The Houston Region - Greater Houston Partnership

Transcription

2015
HOUSTONFACTS
GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP
MEMBERS: $10 | NONMEMBERS: $20
Discover the
Houston Region
THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
AUSTIN | BRAZORIA | CHAMBERS | FORT BEND | GALVESTON | HARRIS | LIBERTY | MONTGOMERY | SAN JACINTO |WALKER | WALLER
Table of Contents
The Houston Region: The Facts Speak for
Themselves....................................................................4
Houston Region in Perspective.............................. 5
Area......................................................................... 5
People..................................................................... 5
Economy................................................................. 5
Geography............................................................. 5
Geography............................................................. 6
Demographics.............................................................. 6
Education.....................................................................19
Schools..................................................................19
Libraries................................................................20
Colleges and Universities................................20
Infrastructure............................................................... 21
Public Utilities...................................................... 21
Land Transportation........................................... 21
Seaports...............................................................22
Air Transportation.............................................. 23
Population.............................................................. 6
Communications Media........................................... 24
Income............................................................................8
Newspapers........................................................ 24
Broadcast Media................................................ 24
Per Capita Personal Income..............................8
Total Personal Income.........................................8
Weekly Wage.........................................................8
Houston Economy...................................................... 9
Corporate Economy...........................................10
International Business........................................ 11
Employment........................................................... 11
Industries...................................................................... 12
Aerospace............................................................. 12
Banking and Finance......................................... 12
Wholesale and Retail Trade............................. 12
Construction and Real Estate.......................... 12
Energy.................................................................... 14
Engineering.......................................................... 14
Health Care.......................................................... 15
Texas Medical Center........................................ 15
Manufacturing......................................................16
Technology..................................................................16
Government................................................................. 17
City of Houston.................................................... 17
Counties................................................................ 17
State Government............................................... 17
United States Congress.................................... 17
Council of Governments................................... 18
Taxation................................................................. 18
Public Safety......................................................... 18
Environment............................................................... 24
Water..................................................................... 24
Clean Air............................................................... 24
Renewable Energy............................................ 25
Life in Houston...........................................................26
Cost of Living......................................................26
Weather................................................................ 26
Restaurants.......................................................... 27
Convention and Sports Facilities................... 27
Conventions and Major Events...................... 28
Hotels and Motels..............................................29
Golf........................................................................29
Racing...................................................................30
Biking and Hiking...............................................30
Arts and Cultural Industry................................30
Performance Arts Facilities.............................30
Performance Arts................................................ 31
Houston Museum District................................. 31
Additional Houston-Area Museums.............. 32
Parks...................................................................... 33
Forests.................................................................. 34
Wildlife Refuges.................................................. 34
Houston Zoo........................................................ 34
Houston: The City With No Limits........................ 35
History.......................................................................... 36
The Houston Region: The Facts Speak for Themselves
Houston Facts. The title says much about this publication. No spin. No frills. No
hyperbole. Just page after page of straightforward information from more than 300
sources to answer questions most frequently asked about the Houston region.
Downtown Skyline and the Rosemont Bridge overlooking Buffalo Bayou
Houston Facts has presented unvarnished
information about the Houston region since 1959, and
its predecessor publications — under different names,
but with the same objective — date to 1906. Over
the decades, Houston Facts has grown well beyond
its original four pages so that we could expand the
range and depth of its coverage, bringing you more
information about parks, museums, schools, living
costs, the regional economy and a host of other
topics. It’s evolved into a concise almanac for the
Houston region. Corporate planners, market analysts,
students, relocation and site selection consultants,
real estate professionals, government agencies and
myriad others turn to it for authoritative information
on this region.
You may find in these pages facts that surprise
you, tantalize you and perhaps alter your image of
Houston. For example:
•
If Houston were a country, it would rank as the
25th largest economy in the world—exceeding
Norway and Belgium’s GDP.
•
The Houston region has no racial or ethnic majority.
•
The Port of Houston ranks first in U.S.
foreign tonnage.
•
Living costs in the Houston region are 19.2 percent
below the average for major metropolitan areas.
•
Parks represent 14.3 percent of the city’s
land area.
Of course, we believe the Houston region is one
of the nation’s most attractive major metropolitan
areas — an outstanding place to live, work, and
build a business. We’d like you to share that view.
But we won’t try to persuade you. The facts need no
embellishment. They speak for themselves.
HERE THEY ARE.
4 – Houston Facts | 2015
Houston Region in Perspective
Area
•
The nine-county Houston-The WoodlandsSugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
covers 9,432 square miles – an area smaller than
Maryland but larger than New Jersey.
•
Harris County covers 1,778 square miles – an
area nearly half as large as Rhode Island.
•
At 655 square miles, the city limits of Houston
could contain the cities of New York, Washington,
D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis
and Miami.
People
•
•
•
•
If the nine-county Houston MSA were a state,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau, it would
rank 18th in population. The Houston MSA’s
6,490,180 residents as of July 1, 2014 would place
it behind Tennessee (6,549,352) and ahead of
Missouri (6,063,589) and Maryland (5,976,407).
If Harris County were a state, it would rank 26th
in population. Its 4,441,370 residents as of July 1,
2014 would place it behind Louisiana (4,649,676)
and ahead of Kentucky (4,413,457) and Oklahoma
(3,970,239).
If the city of Houston were a state, it would rank
36th in population. The city’s 2,239,558 residents
in 2014 place it behind Nevada (2,839,099) and
ahead of New Mexico (2,085,572).
Among the nation’s metropolitan areas, the
Houston MSA in 2013 ranked fourth in number
of Hispanics (2,279,622), seventh in number
of blacks (1,063,017) and seventh in number
of Asians (438,349), according to the Census
Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Economy
•
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates
the Houston MSA had a nominal GDP of $517.4
billion in 2013. Among the states, Houston would
rank ninth, after New Jersey ($537.4 billion) and
ahead of North Carolina ($467.1 billion).
•
If the MSA were an independent nation, it would
rank as the world’s 25th largest economy,
according to the International Monetary Fund –
behind Poland ($517.7 billion), but ahead of Norway
($512.6 billion) and Belgium ($508.3 billion).
•
In June 2015, the Houston MSA had more jobs
(2,987,000) than 35 states, including Wisconsin
(2,931,800),
Tennessee
(2,903,200),
and
Minnesota (2,860,300).
•
In 2014, the Houston Association of Realtors®
Multiple Listing Service recorded closings on
91,261 properties (includes single-family homes,
townhomes, condos, high rises, etc.) – an average
of one every 5.8 minutes.
•
In 2014, Houston MSA automobile dealers sold
373,998 new cars, trucks and SUVs – an average
of one every 1.4 minutes.
•
In 2014, the Houston Airport System handled
53,196,840 passengers – an average of 6,073
passengers per hour around the clock.
•
In 2014, the City of Houston issued building
permits for construction valued at $8.67 billion –
an average of $275 per second.
•
In 2014, contracts for the construction of new
buildings in the Houston MSA totaled $30.5
billion – an average of $58,029 per minute.
Geography
•
The city of Houston lies in three counties: Harris,
Fort Bend and Montgomery. Harris County
contains the bulk of the city of Houston with
small portions of the city lying in Fort Bend and
Montgomery counties.
•
Houston is the county seat, or administrative
center, of Harris County.
•
Harris County contains all or part of 34
incorporated cities.
•
The Houston MSA includes 124 incorporated
communities.
HOUSTON.ORG – 5
Geography
Montgomery
HOUSTON MSA:
9,432 square miles
Liberty
Austin
Waller
Harris
HARRIS COUNTY:
1,778 square miles
TEXAS
Chambers
Houston
Fort Bend
CITY OF HOUSTON:
655 square miles
Galveston
Brazoria
•
2013 Delineation for the Houston region:
Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas
(MSA) are geographic delineations defined by
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
use by federal statistical agencies in collecting,
tabulating, and publishing federal statistics.
These geographic delineations change over time.
•
2009 Delineation for the Houston region:
•
Houston-The
Woodlands-Sugar
Land
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) contains
nine counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort
Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery
and Waller.
The longer titles are shortened to “Houston MSA” in
Houston Facts.
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) contains 10 counties: Austin,
Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris,
Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller.
Demographics
Population
•
•
Houston, the fourth most populous U.S. city
(estimated at 2,239,558 on July 1, 2014), is the
largest city in the South and Southwest. The
city of Houston had the second largest numeric
increase (35,752) of any U.S. city from July 1, 2013
to July 1, 2014.
Geography
Population
As of July 1,
2013*
Median Age
(in Years)**
Total
Households**
Harris County (estimated at 4,441,370 on July
1, 2014) is the third most populous U.S. county.
Among all U.S. counties, Harris County had
the highest numeric population increase from
July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2014—gaining 88,618 new
residents.
Average Persons
per Household**
Foreign-born
Estimate**
Percent of Total
Population Foreign-born**
Houston MSA
6,490,180
33.5
2,098,109
2.91
1,379,111
22.3%
Austin County
29,114
40.6
11,063
2.57
2,554
8.9%
Brazoria County
338,124
35.5
109,826
2.86
41,683
12.8%
Chambers County
38,145
36.8
12,602
2.84
3,517
9.7%
Fort Bend County
685,345
35.3
196,617
3.17
163,095
26.0%
Galveston County
314,198
37.4
110,891
2.67
29,358
9.8%
4,441,370
32.5
1,452,316
2.9
1,064,485
25.0%
Harris County
Liberty County
78,117
36.4
24,793
2.84
5,464
7.2%
Montgomery
County
518,947
36.4
166,348
2.9
63,136
13.0%
Waller County
46,820
30.7
13,653
2.91
5,819
13.1%
Sources: *U.S. Bureau of the Census, Population Division, 2014 Population Estimates, **U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011-2013 American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates
•
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA
(estimated at 6,490,180 on July 1, 2014) ranks 5th
in population among the nation’s metropolitan
areas. The Houston MSA had the largest numeric
increase (156,371) in population of any U.S.
metro from July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2014, a 2.5
percent increase.
