48201 · Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX · Population 4,838,303
9 Sources
Updated June 22, 2026
$74,983 ▲
Median Income
$80,734 national
4.5%
Unemployment
4% national
$592.8B ▲
GDP
34.2% ▲
Bachelor's+
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household
$74,983 ▲
Per Capita
$41,006 ▲
Mean Household
$111,429 ▲
Poverty Rate
16.3% ▲
Median Income Comparison
Harris County$74,983
Texas$78,476
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B02001, B03003
Cohorts
Under 18 · 25.9%
18-34 · 24.8%
35-54 · 27%
55-64 · 10.6%
65+ · 11.7%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
82.5%
High School+
National: 89.6%
▼ 7.1 pts
34.2%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
▼ 1.5 pts
13.1%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
▼ 1.0 pts
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
4,838,303
Population
2,515,618
Labor Force
Employed
2,343,196
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4.5%
Mean Commute 3 min above national avg
29.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
12.9%
Key Takeaways
- Elevated poverty: At 16.3%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
- Young population: Median age of 35 is materially below the U.S. norm, a workforce pipeline asset.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 288,011 workers (15.7% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $71,774.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $592.8B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $165,302 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $29,609, a 5.6x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Dominant Cluster
Transportation & Warehousing Cluster
Coherent grouping of concentrated sub-sectors, signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
67,862
Cluster Employment
13.04x
Peak LQ
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
Oil and Gas Extraction
17.92x 33,021
Pipeline Transportation
13.04x 11,546
Support Activities for Mining
6.29x 26,418
Water Transportation
3.15x 3,410
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
2.52x 4,350
Support Activities for Transportation
2.51x 32,418
Air Transportation
2.27x 20,488
Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
2.12x 39,536
Utilities
2.04x 19,372
Machinery Manufacturing
1.96x 33,567
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, realistic diversification targets. Source: BLS QCEW
0.07x
Crop Production
592 employed
0.11x
Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
660 employed
0.12x
Textile Mills
148 employed
0.14x
Animal Production and Aquaculture
601 employed
0.14x
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
3,908 employed
0.27x
Paper Manufacturing
1,520 employed
0.29x
Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing
109 employed
0.30x
Mining (except Oil and Gas)
885 employed
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Oil and Gas Extraction concentrates at 17.92x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 10 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, suggesting an interconnected industrial base rather than reliance on a single employer or sector.
- Attraction whitespace: 8 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064
$276,600 ▲
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,401 ▲
Rent/Mo
54.7% ▲
Owner-Occ
8.4% ▼
Vacancy
3.7x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026
Studio
$1,280/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,323/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,573/mo
3 Bedroom
$2,116/mo
4 Bedroom
$2,639/mo
30% of monthly median household income (~$1,875/mo) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.7x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 3 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom tiers sit below the 30%-of-median-income affordability threshold (~$1,875/mo).
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23025, B08303, B08301
3,018,084 ▲
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 3 min above national avg
29.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
12.9%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
80.3%
of prime-age population
▼ vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
34.2% ▲
HS Diploma+
82.5% ▲
Local & Area Institutions (within ~40 mi)
Total credentials awarded
45,240/yr ▲
11,449/yr
10,852/yr
8,335/yr
6,679/yr
4,248/yr
3,677/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
17%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
39.4%
Service
16.5%
Sales & Office
19.9%
Construction / Maint.
10.7%
Production / Transport
13.6%
Bars scaled 2× for visual differentiation; percentage labels show actual share of 2,343,196 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Talent pipeline: 6 local institutions feed the workforce; the top three combined produce 30,636 annual credentials.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
AI-assisted analysis, drawn from 9 federal data sources
Sample AI Insight
Harris County shows strong potential for oil and gas extraction attraction, with a 17.92x concentration and 33,021 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
The interconnected base across oil and gas extraction, pipeline transportation, and support activities for mining creates supply-chain attraction leverage rather than single-employer risk, a structural advantage for industrial recruitment.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS (via FRED)2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Harris County, Texas, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Harris County, Texas?
4,838,303 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Harris County, Texas?
$74,983 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Harris County, Texas?
4.5% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Harris County, Texas?
$592.8B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP1).
Harris County, TX: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →