Houston, United States Population

Population in Urban Area, now

6,633,167
  • World: 60th
  • North America: 5th
  • United States: 4th

Houston Urban Area Population Graph

Houston Population Review

Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the United States. It spans across 1,700 square-kilometres all the way down to Galveston Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. Houston is known for stellar Tex-Mex cuisine, the Texas Medical Centre—the largest medical complex in the world—and for being the world capital of space exploration with the centre for human space flight, the Johnson Space Centre, located there. Houston is also unique being the only major American city that does not use land-use zoning laws, which means that Houston can be quite the assortment of residential, business, restaurants and industrial complexes all siting side-by-side.

Houston is home to some 2.3 million people in the city and 6.2 million in the total urban area, and shows no sign of slowing down. Experts predict that Houston’s steady growth will continue and that the urban area will be home to 7.5 million people by the end of 2035.

One of the fastest growing cities in the USA

Houston’s population is continually on the rise. In the 2016 census, it was shown that approximately 18,600 people decided to call Houston their new home between July 2015 and July 2016—that’s some impressive growth! Texas overall is a state with a booming population and four of the five fastest growing cities in the South are located there. Experts at the U.S. Census Bureau predict that this trend will continue in the coming years, and that cities in the Southern United States will continue to grow at a faster pace than their northern cousins. Houston also benefits from being highly attractive to developers, with many master-planned communities being built.

While the city is currently a hotbed of growth in the nation, there is some evidence that this may slow for Houston in the near future. While there was a natural increase of 61,537 residents and a net migration of 32,722 people to the city in 2017, it is a drop compared to a few years ago. For example, in 2014, Houston added 156,371 people overall to their city.

…and one of the fattest city in the USA

Houston may be the fastest growing city in the country, but it is also the winner of a less fortunate title: one of the fattest cities in the country. Americans are some of the fattest people in the world, and residents of Houston, Texas are helping to tip that scale. Experts compared the most populated areas in the country and cross-referenced this with 19 key indicators of weight-related problems and found Houston to be one of the areas with the most overweight people. Surveys done on the city took into account a variety of factors like the amount of health clubs per capita and their use, the amount of unhealthy restaurants per capita, the availability of mental health practitioners, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and adult physical activity to calculate how unhealthy the city is. Houston also got low marks access to healthcare and a lack of green space.

A diverse and multicultural city

Some people are surprised to learn that Houston is a very diverse and cosmopolitan city. Stereotypes of the southern United States lead many to believe the area isn’t welcoming to people from other ethnic backgrounds, but Houston’s status as a port city, it’s many academic institutions, and its robust industries make it an attractive locale for people from all walks of life. Out of 501 communities examined in a WalletHub report, Houston was found to be the most diverse. There are over 140 languages spoken in Houston, with Spanish and Vietnamese among the most popular after English. The city has a racial diversity makeup of 7% Anglo, 37% Hispanic, 17% black, and 8% Asian. This multicultural melting pot is the reason why Houston was named the most diverse city in the country in 2019.

Review Updated: July 9, 2020
Texas Skyline with modern skyscapersTexas Skyline with modern skyscapers

Houston Urban Area Population History

1950 709,000
1951 744,000
1952 782,000
1953 821,000
1954 861,000
1955 904,000
1956 950,000
1957 997,000
1958 1,047,000
1959 1,099,000
1960 1,151,000
1961 1,196,000
1962 1,243,000
1963 1,292,000
1964 1,343,000
1965 1,396,000
1966 1,451,000
1967 1,508,000
1968 1,568,000
1969 1,630,000
1970 1,693,000
1971 1,756,000
1972 1,821,000
1973 1,888,000
1974 1,958,000
1975 2,030,000
1976 2,105,000
1977 2,183,000
1978 2,264,000
1979 2,348,000
1980 2,424,000
1981 2,469,000
1982 2,515,000
1983 2,562,000
1984 2,610,000
1985 2,658,000
1986 2,708,000
1987 2,758,000
1988 2,810,000
1989 2,862,000
1990 2,922,000
1991 3,003,000
1992 3,087,000
1993 3,174,000
1994 3,262,000
1995 3,353,000
1996 3,447,000
1997 3,543,000
1998 3,642,000
1999 3,744,000
2000 3,847,000
2001 3,947,000
2002 4,050,000
2003 4,156,000
2004 4,264,000
2005 4,375,000
2006 4,489,000
2007 4,606,000
2008 4,727,000
2009 4,850,000
2010 4,976,000
2011 5,106,000
2012 5,239,000
2013 5,376,000
2014 5,516,000
2015 5,660,000
2016 5,807,000
2017 5,959,000
2018 6,115,000
2019 6,245,000
2020 6,371,000
2021 6,491,000
2022 6,603,000
2023 6,707,000
2024 6,802,000

Houston Urban Area Population Projections

2025 6,890,000
2026 6,971,000
2027 7,046,000
2028 7,118,000
2029 7,187,000
2030 7,254,000
2031 7,319,000
2032 7,383,000
2033 7,446,000
2034 7,508,000
2035 7,569,000

Map of Houston, United States

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