•
Of the Houston MSA’s 1,379,111 foreign-born, 7.2
percent or 99,202 entered the U.S. since 2010.
•
Top regions of birth for the Houston MSA’s
foreign-born are: Latin America 65.8 percent,
Asia 24.0 percent, Europe 4.5 percent, Africa
4.3 percent, Northern America 1.2 percent and
Oceania 0.2 percent.
Educational Attainment:
DECENNIAL CENSUS POPULATION TOTALS
Year
Houston MSA*
Harris County
5,920,416
2010
City of Houston
4,092,459
2,099,451
2000
4,693,161
3,400,578
1,953,631
1990
3,750,411
2,818,199
1,630,553
1980
3,135,806
2,409,544
1,595,138
1970
2,195,146
1,741,912
1,233,505
1960
1,594,894
1,243,158
938,219
1950
1,083,100
806,701
596,163
1940
752,937
528,961
384,514
1930
545,547
359,328
292,352
1920
348,661
186,667
138,276
1910
252,066
115,693
78,800
1900
202,438
63,786
44,633
1890
137,800
37,249
27,557
1880
112,053
27,985
16,513
1870
80,866
17,375
9,332
1860
55,317
9,070
4,845
1850
27,984
4,668
2,396
*Includes the counties of: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris,
Liberty, Montgomery and Waller.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census; Texas Almanac
Houston MSA
Total Population Over Age 25
10.80%
20.1%
6.1%
Graduate or
Professional Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
Associate Degree
21.2%
23.8%
8.4%
Some College,
No Degree
High School Graduate
or GED
9th to12th Grade,
No Diploma
9.5%
82.0%
30.9%
Less than
9th grade
High School Graduate Bachelor’s Degree
or Higher
or Higher
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2013 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates
Age Distribution
1%
8.6%
Race/Ethnicity
Houston MSA
Houston MSA
1.9%
Under 5 years
7.5%
5 to 19 years
6.9%
Anglo
20 to 24 years
11%
22.3%
25 to 34 years
36.1%
38.3%
35 to 44 years
13.4%
7%
14.3%
3,984,848
15%
45 to 54 years
55 to 64 years
65 to 84 years
Hispanic
Black/
African American
Asian
16.8%
Other
85 years & Over
HOUSTON.ORG – 7
COMPONENTS OF POPULATION CHANGE
RACE BY ETHNICITY
from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014
Geography
Houston MSA
Population
As of July 1,
2013*
6,490,180
Austin County
Net
Domestic
Migration
191,796
Net
International
Migration
129,729
Natural
Increase
Births
395,388
HOUSTON MSA
Natural
Increase
Deaths
148,318
29,114
198
166
1,477
1,116
703
797
6,053
11,113
3,816
14,301
Chambers County
38,145
1,987
126
1,956
1,065
3,049
Fort Bend County
685,345
58,395
16,646
34,534
10,877
100,448
Galveston County
314,198
13,009
2,873
16,703
9,984
22,894
4,441,370
63,037
100,542
286,753
99,111
348,359
78,117
856
238
4,412
3,032
2,474
518,947
40,967
6,384
27,488
13,171
63,183
Harris County
Liberty County
Montgomery
County
Waller County
46,820
2,044
210
2,439
1,161
Non-hispanic
White
2,415,820
38.3%
Black
1,063,017
16.8%
10,368
0.2%
438,349
6.9%
2,664
0.06%
12,351
0.2%
American Indian/
Alaska Native
569,690
338,124
Brazoria County
Race/Ethnicity
Total
Population
Change
Asian
Native Hawaiian/
Other Pacific Islander
Some Other Race
Two or More Races
TOTAL
90,967
1.4%
4,033,536
63.86%
Race/Ethnicity
3,583
Note: In some cases, the natural increase and the increase due to in-migration won’t sum to the change in population due to rounding
errors and the bureau’s use of residual values in generating the estimates.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Population Division, 2014 Population Estimates, Release Date
Hispanic
White
1,728,744
27.38%
Black
22,799
0.36%
American Indian/
Alaska Native
16,443
0.26%
2,900
0.05%
172
0.01%
457,152
7.24%
51,412
0.81%
2,279,622
36.11%
Asian
Native Hawaiian/
Other Pacific Islander
Some Other Race
Two or More Races
TOTAL
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2013 American Community
Survey, 1-Year Estimates
Income
Per Capita Personal Income
Weekly Wage
•
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data put the
nine-county Houston MSA pretax per capita
personal income (PCPI) in 2013 at $51,930.
•
•
The Houston region’s PCPI was 16.0 percent
above the U.S. average in 2013.
•
PCPI increased 1.1 percent in the Houston MSA
from 2012 to 2013.
Total Personal Income
•
Total personal income (TPI) in the nine-county
Houston MSA in 2013 was $327.8 billion, up 3.4
percent from 2012.
Average weekly wage in the Houston MSA in
2014 was $1,240 – 25.5 percent above the U.S.
average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. (Self-employed persons were not
included in the data.)
TOTAL WAGES AND SALARIES
2014 Total (thousands)
Houston MSA
Austin County
Brazoria County
$182,562,351
$453,509
$5,139,060
Chambers County
$650,801
Fort Bend County
$8,442,785
Galveston County
$4,586,378
Harris County
Liberty County
Montgomery County
Waller County
$153,694,151
$711,957
$8,158,105
$725,605
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment & Wages
Commuting to Work – Houston MSA
Total Workers – Age 16 and Over 2,942,781
OCCUPATIONS: HOUSTON MSA
Employed Persons Age 16 and Over
Total Civilian Employed Population
2,995,320
Management
298,755
Business and Financial Operations
165,789
Computer and Mathematical
74,152
Architecture and Engineering
91,302
Life, Physical, and Social Science
34,326
Community and Social Services
33,165
Legal
39,895
Education, Training, and Library
3.7%
1.4%
0.5%
1.5%
2.4%
Drove Alone in
Car, Truck or Van
Carpooled in
Car, Truck or Van
Public
Transportation
79.7%
Walked
10.9%
Bicycle
Other Means
174,944
Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Worked at Home
47,858
Health Diagnosing and Treating
Mean travel time to work (in minutes)
112,823
Health Technologists and Technicians
41,471
Healthcare Support
60,884
Protective Service
57,930
Food Preparation and Serving Related
160,594
Building and Grounds Maintenance
126,903
Personal Care and Service
Household Income in
Most Recent 12 Months– Houston MSA
Total Households 2,158,139 Median income $57,366
17.1%
84,408
Sales and Related
325,272
Office and Administrative Support
371,044
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
13.8%
13.2%
11.4%
9.5%
5,349
Construction and Extraction
214,897
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
106,361
Production
188,460
Transportation
107,916
Material Moving
29.4
7.2%
10.5%
6.4%
6.4%
4.5%
$200,000 $150,000 $100,000 $75,000 $50,000 $35,000 $25,000 $15,000 $10,000 Less than
or more
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
to
$10,000
$199,999 $149,999 $99,999 $74,999 $49,999 $34,999 $24,999 $14,999
70,822
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2013 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates.
Income is in 2013 inflation-adjusted dollars.
Houston Economy
Population & Employment Forecast
Metro Houston, Millions
7.2
6.6
5.9
2.6
10.2
9.4
8.6
7.9
Total Payroll Employment - Houston Metro Area*
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
3.0
3.3
3.6
4.2
3.9
4.4
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2010
2015
2020
Population
2025
2030
2035
2040
Employment
Source: The Perryman Group
During the most recent national recession, the Houston
Metro’s lowest employment count bottomed-out at
2.524 million in December 2009. However, Houston
Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan
’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15
* Not Seasonally Adjusted
Source: Texas Workforce Commission
has since experienced a full recovery, reaching a
record high of 2.989 million employees in July 2015.
HOUSTON.ORG – 9
Corporate Economy
Houston, a major corporate center, ranks third
among U.S. metro areas in the number of corporate
headquarters contained on the 2015 Fortune 500 list.
Many other Fortune 500 firms maintain U.S. offices
in Houston.
Houston’s corporate headquarters are represented
on the following lists:
Number of Houston-based companies
2015 Fortune 500
2014 Fortune Global 500
2015 Forbes Global 2000
26
8
26
•
Of the world’s 100 largest non-U.S.-based
corporations, 70 have a presence in Houston.
•
County Business Patterns shows that the Houston
MSA in 2013 had 129,490 business establishments
with payroll. These establishments fall into the
below employment size categories.
Employment Size
Number of
Establishments
Percent of
Establishments
1,000+
158
0.12%
500-999
261
0.20%
250-499
834
0.64%
100-249
2,806
2.17%
50-99
4,637
3.58%
20-49
12,713
9.82%
10-19
16,815
12.99%
5-9
24,009
18.54%
1-4
67,257
51.94%
EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY
Houston MSA 2014 Annual Average
Industry
Jobs (000)
% of total
GOODS PRODUCING
568.8
19.45%
Mining and Logging
110.4
3.77%
54.6
1.87%
Oil and Gas Extraction
Support Activities for Mining
54.1
1.85%
Construction
203.5
6.96%
Manufacturing
254.9
8.71%
Durable Goods
174.8
5.98%
80.2
2.74%
2356.2
80.55%
Wholesale Trade
168.5
5.76%
Retail Trade
294.3
10.06%
Transportation/ Warehousing/Utilities
134.2
4.59%
Information
32.9
1.12%
Finance and Insurance
93.6
3.20%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
54.2
1.85%
Professional and Business Services
463.4
15.84%
Nondurable Goods
SERVICE PRODUCING
Educational Services
52.6
1.80%
Health Care and Social Assistance
298.2
10.19%
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
30.1
1.03%
255.6
8.74%
104
3.56%
Accommodations and Food Services
Other Services
Government
TOTAL
374.7
12.81%
2,925.00
100.00%
Sum of individual sectors may not equal the total due to rounding.
Source: Texas Workforce Commission, Employment Estimates
Source: County Business Patterns, 2013 data released May 2015
NOMINAL GROSS AREA PRODUCT
Houston MSA
Industry
Agriculture
Mining
$ Billions
% of Total
0.437
0.08
102.936
19.3
Construction
24.784
4.7
Manufacturing
97.734
18.3
Nondurable Goods
68.547
12.9
Durable Goods
29.187
5.5
Transportation/Warehousing/Utilities
Trade (Wholesale and Retail)
Information
Finance/Insurance/Real Estate
Services
Government
TOTAL
37.08
7
56.093
10.5
7.753
1.5
63.388
11.9
111.633
20.9
31.158
5.8
$533.00
100
Source: The Perryman Group, Winter 2014 (last available data)
International Business
Employment
Houston, a major international city, consistently ranks
among the top three U.S. cities in the number of
foreign consulates.
•
Total nonfarm employment in the Houston MSA
stood at 2,987,000 in June 2015, up 55,700 from
June 2014.
It is the base of operations for the international oil and
gas exploration and production industry and for many
of the nation’s largest international engineering and
construction firms.
•
From June 2014 to June 2015, local nonfarm
employment in the Houston MSA rose 1.9 percent.
•
Houston MSA unemployment in June 2015 was
4.5 percent, versus a national unemployment
rate of 5.5 percent. The rates are not
seasonally adjusted.
•
A key center for international finance, Houston
leads the Southwest with 21 foreign banks from
9 nations. The Houston operations of these
banks account for 12 of Texas’ 15 foreign bank
representative offices and seven of Texas’ nine
foreign bank agencies.
•
Ninety-one nations have consular representation
in the city, ranking Houston’s consular corps third
largest in the nation.
•
Fourteen foreign governments maintain trade
and commercial offices here, and the city has 32
active foreign chambers of commerce and trade
associations.
•
Consumers can search the Houston Association
of Realtors® properties database (HAR.com) in
English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian
and Vietnamese. The association’s more than
5,600 multilingual realtors speak 94 languages.
•
Houston has 17 sister-city relationships promoting
business opportunities across five continents:
Australia (1), Asia (6), Europe (7), Africa (1) and
Americas (2).
•
In May 2015, the Greater Houston Partnership’s
database listed 5,700 Houston area firms, foreign
government offices and nonprofit organizations
involved in international business.
•
430 Houston area companies report having
offices abroad in 144 countries.
•
More than 800 firms in Houston report foreign
ownership.
•
More than 150 foreign-owned firms invested
in office expansions, new plants and expanded
distribution facilities in Houston since the
beginning of ’11.
•
At least $12.5 billion in capital investments
made by foreign-owned firms in Houston since
January ’11.
•
At least 2,800 local manufacturers engage in
global commerce.
•
Eleven of Houston’s 32 skyscrapers (at least 150
meters tall) are owned, co-owned, or financed by
foreign investors.
Largest Houston-Area Employers - 2015
Number of Local Employees
Memorial Hermann Health System 19,500
The University of Texas MD Anderson 19,290
United Airlines 17,000
Exxon Mobil Corporation 13,191
Shell Oil Company 13,000
Houston Methodist 13,000
Kroger Company 12,000
National Oilwell Varco 10,000
Schlumberger Limited 10,000
BP America, Inc. 9,537
UTMB Health 9,318
Baylor College of Medicine 9,232
Chevron 9,000
ARAMARK Corp. 8,500
HCA 7,855
Hewlett-Packard 7,000
Macy’s 7,000
AT&T 6,900
CHI St. Luke’s Health 6,800
The Dow Chemical Company, Freeport 6,600
Jacobs 6,220
Halliburton 6,200
H.E.B. 6,000
Texas Children’s Hospital 6,000
Baker Hughes 6,000
Fiesta Mart, Inc. 5,500
KBR 5,089
LyondellBasell Industries 5,080
JPMorgan Chase 5,000
CenterPoint Energy 5,000
Reliant, An NRG Company 4,900
Note: Ranked by number of employees. The list does not include
casual dining establishments, municipalities, school districts, community colleges,
public universities (except UTMB Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson)
and governmental agencies.
Source: Greater Houston Partnership Database, June 2015
HOUSTON.ORG – 11
Industries
Aerospace
Home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC),
and a diverse network of research and education
organizations with ties to aerospace technology,
the Houston region is a worldwide leader in the
aerospace industry.
Economic Impact: The Johnson Space Center
manages an annual budget of approximately $4.4
billion in contracts, grants, civil service payroll and
procurements. Of that amount, about $1.7 billion is
spent on salaries alone in the Houston region.
Tourism: Space Center Houston is the official visitor’s
center for Johnson Space Center. Approximately
800,000 visitors each year come to learn about the
past, present, and future of America’s space program.
Banking and Finance
Establishments: In 2014, the Houston MSA averaged
10,824 wholesale trade establishments and 16,886
retail trade establishments.
Retail: At the end of 2014, CBRE reported a retail
base of 212.1 million square feet (msf) for 3,325
Houston area regional malls, multi-tenant centers and
single-tenant buildings over 20,000 square-feet. The
vacancy rate was 6.6 percent, total net absorption
for 2014 was 2.1 million square-feet and the average
annual lease rate was $22.15 per square foot.
2014 GROSS RETAIL SALES
County
Houston MSA
122,931,240,803
5.60%
1,850,028,576
-8.40%
Brazoria
3,796,943,609
-2.80%
Chambers
1,680,062,483
-26.20%
Fort Bend
7,937,204,047
7.00%
Galveston
Harris
Institutions and Deposits: As of June 30, 2014, the
Houston MSA’s 103 FDIC-insured institutions had 1,514
local offices and local deposits of $242.540 billion.
Commercial banks accounted for 94 institutions,
1,487 offices and $240.969 billion in deposits; savings
institutions numbered 9, with 27 offices and $1.571
billion in deposits. The Houston MSA in 2013 ranked
9th among U.S. MSAs in total deposits.
Waller
•
Fourteen of the nation’s 30 largest FDIC-insured
banks, as measured by domestic deposits,
operate full-service branches or commercial loan
offices in the Houston region. These 14 include
the four largest banks in the nation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013
County Business Patterns, the Houston MSA had
9,104 finance and insurance establishments with
a total annual payroll of $8.723 billion.
Wholesale and Retail Trade
Employment: Wholesale trade employment in the
Houston MSA averaged 159,076 in 2014, increasing
2.5 percent from the 150,378 employed in 2013. Retail
trade employment in the Houston MSA averaged
291,887 in 2014, increasing 2.2 percent from the
283,321 employed in 2013.
% Change from 2013
Austin
Employment: In 2014, the Houston MSA employed
an average of 89,635 workers in the finance and
insurance sector.
•
Gross Retail Sales
Liberty
Montgomery
3,763,784,425
5.90%
93,615,285,041
8.00%
935,446,882
8.80%
8,761,164,181
-4.50%
591,321,559
17.30%
Source: Texas Comptroller’s Office
Shopping: The Houston MSA is home to 25 shopping
centers that encompass at least 500,000 square feet.
The Galleria is the largest of the malls with 2.5 msf
followed by Greenspoint Mall (1.6 msf), Willowbrook
Mall (1.5 msf) and Baybrook Mall (1.4 msf).
Construction and Real Estate
Employment: Construction employment in the
Houston MSA averaged 206,453 in 2014, increasing
6.4 percent from the 194,097 employed in 2013.
Building Permits: In 2014, the City of Houston issued
building permits valued at $8.7 billion, up 40.3 percent
from $6.2 billion in 2013. Nonresidential permits
rose 47.4 percent, from $3.8 billion in 2013 to $5.6
billion in 2014. Permits for residential construction
totaled $3.0 billion in 2014, up 30.4 percent from $2.3
billion in 2013. According to McGraw Hill, more than
$30.5 billion in construction contracts were awarded
in the 10-county Houston metro area last year, up
146.0 percent from the $12.4 billion awarded in 2013.
Residential contracts totaled $9.8 billion in 2014, up
15.3 percent from $8.5 billion in 2013. Commercial
contracts totaled $20.6 billion in 2014, five times
more than the $3.8 billion in 2013. The large increase
in commercial contracts is a result of several billiondollar chemical plants under construction in the
Houston area. These atypical mega projects will skew
contract data over the next several years.
Office: At the close of 2014, CBRE reports that the
Houston area — the nation’s sixth largest office
market — counted 1,247 general purpose office
buildings containing 199.2 million square feet (msf) of
completed net rentable space (42.6 msf in the Central
Business District, or CBD).
•
•
Net absorption (net change in leased space in
completed buildings) for all general purpose
office space was 5.5 msf in 2014. The submarkets
with the highest absorption rates were the
Energy Corridor (1,776,482 sf), The Woodlands
(967,068 sf) and North Houston (567,867 sf). The
vacancy rate for the entire Houston market was
11.6 percent by the end of 2014.
Average rent for the entire Class A office market
was $36.13 per square foot ($45.30 for CBD Class
A and $33.80 for suburban Class A). Both CBD
and Suburban Class A average rent increased
compared to year-end 2013 numbers.
price for resale single-family detached homes was
$199,000 in 2014, up 10.6 percent from $180,000
in 2013. The inventory of unsold homes at year-end
decreased from 2.6 months in December 2013 to 2.5
months in December 2014. (Months of inventory is
the number of months it will take to deplete current
active inventory based on the prior 12 months of sales
activity.)
Multi-family: For the fourth quarter of 2014, CBRE
reported that Houston area multi-family occupancy
stood at 91.1 percent, with an inventory of 588,846
units in 2,553 complexes. Rental rates increased 8.1
percent in 2014 and averaged $1.05 per square foot
in the fourth quarter of 2014. The Montrose/Museum
District posted the highest rent, averaging $1.77 psf.
Net absorption totaled 16,084 units in 2014, slightly
down from 16,412 in 2013. Proposed construction as
of the fourth quarter of 2014 totaled 18,781 units.
HOUSTON AREA HOUSING STARS AND
MULTI-FAMILY UNITS DELIVERED
Year
Single-Family
Starts
Multi-Family
Units Added
Total Units
2014
30,325
17,628
47,953
2013
28,233
12,103
40,336
2012
23,616
5,874
29,490
Industrial: Houston’s 474.0 msf of industrial space
in buildings of 10,000 sf or more rank it as the sixth
largest U.S. market. CBRE reported year-end 2014
occupancy remained tight at 95.0 percent. During
2014, construction of 12.0 msf was delivered and 8.1
msf was absorbed. Across the market, average asking
rates increased from $0.63 per sf per month in 2013
to $0.67 per sf per month in 2014.
2011
18,353
5,383
23,736
2010
18,853
3,784
22,637
2009
18,687
14,640
33,327
2008
26,141
21,862
48,003
2007
37,568
14,729
52,297
2006
49,543
10,126
59,669
2005
47,968
12,714
60,682
Single-Family: According to the Houston Association
of Realtors®, MLS single family closings (largely resale
homes) in the Houston area totaled 75,319 in 2014,
up 2.8 percent from 73,266 in 2013. Median sales
2004
40,712
12,328
53,040
2003
38,160
14,405
52,565
Source: Metrostudy and CBRE
Photo courtesy of david a brown/ dabfoto creative
HOUSTON.ORG – 13
Energy
Engineering
Houston is the leading domestic and international
center for virtually every segment of the energy
industry – exploration, production, transmission,
marketing, service, supply, offshore drilling and
technology.
Employment: Houston has more than 92,550
engineers, architects, drafters and technicians of all
disciplines, the most numerous being: petroleum,
civil, mechanical, industrial, chemical, and electrical.
Employment: As of May 2015, the Houston MSA
held 28.3 percent of the nation’s jobs in oil and gas
extraction (54,700 of 193,000), 17.1 percent of jobs in
support activities for mining (52,900 of 308,400) and
16.7 percent of agriculture, construction and mining
machinery manufacturing jobs (41,300 of 248,000).
Top Employers: National Oilwell Varco Inc., Exxon
Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., Cameron International
Corp., BP Corporation North America Inc., Chevron
Corp., Schlumberger Ltd., Halliburton Co., CenterPoint
Energy Inc., and KBR Inc.
Establishments: The Houston MSA has more than
3,700 energy-related establishments, both upstream
and downstream. In the first quarter of 2015, there
were 1,022 establishments in oil and gas extraction
and 945 establishments in support activities for oil
and gas operations.
•
Houston is home to 40 of the nation’s 134 publicly
traded oil and gas exploration and production
firms, including 10 of the top 25; nine more among
the top 25 have subsidiaries, major divisions or
other significant operations in Houston.
•
The logistics for moving much of the nation’s
petroleum and natural gas across the country are
controlled from Houston. Fifteen of the nation’s
20 largest U.S. interstate oil pipeline companies
have a presence in the Houston region that
includes corporate or divisional headquarters
or ownership interests. These 15 control 66,746
miles or 44 percent of all U.S. oil pipeline
capacity. Thirteen of the nation’s top 20 natural
gas transmission companies have corporate or
divisional headquarters in Houston, controlling
103,108 miles of U.S. pipeline, which is 52 percent
of total U.S. gas pipeline capacity.
•
For every 100,000 workers in the Houston MSA,
there are 3,255 engineers and architects. In
comparison, for every 100,000 workers in the
U.S., there are 1,789 engineers and architects.
Civil & Structural Engineering Firms: According to
the Houston Business Journal, Houston’s 10 largest
civil and structural engineering firms (ranked by
local gross billings) include Burns & McDonnell, LJA
Engineering Inc., Brown & Gay Engineers Inc., Furgo
Consultants Inc., Aecom Technology Corp., Jones
& Carter Inc., BEI Engineers, HNTB Corp., Cobb,
Fendley & Associates Inc., and Walter P Moore.
These 10 companies alone generated $541 million in
local billings in 2013 and locally employed more than
2,300 people.
Energy Engineering Firms: According to the Houston
Business Journal, Houston’s 10 largest energy
engineering firms (ranked by local licensed engineers)
include Jacobs Engineering, KBR Inc., Wood Group
Mustang Inc., Flour Corp., CB&I, Technip USA Inc.,
S&B Engineers and Constructors Ltd., Gulf Interstate
Engineering Co., UniversalPagasus International,
and CDI Corp.. These 10 companies alone employed
3,587 licensed engineers and more than 18,000 local
full-time employees.
In
Houston
100,000
Workers
(Houston)
100,000
Workers
(U.S.)
Aerospace engineers
2,510
88
51
Biomedical engineers
200
7
15
4,320
152
25
Chemical engineers
Civil engineers
10,850
382
195
Electrical engineers
4,250
149
129
Electronics engineers,
except computer
3,040
107
99
Environmental engineers
1,060
37
39
Health and safety engineers
1,160
41
18
Industrial engineers
6,140
216
175
Marine engineers and
naval architects
1,620
57
6
660
23
19
9,260
326
200
670
24
6
11,570
407
25
2,790
98
92
Materials engineers
Mechanical engineers
Mining and geological engineers
Petroleum engineers
All other engineers
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2014
Texas Medical Center institutions include:
Health Care
•
Six general hospitals: Ben Taub General Hospital;
Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital; Memorial
Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center;
Houston Methodist Hospital; CHI St. Luke’s
Health; and The University of Texas Medical
Branch at Galveston.
•
Eleven specialized hospitals: Harris County
Psychiatric Center; Quentin Mease Community
Hospital; Shriners Hospitals for Children–
Houston and Galveston; Texas Children’s
Hospital; DePelchin Children’s Center; The
Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR);
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center; Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital;
The Menninger Clinic; and the Michael E. DeBakey
Veteran Affairs Medical Center Houston.
•
Two specialized patient facilities: Texas Heart
Institute; and Houston Hospice.
•
Four medical schools: Baylor College of
Medicine; Texas A&M University Health Science
Center; The University of Texas Medical School;
and The University of Texas Medical Branch at
Galveston.
•
Five schools of nursing: Prairie View A&M
University College of Nursing; Texas Woman’s
University Institute of Health Sciences; The
University of Texas School of Nursing; Houston
Community College; and the University of
Houston-Victoria School of Nursing.
•
Two schools of pharmacy: Texas Southern
University College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences; and University of Houston College
of Pharmacy.
•
A dental school: The University of Texas Health
Science Center Dental School.
•
Houston Community College focused on 19
health science fields.
•
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health
Professions.
Employment: The Houston MSA employs over
335,500 employees in the health care industry.
•
The region has 16,070 physicians and 136
hospitals (123 general and special, 13 psychiatric)
with 21,057 beds.
•
Harris County, with 13,167 physicians, has 96
hospitals (86 general and special, 10 psychiatric)
with 17,354 beds.
•
Clinics, nursing homes
facilities are plentiful.
•
Virtually every medical specialty is represented
in the region.
and
assisted-living
Largest Hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital (1,118
beds); Memorial Hermann Hospital (1,034 beds); CHI
St. Luke’s Health-Baylor St Luke’s Medical Center
(881 beds); St. Joseph Medical Center (744 beds) and
Texas Children’s Hospital (606 beds).
Establishments: The Houston region is home to over
17,800 health care establishments. This includes
267 licensed emergency medical services firms
(ambulance services), each required by law to have
a physician medical director. The Houston MSA also
has 56 registered first responder organizations.
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center is the world’s largest
medical complex by any measure – number of
hospitals, number of physicians, square footage,
patient volume. The Texas Medical Center member
institutions have been consistently recognized as
some of the best hospitals and universities in the
nation by U.S. News and World Report.
56
106,000 Employees
Member
Institutions
7,000
Patient Beds
50,000
25,000
7.2 million
Babies Delivered (annually)
Annual
Patient Visits
16,000
Annual International
Patient Visits
17,500
15,000
5,000
Physicians
10,000
5,700
Nurses
Researchers Life Science
Students
Faculty
Volunteers
171,000
Annual Surgeries
1,345 acres
Total Size (all campuses)
HOUSTON.ORG – 15
Manufacturing
Employment: Manufacturing employment in the
Houston MSA stood at 249,000 jobs in May 2015 –
67.5 percent in durable goods and 32.5 percent in
nondurables. Chemicals accounted for 15.0 percent
of total manufacturing employment; fabricated metals
and machinery, 47.7 percent.
Value of Shipments: In 2012 (the most recent Census
of Manufactures for which data are available), the
Houston MSA recorded $290.3 billion in shipments,
accounting for 41.3 percent of Texas’ 2012 total. Key
Houston MSA industries in 2012 include petroleum
products, chemicals, machinery, and fabricated
metal products.
•
Value added by manufacturers in the Houston
MSA in 2012 totaled $81.7 billion, accounting for
36.4 percent of the Texas total. Leading Houston
MSA industries in value added in 2012 are
chemicals, petroleum products, machinery, and
fabricated metal products.
•
Value added per production worker in the
Houston MSA in 2012 was $558,218; value added
per production payroll dollar was $10.51, reflecting
the high concentration of capital-intensive
industries in the region. Capital expenditures in
Houston MSA manufacturing totaled $5.7 billion
in 2012. Chemicals ($3.0 billion) accounted for
52.4 percent of the total.
•
Manufacturing in 2014 accounted for $109.5
billion, or 18.2 percent, of Houston MSA Gross
Area Product according to The Perryman Group.
Nondurable goods represented 69.6 percent of
the manufacturing total.
the Texas Gulf Coast. It gives the Houston area a
unique economic advantage through convenient and
low-cost transfer of feedstocks, fuel and chemical
products among plants, storage terminals and
transportation facilities.
•
According to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration’s Refinery Capacity Report issued
January 2015, the Texas Gulf Coast had a crude
operating capacity of 4.5 million barrels of refined
petroleum products per calendar day — 87
percent of the Texas total and 25 percent of the
U.S. total.
Chemicals/Petrochemicals: With more than 540
chemical
manufacturing
establishments
and
employment exceeding 36,800, the Houston MSA
has 42.0 percent of the nation’s base petrochemicals
manufacturing capacity. According to IHS, the
Houston MSA annual base petrochemicals production
capacity in 2014 was:
Million Metric Tons
% of U.S. Total
Benzene
3.4
57.6
Butadiene
1.2
51.4
Ethylene
12
43.7
11.9
40.7
Toluene
2
33.7
Xylenes
3
33.8
Propylene
•
Petroleum Refining: The Spaghetti Bowl is a
complex of several thousand miles of product
pipeline connecting hundreds of chemical plants,
refineries, salt domes and fractionation plants along
Base petrochemicals are the raw materials for
producing some of the more important plastics
and resins. The Houston MSA dominates U.S.
production of three major resins — polyethylene,
with 28.3 percent of U.S. capacity; polypropylene,
with 31.2 percent; and polyvinyl chloride, with
34.4 percent.
Technology
NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the Texas Medical
Center, the world’s largest concentration of energy
and petrochemical companies, and the region’s
major universities make Houston a focal point of U.S.
research and development (R&D) activities.
Health Care and Bioscience
•
BioScience Research Collaborative
•
Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling
•
Pumps and Pipes, annual conference
Aerospace:
•
Alliance for NanoHealth
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
•
Galveston National Laboratory
•
Center
for
Biodefense
Infectious Diseases
•
Institute of Biosciences and Technology
and
Emerging
Energy
•
Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship
•
Composites Engineering & Applications Center
for Petroleum Exploration and Production
•
BioHouston
•
•
Processes in Porous Media Consortium
Technology Transfer and Commercialization
Office (TTO) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center
•
Offshore Technology Research Center
Nanotechnology
•
Offshore Technology Conference
•
The Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale
Science and Technology
•
Consortium for Nanomaterials for Aerospace
Commerce and Technology
•
Nanotech centers at the University of Houston
include: The Nanosystems Manufacturing
Center; The Center for Materials Chemistry;
the nanoscience group at the Texas Center for
Superconductivity; and The Center for Integrated
Bio & Nano Systems
University Research
•
•
University of Houston spent $130.8 million in
expenditures during the FY 2014 for research &
development.
Rice University spent $131 million in expenditures
during the FY 2014 to support research &
development.
Technology Transfer
•
Houston Technology Center (HTC)
Environment
•
University of Houston Center for Industrial
Partnerships
•
The Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)
•
Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC)
Government
City of Houston
State Government
•
The City of Houston is a home rule municipality,
which provides the city with inherent powers
to manage their own affairs with minimal
interference from the state.
•
•
The city’s elected officials, serving concurrent
two-year terms, are: the Mayor, the City Controller
and the 16 members of City Council. No elected
city official may serve in one position for more
than three terms. Eleven council members are
elected from single-member districts and five are
elected citywide or “at-large”.
The chief executive of the State of Texas is the
governor. Other elected officials with executive
responsibilities include the lieutenant governor,
attorney general, comptroller of public accounts,
commissioner of the General Land Office and
commissioner of agriculture. All of these elected
offices have a term of four years.
•
The Texas Legislature has 181 members: 31 in the
Senate, who are elected to four-year overlapping
terms, and 150 in the House of Representatives,
who are elected to two-year terms. Regular
sessions of the state legislature convene on the
second Tuesday of January in odd-numbered
years. The Texas Constitution limits the regular
session to 140 calendar days; however, the
governor may call special sessions.
•
Legislative districts partly or entirely within the
Houston MSA:
•
The city’s adopted General Fund budget for fiscal
year 2015 is $2,411,126,650.
Counties
•
•
Each county in Texas is run by a five-member
Commissioners’ Court consisting of four
commissioners elected from single-member
districts, called commissioner precincts, and a
county judge elected “at-large” or countywide.
The county commissioners and county judge
serve staggered four-year terms and are not
term-limited.
Texas has 254 counties with Harris County being
the most populous county in the state and the
third most populous in the nation.
State Senate: 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18
State House of Representatives: 3, 15, 26-28,
126-135, 137-150
United States Congress
Legislative districts partly or entirely within the
Houston MSA:
•
U.S. House of Representatives: 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14,
18, 22, 29, 36
HOUSTON.ORG – 17
Council of Governments
Public Safety
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is
a voluntary association of local governments in the
13-county Gulf Coast Planning Region. Organized
in 1966, H-GAC is comprised of 35 elected officials
that represent all 13 counties (Austin, Brazoria,
Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris,
Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Walker, Waller and
Wharton), 107 cities and 11 school districts.
Houston Police Department (HPD):
•
•
H-GAC is not an additional level of government,
a regulatory agency or a taxing authority. Its
activities are financed by local government dues;
state appropriations; and through grants and
contracts with local, state and federal entities.
The Council’s mission is to serve as the instrument
of local government cooperation, promoting the
region’s orderly development and the safety and
welfare of its citizens.
Taxation
•
•
The maximum sales and use tax rate in the state
of Texas is 8.25 percent (6.25 percent for the
state and up to 2 percent for local jurisdictions);
certain food and drug items are exempt.
•
HPD’s budget for FY 2015 is $758.4 million.
•
The budget calls for 5,194.0 full-time-equivalent
(FTE) police personnel, 1,158.9 FTE civilian
personnel and 112.5 FTE police cadets in training.
•
HPD’s 2014 estimated average response time
was 4.97 minutes for priority one calls and 9.59
minutes for priority two calls.
•
In 2014, HPD
dispatched calls.
HCSO is the largest sheriff’s office in Texas and
the third largest in the United States.
•
HCSO’s FY2015-2016
$437.5million.
None
City of Houston
$0.63
Harris County
$0.64
Houston Independent School District
$1.20
Houston Community College
$0.11
TOTAL TAX RATE
$2.57
•
Houston
$181,772,750,376
ISD:
City of
$246,385,503,374
Houston:
Harris
County:
$463,192,251,793
Source: Harris County Appraisal District
budget
is
HCSO employs more than 4,400 salaried
personnel – of those more than 2,200 are certified
peace officers and nearly 1,400 are detention
officers that work in the jails. Additionally, it has
more than 200 volunteer reserve deputies.
Houston Fire Department (HFD):
•
HFD is the nation’s third largest fire department
with 93 fire stations equipped with 87 engine
companies; 86 ambulances and advanced life
support units; 11 boosters; 2 cascade units;
5 towers; 11 squads; and 18 evacuation and
rescue boats.
•
In 2014, HFD performed 254,228 fire responses
with an average response time of 9.65 minutes
and 316,220 emergency medical service
responses with an average response time of
8.77 minutes.
•
HFD’s FY 2015 budget is $506.7 million and calls
for 4,169.6 FTE employees, of whom 115.6 are
civilians.
Full Market Value of Tax Roll
2014
operating
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office provides law
enforcement protection in the unincorporated parts
of the county, which constitutes some 1,700 square
miles with 1.5 million residents and growing.
2014 Tax Rate
State of Texas
1,114,314
•
SAMPLE PROPERTY TAX RATES
Tax Jurisdiction
with
Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO):
Ad valorem property tax is the primary source of
local government revenue in the Houston region.
The table below shows typical tax rates for property
located within the city limits of Houston. The tax rates
are expressed as dollars per $100 taxable value.
responded
Harris County Fire Protection:
•
In all, 54 fire departments operate in Harris County;
42 provide fire protection in unincorporated parts
of the county, coordinated by the Harris County
Fire Marshal. In addition, 31 Emergency Service
Districts provide fire protection, emergency
medical service or both to specific areas within
the county.
Education
Schools
•
Houston Independent School District (HISD),
with 2014 enrollment of 215,157 students, is the
seventh-largest public school system in the
nation and the largest in Texas. Encompassing
301 square miles within greater Houston, HISD
has 283 campuses: 10 early childhood centers;
153 elementary schools; 37 middle schools; 40
high schools; and 43 combined/other campuses.
•
The Houston MSA contains 62 school districts and
50 state-approved charter schools that reported
2013 enrollment of 1,252,660 students, of whom
868,475 were in the 19 districts and 45 charter
schools largely or entirely in Harris County.
SELECTED* HOUSTON-AREA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS - 2014-2015
School District
Number of
Campuses
Fall 2014 Enrollment
Students per
Teacher Ratio
Operating Expenditure
per Student1
County
Aldine
76
67,204
16.7
$8,044
Alief
46
46,207
14.7
$8,725
Harris
Alvin
23
19,667
16.3
$7,875
Brazoria
Barbers Hill
7
4,676
14.8
$10,268
Chambers
Brazosport
20
12,364
16.3
$7,873
Brazoria
Clear Creek
45
39,808
15.9
$7,369
Galveston
Conroe
54
54,808
16.6
$6,862
Montgomery
Cypress-Fairbanks
82
111,173
16.7
$6,795
Harris
9
5,069
15.9
$7,451
Liberty
Dayton
Harris
Deer Park
14
12,968
15.7
$13,633
Harris
Fort Bend
73
70,512
17.1
$7,435
Fort Bend
Galena Park
23
22,515
15.3
$8,488
Harris
Goose Creek
27
22,228
15.3
$8,646
Harris
Houston
283
215,157
18.5
$8,211
Harris
Humble
42
38,056
15.5
$7,650
Harris
Katy
59
67,015
15.6
$7,665
Harris
Klein
47
48,003
15.3
$7,862
Harris
Lamar
37
27,024
17.5
$7,544
Fort Bend
Magnolia
16
12,176
15.7
$7,503
Montgomery
New Caney
18
12,282
15.2
$8,215
Montgomery
Pasadena
61
54,382
15.4
$8,519
Harris
Pearland
24
19,964
16.5
$7,538
Brazoria
Sealy
4
2,766
13.7
$8,592
Austin
Spring
37
36,358
15.4
$7,741
Harris
Spring Branch
46
35,218
16.6
$8,317
Harris
Tomball
15
12,444
16.4
$7,921
Harris
8
5,895
16.8
$8,392
Waller
Waller
Class of 2014 *The list includes all ISDs with enrollment greater than 10,000, plus the largest ISD in each Houston MSA county with no ISD as large as 10,000.
Source: Texas Education Agency, 2014 Snapshot: School District Profiles
1
HOUSTON.ORG – 19
Libraries
Colleges and Universities
•
The Houston Public Library is comprised of 44
units with a 2014 total circulation of 4,195,878.
•
Harris County Public Library is a system of 26
branch libraries with a 2014 total circulation of
9,758,250.
The Houston region has approximately 380,000
students in more than 60 degree-granting colleges,
universities and technical schools.
•
Specialized schools exist for acupuncture, art,
legal, health care, funeral, religious, and various
other disciples.
•
In addition, the region has some 100 trade,
vocational and business schools.
Universities*
Total Enrollment 174,492
Texas A&M University
Texas Southern University
University of St. Thomas
56,507
9,233
3,420
University of Houston
Prairie View A&M University
Houston Baptist University
40,914
8,343
3,128
Sam Houston State University
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Texas A&M University at Galveston
19,573
8,665
2,305
University of Houston-Downtown
Rice University
Texas Woman’s University-Houston
14,436
6,621
1,347
Note: Tier One Research Universities in the Houston region include: Rice University, University of Houston and Texas A&M University.
Community Colleges*
Lone Star College System
Wharton County Junior College
73,559
7,152
Houston Community College System
Lee College
47,415
6,481
San Jacinto College District
Alvin Community College
31,967
College of the Mainland
3,858
Brazosport College
4,131
Galveston College
4,914
2,048
Blinn College
18,769
Medical Schools and Colleges*
University of Texas Health Science Center
4,556
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
3,211
Baylor College of Medicine
1,582
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
303
Texas A&M University Health Science Center
2,487
*Fall 2014 Enrollment, Sources: College Navigator; Texas Association of Community Colleges; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Infrastructure
accounted for 72 percent of the surface water
used by the City; Lake Houston supplies 15
percent; and the remaining 13 percent comes
from different permitted sources.
Public Utilities
Electricity and Natural Gas:
Headquartered in Houston, CenterPoint Energy
(CNP) is a domestic energy delivery company that
includes electric transmission and distribution;
natural gas distribution; competitive natural gas sales
and services; interstate pipelines; and field services
operations.
•
•
Wastewater:
CNP’s assets total more than $23.2 billion and
employs 7,400.
•
In 2014, CNP delivered 82 million megawatt hours
of electricity to 2,010,036 residential, 280,327
commercial, 767 municipal and 2,035 industrial
customers in its 5,000 square mile service area
in the Houston region.
•
In 2014, CNP delivered 468 billion cubic feet of
natural gas to 3,124,542 residential and 249,277
commercial/industrial customers.
The City has three purification plants:
East Water Plant, 350 mgd
Southeast Water Plant, 200 mgd
Northeast Water Plant 80 mgd
•
The City of Houston operates 40 wastewater
treatment plants; 13 biosolid processing units;
three wet weather facilities; and 383 sanitary
lift stations. It maintains 6,950 miles of sanitary
sewer lines with more than 440,000 connections.
Land Transportation
Motor Freight Lines:
Telecommunications:
•
998 long-distance trucking
operate in the Houston MSA.
Four overlaid area codes serve the Houston area:
281, 713, 832 and 346. Phone calls placed within or
between these area codes are local calls, but must be
placed with the full 10-digit phone number.
Railroads:
•
The Houston area is served by BNSF Railway
Company, Kansas City Southern Railway
Company, and Union Pacific Railroad Company.
Businesses along the Houston ship channel are
served by the Port Terminal Railroad Association.
Fourteen mainline tracks radiate from Houston.
Amtrak provides passenger service to the New
Orleans-San Antonio-Los Angeles route.
•
The Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC)
has certified 403 active Competitive Local
Exchange Carriers to provide local phone service
in the state.
•
The Texas PUC has registered 350 active long
distance Interexchange Carriers.
•
•
More than a dozen cellular service providers offer
mobile voice and data communications in the
Houston MSA.
Intracoastal Waterway:
•
406 miles of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
The main channel is 12’ deep and 125’ wide. The
entire Gulf Intracoastal Waterway spans 1,300
miles from Brownsville, TX to St. Mark’s, FL.
•
In 2013, Texas’ portion of the Gulf Coast
Intracoastal
Waterway
facilitated
the
transportation of 74,651,503 short tons of cargo.
Water:
Water supply now available or under development
will meet Houston’s needs beyond 2050.
•
The San Jacinto River Basin of Lakes Houston
and Conroe provides the City an estimated
258 million gallons per day (mgd); wells add
approximately 253 mgd.
•
The City owns water rights to 914 mgd.
•
The City of Houston has, on average, used
approximately 220 mgd of industrial water and
450 mgd of treated water.
•
Groundwater accounted for approximately
16 percent of treated water. Lake Livingston
establishments
Freeways, Highways and Toll Roads:
In the Houston MSA, 4,206.41 lane miles of freeways
and expressways are in operation.
•
High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes: Houston
has more miles of HOV lanes than any other U.S.
city. There are currently 118.42 miles of HOV lanes
on Houston freeways.
HOUSTON.ORG – 21
•
•
Highway Spending: In FY 2015, the Texas
Department of Transportation - Houston District
has $1.0 billion in planned projects to let, versus
$818.2 million in planned projects during FY 2014.
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): According to
TxDOT, in FY 2013, a total of 136,731,505 vehicle
miles were traveled per day in the Houston
region. The average daily VMT per vehicle was
28.81 miles – based on the 4,746,244 vehicles
registered in the region during FY 2013.
PORT OF HOUSTON - FOREIGN TRADE — 2014
LEADING EXPORT COMMODITIES
By Value ($000)
Petroleum/petroleum products
$33,547,895,973
Machinery
$15,100,645,705
Organic chemicals
$12,230,465,772
Plastics
$6,318,050,509
Electric Machinery
$3,176,598,121
Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO):
Created and funded with a one-cent sales tax in a 1978
voter referendum, the Metropolitan Transit Authority
of Harris County began operations in January 1979.
•
•
•
METRO serves an area of 1,303 square miles –
with 2,663 route miles; 20 transit centers; 9,816
bus stops; and 28 Park & Ride lots that offer
32,802 parking spaces.
In FY 2014, METRO’s fleet includes 1,416 buses
and 118 paratransit vans, and 70 light-rail train
cars. At weekday peak, 1,034 buses operate on
126 routes.
FY 2013 total system ridership, including fixed
route buses and METRORail, METROLift,
METROVan and HOV vanpools/carpools, was 110
million, up 3.5 percent from FY 2012.
By Weight (Short Tons)
56,115,603
Organic chemicals
9,834,567
Cereals
7,283,137
Plastics
4,060,053
Inorganic Chemicals
1,108,285
LEADING IMPORT COMMODITIES
By Value ($000)
$30,442,287
Articles of iron and steel
$8,139,477
Machinery
$6,046,271
Organic chemicals
$4,983,888
Iron and Steel
$3,250,090
•
Passenger boardings in FY 2013 averaged 9.1
million per month.
•
Daily fixed-route weekday ridership in FY 2013
averaged 269,144 boardings.
Articles of iron and steel
6,276,910
Organic chemicals
5,385,138
•
All 126 bus routes and the METRORail are fully
accessible to disabled patrons. METROLift offers
prescheduled curb-to-curb service for physically
or mentally disabled patrons who cannot use
METRO’s fixed-route service.
Natural Stone
4,779,176
Iron and Steel
4,304,984
46,743,142
LEADING TRADING PARTNERS
(COMBINED IMPORTS AND EXPORTS)
By Value ($000)
Seaports
The Houston region contains four seaports.
Mexico
$20,618,337
Brazil
$12,333,476
China
$9,149,890
Germany
$7,690,470
Colombia
$7,060,331
U.S. Rank
Port
Total Trade
in Metric Tons
1
Houston
147,846,000
15
Texas City
25,126,000
Colombia
8,182,807
26
Freeport
11,372,200
China
7,462,869
South Korea
6,391,008
37
Galveston
7,228,700
Mexico
33,045,302
Brazil
13,830,779
Source: Adapted from WISERTrade: International Trade Database, WISER LLC, Copyright
2004. No Claim to Original United States Government Works. All Rights Reserved.
Port of Houston
•
In 2014, the Port of Houston ranked 1st in
foreign tonnage among U.S. ports for 18
consecutive years, 1st in import tonnage for 23
consecutive years, and 2nd in total tonnage for
23 consecutive years.
•
Total foreign shipments in 2014 were 163.1 million
short tons that were valued at $167.0 billion.
Foreign imports were 76.6 million short tons,
valued at $75.0 billion and foreign exports were
86.5 million short tons, valued at $92.0 billion.
•
•
The Port’s Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ-84) ranks
number one in the nation in total shipments
through a zone. In 2013, FTZ-84 value of
shipments into the U.S. market were over $60.0
billion; exports out of the US market topped $2.6
billion; and domestic and foreign shipments were
valued at $62.7 billion. Since 2012 companies
operating within FTZ-84 have increased from 36
to 50, an increase of 56.3 percent.
Container service was initiated in Houston in
1956, and today, the Port of Houston is the largest
Gulf Coast container port handling 67 percent of
U.S. Gulf Coast container traffic – and 95 percent
of the Texas container traffic. In 2014, the Port of
Houston Authority recorded the highest volume
of container TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units)
and the largest amount of container tonnage in
its history, at 19.4 million tons and more than 1.9
million TEUs.
•
The Port of Houston ranked as the 6th largest
U.S. container port in 2014.
•
The Bayport Cruise Terminal, a 96,000-squarefoot facility located on the western shores of
Galveston Bay, provides access to passenger
cruise lines.
Houston Ship Channel:
The Houston Ship Channel, a 52-mile inland waterway,
connects Houston with the sea lanes of the world. Its
turning basin is eight miles east of Houston’s central
business district.
•
A majority of the channel has a minimum width of
530 feet and a depth at mean low tide of 45 feet.
•
Houston has more than 100 wharves in operation,
including private terminals for the industrial
complexes that line both sides of the channel.
•
•
The Houston region contains one of the world’s
largest petrochemical complexes, with the
majority being in close proximity to the ship
channel and the region’s sea ports.
Each year, more than 200 million tons of cargo
move through the Houston Ship Channel, carried
by more than 8,000 vessels and 200,000
barge calls.
Air Transportation
Houston is the international air gateway to the
south central United States. Scheduled passenger
aircraft fly to some 124 domestic and 74 international
destinations from Houston airports; 32 airlines provide
scheduled passenger service for the Houston Airport
System (HAS).
Air Carriers Serving the Houston Airport System
Bush (IAH)
7 U.S. Carriers
Alaska Airlines, American Airlines* (also serves HOU),
Delta Air Lines (also serves HOU), Frontier Airlines,
Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, Wings of Alaska
*US Airways is counted with American Airlines
as the merger has been approved.
22 International Carriers
AeroMexico, Air Canada, Air China, Air France,
Air New Zealand, Atlas Air (scheduled charter to Luanda,
Angola, Africa), ANA (All Nippan Airways), AVIANCA, British
Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Interjet, KLM Royal Dutch
Airlines, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, SAS
(Scandinavian Airlines), Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines,
VivaAerobus, Volaris, Westjet
11 Dedicated Cargo Freighters
Air France Cargo (France), Cargolux (Luxemburg), Cathay
Pacific Cargo (Hong Kong), China Airlines Cargo (Taiwan),
DHL (Germany), Emirates Sky Cargo (United Arab
Emirates), Etihad Cargo (United Arab Emirates), Federal
Express (U.S.), Lufthansa (Germany), Qatar Cargo (Qatar),
United Parcel Service (U.S.)
Hobby International Airport (HOU)
5 Domestic Passenger Airlines
American Airlines (also serves IAH),
Branson Air Express, Delta Air Lines (also serves IAH),
JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines
Ellington Airport (EFD)
Added to the Houston Airport System in 1984, Ellington
serves commercial, general and military aviation.
EFD received FAA approval to be a
licensed commercial spaceport.
(Source: Houston Airport System, July 2015)
PASSENGER NON-STOP SERVICE DESTINATIONS
IAH
Domestic Destinations
International Destinations
TOTAL
121
HOU
52
HAS TOTAL*
124
74
9
74
195
61
198
*The HAS totals represent the number of unique destinations served by the airport system
and is not cumulative.
(Source: Houston Airport System, July 2015)
HOUSTON.ORG – 23
Houston Airport System (HAS) Aviation Statistics:
•
In 2014, HAS served 53,196,840 passengers, up
4.5 percent from 2013.
•
International traffic increased 9.2 percent to
9,812,287 passengers in 2014, setting a new
record. Domestic passengers in 2014 totaled
43,384,553, a 3.5 percent increase over 2013.
•
At IAH, domestic passengers numbered 31.4
million, up 2.0 percent from 2013. HOU passenger
traffic (all domestic) increased 7.5 percent to 11.9
million passengers in 2014.
•
Launch Vehicles, making it the 10th commercial
spaceport in the United Sates.
•
The Houston Airport System handled a total
of 474,210 metric tons of air freight in 2014,
excluding airmail. Domestic cargo accounted for
46.7 percent of total air freight, while international
cargo accounted for 53.3 percent.
General Aviation:
•
Houston offers excellent general aviation facilities
for corporate aircraft. In addition to IAH, HOU and
EFD, the FAA lists 36 Houston MSA public-use
airports: Austin County (1), Brazoria (8), Chambers
(3), Fort Bend (7), Galveston (3), Harris (9), Liberty
(2), Montgomery (2), and Waller (1).
•
Houston has many weekly and specialty
publications
including
the
Houston
Business Journal, which provides weekly
business coverage.
EFD had no commercial passenger traffic. In
July ’15, the City of Houston received a launch
site license from the FAA to enable EFD to
establish itself as a launch site for Reusable
Communications Media
Newspapers
Houston’s major daily newspaper is the Houston
Chronicle.
•
Average paid circulation (according to Alliance
for Audited Media, during the six-month period
ending March 31, 2013): Daily - 360,251 (13th
highest among U.S. city papers); Sunday 1,042,389 (2nd highest among U.S. city papers).
Broadcast Media
•
Houston MSA Radio Stations: 26 AM stations; 33
FM stations
•
Digital TV stations: 17
•
Comcast Xfinity provides cable service for most
of the Houston area.
Environment
Water
The City of Houston’s drinking water system maintains
a “Superior” rating, the highest rating for water quality
issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ).
•
The City of Houston owns a 70 percent share
of Lake Livingston, a 70 percent share of Lake
Conroe, a 100 percent share of Lake Houston
and a 70 percent share of the future Allens Creek
Reservoir.
Clean Air
Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has established National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for six major air
pollutants: particulate matter, carbon monoxide,
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead and groundlevel ozone. Houston is currently in attainment for all
“criteria” pollutants, except for ozone.
•
Houston’s population is growing; however, air
quality is improving year over year.
•
On Air: Houston, an initiative of the Greater
Houston Partnership, launched a new website in
2014. The site offers information about Houston’s
significant progress in improving regional air
quality through the decades.
•
According to Houston Regional Monitoring (HRM),
in 2014 there was one day when the one-hour
ozone standard was exceeded at one monitoring
station. For comparison, in 1987 there were 66
days when the standard was exceeded at one or
more stations.
City of Houston’s Green Transportation Initiative:
•
The City of Houston has the third largest municipal
hybrid fleet in the nation, and the second largest
electric vehicle municipal fleet.
•
In August 2012, the City of Houston launched
a municipal electric vehicle green fleet sharing
program, called Houston Fleet Share.
•
Greenlink buses provide free transportation
downtown through a partnership among the
Downtown District, BG Group and Houston First
Corporation. The route spans 2.5 miles with
18 stops.
•
B-cycle, a program of Houston Bike Share allows
members to pick up a bike at any B-station
and return it to that same station or any other
B-station. A total of 29 stations and 225 bikes are
currently available for use.
•
The Wave, a Houston jitney shuttle service, can
be acquired Downtown by calling, emailing, or
app requesting a pick-up anywhere on the City
approved downtown route.
•
Zipcar Houston is a “car sharing” program which
helps keep fewer cars on the road and less nasty
stuff in the air. There are 8 convenient locations
in downtown Houston alone and many more
across the city.
•
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) named
the City of Houston as one of 25 U.S. cities as
Solar America Cities. DOE recognizes Solar
America Cities as partners highly committed to
solar technology adoption at the local level. The
awards are intended to accelerate solar adoption
in cities by supporting cities’ with financial and
technical assistance.
•
The City of Houston received a 2008 Green
Power Leadership Award from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The
annual awards recognize the country’s leading
green power purchasers for their commitment
and contribution in helping advance the
development of the nation’s green power market.
In June 2013, the City of Houston, Texas, signed a
two-year agreement to purchase more than 620
million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of Green-e certified
renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually.
This purchase accounts for half of the city’s
municipal power needs, and makes Houston the
largest municipal purchaser of renewable power
in the Green Power Partnership as of July 2014.
•
The city also has on-site solar arrays that
generate more than 125,000 kWh at municipal
buildings, and actively supports the development
of new solar technologies through funding
from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot
Initiative. The city has also installed 17 mobile
solar-powered shipping containers/generators
at city fire stations, parks, neighborhood centers,
and schools.
•
When measured by square footage of Energy Star
certified buildings, the Houston metro area ranks
fifth in the nation with 82.6 million square feet.
Renewable Energy
The City of Houston signed an agreement in June
2013 to purchase more than 140 MW of renewable
power over a two-year period.
The B-Cycle program allows users to rent bicycles by the hour.
HOUSTON.ORG – 25
Life in Houston
Cost of Living
The C2ER Cost of Living Index for the first quarter of
2015 shows that Houston’s overall after-taxes living
costs are 6.1 percent below the nationwide average.
In the context of the 20 most populous metropolitan
areas, Houston’s cost-of-living advantage is even
more pronounced. Houston’s housing costs are
33.4 percent below the average for the large metro
areas, and its overall costs are 19.2 percent below the
average for this group.
COST OF LIVING INDEX: 20 MOST POPULOUS METROPOLITAN AREAS
FIRST QUARTER 2015 DATA (AVERAGE FOR 265 URBAN AREAS = 100)
All Items
Grocery Items
Housing
Utilities
Transportation
Health Care
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA*
101.6
106.8
98.7
91.2
109.2
103.3
102.2
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
111.4
110.7
145.1
96.7
108.7
89.5
90.7
Metropolitan Statistic Area
Misc
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH*
140.3
108.2
178.8
156.1
116.1
124.3
127.1
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI*
107.9
106.7
119.7
103.4
106
102
101.2
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX*
100.8
99.6
86.1
101
110.5
102.8
110.2
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
94.7
89.6
90.2
105.4
98.2
99.3
95.6
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX*
93.9
84.8
95.5
96.5
89.3
96.3
96.9
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA*
136.9
106.3
209.1
111.9
119.9
109.2
105.2
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL*
113.8
104.1
137.9
97.4
117.1
101.6
102.5
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI*
106.7
105.1
112.8
91.9
101.2
103
109.5
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA*
154.3
115.7
245
111.9
120.8
111.6
124.1
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD*
113.6
109.9
121.2
117.5
106.6
100.8
111.7
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ*
93.6
100.5
92
92.5
93.5
97.2
91.9
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
141.9
109.4
219.5
122.4
123.9
111.4
105.2
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA*
158.2
127.7
266.6
107.6
125.4
117.4
110.7
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA*
116
106.4
133
98.9
113.5
121.6
110.8
St. Louis, MO-IL
91.8
101.3
71.7
114.3
91.6
101.1
96.7
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL*
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV*
92.6
98.5
78.5
102.9
101.7
91.3
95.9
136.2
112.3
225.1
99.1
114.8
90.1
95
* Data are unweighted averages for two or more reporting places within the MSA. Note: Riverside, CA is a 20 most populous metro, but did not submit data for the Q1 2015 survey.
Source: Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) Cost of Living Survey, First quarter 2015, published in May 2015
Weather
Precipitation:
•
Annual average precipitation: 49.77 inches.
Temperature:
•
Thunderstorms occur, on average, 65.1 days
per year.
•
Normal daily maximum temperatures: January
62.9˚F; April 79.6˚F; July 93.7˚F; October 82.0˚F
•
Record monthly rainfall: 19.21 inches in June 2001.
•
Normal daily minimum temperatures: January
43.2˚F; April 59.4˚F; July 75.1˚F; October 60.9˚F
•
Highest daily total: 10.34 inches fell on June
26, 1989.
•
Record extremes: 109˚F on August 27, 2011; 5˚F
on January 18, 1930.
•
Houston has had 15 measurable snowfalls
since 1939.
•
The Houston MSA lies in a zone with 260-275
frost-free days per year.
•
Record monthly
February 1973.
snowfall:
2.8
inches
in
•
Record daily snowfall: 2.0 inches in January 1973.
•
Annual average relative humidity: 86 percent at
midnight; 90 percent at 6:00 a.m.; 60 percent at
noon; 65 percent at 6:00 p.m.
•
In the first quarter of 2015, the Houston MSA
was home to 10,104 food services and drinking
establishments and employed more than
234,000. These establishments included: 4,030
full-service restaurants; 3,821 limited-service
eating places; and 636 drinking establishments.
•
In 2007 (the most recent Economic Census
data available), the 8,863 Houston MSA food
services and drinking establishments had sales
of $8,425,427,000.
•
In 2014, Yelp.com listed Houston restaurants as
having more than 70 national categories.
•
Happycom.com, in August 2015, listed over 170
vegan friendly restaurants, more than 30 farm
to table restaurants and over 150 food trucks
in Houston.
Sunshine:
•
Houston averages 59 percent of possible
sunshine annually, ranging from 45 percent in
January to 70 percent in July.
•
Related annual averages:
•
“Clear” on 90.3 days, concentrated in October
and November.
•
“Partly cloudy” on 114.5 days, typical of June
through September.
•
“Cloudy” on 160.3 days, common in December
through May.
•
Fog limiting visibility to a quarter of a mile or less
occurs on average 26.3 days per year.
•
Wind:
•
Convention and Sports Facilities
Prevailing wind in Houston is south-southeasterly
at a mean speed of 7.5 miles per hour.
WEATHER DATA 2014*
Average High
Temperature
˚F
Average Low
Temperature
˚F
Total
Precipitation
Inches
61.9
37.1
0.96
64
45.4
2.39
69.4
48.3
2.45
April
79
59.8
1.56
May
83.8
64.4
11.71
June
90.7
74.2
2.18
July
93.1
74.3
5.4
94
75.2
1.24
September
89.2
72
3.88
October
84.8
60.8
2.95
November
67.6
47.2
3.4
December
65.2
48.7
5.6
Year
78.6
59
43.72
January
February
March
August
*As recorded at George Bush Intercontinental Airport’s weather station.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
•
George R. Brown (GRB) Convention Center,
opened in 1987 and expanded in 2003, offers 1.2
million square feet of exhibition, registration and
meeting space; seven exhibit halls; retractable
seating for 6,500; a 31,500 square foot grand
ballroom; and a 3,600-seat tiered amphitheater.
•
Adjacent to the GRB is the 12-acre Discovery
Green park and the 1,200-room Hilton
Americas hotel.
•
In April 2013, the City of Houston finalized an
agreement to construct a second convention
hotel that will be a 1,000-room Marriott
Marquis with completion targeted for
spring 2016.
NRG Park, which occupies 350 acres and offers
26,000 parking spaces, is among the most
versatile meeting complexes in the United States.
NRG Park includes the following venues:
•
NRG Stadium, a $453-million, 71,500seat football stadium with a retractable
roof, opened in 2002. It is home to the NFL
Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock
Show and Rodeo™.
•
NRG Center, a $150-million convention
center, opened in 2002. It has 1.4 million
square feet, which includes 706,213 square
feet of contiguous exposition space and 72
meeting rooms.
•
NRG Arena has 325,000 square feet of
exhibit space, a 5,800-seat arena and a
1,700-seat pavilion.
Restaurants
Houston restaurants feature outstanding regional
and traditional American dishes as well as diverse
international cuisine.
HOUSTON.ORG – 27
Professional Teams in the Houston MSA
Houston Dash National Women’s Soccer League
BBVA Compass Stadium
Houston Astros
Houston Texans
Major League Baseball’s
American League
Minute Maid Park
American Football Conference in
the National Football League
NRG Stadium
Houston Energy Independent Women’s Football League
Pearland High South
Houston Red Storm American Basketball Association
League America Sports Complex
Houston Roller Derby Women’s Flat Track Derby Association
Bayou Place
Houston Rockets
Houston Dynamo
Western Conference in the
National Basketball Association
Toyota Center
Major League Soccer’s
Eastern Conference
BBVA Compass Stadium
•
•
•
Toyota Center, a $235-million sports arena/
entertainment center located downtown, seats
18,300 for basketball and as many as 19,000 for
concerts. Opened in 2003, it has covered parking
for 2,500 vehicles.
Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros’
retractable-roof downtown baseball stadium with
seating for 40,950, opened in 2000.
BBVA Compass Stadium, the state-of-the-art,
open-air stadium designed to host Dynamo
matches, as well as additional sporting and
concert events, opened in May 2012. The
22,000-seat stadium is the first soccer-specific
stadium in Major League Soccer located in a
city’s downtown district.
•
Constellation Field, opened in 2012, is located
in Sugar Land, Texas. The stadium hosts sporting
events as well as concerts. It has a capacity of
7,500 spectators for baseball games and 9,500
for concerts.
•
TEDCU Stadium, opened in August 2014, is
located on the campus of the University of
Houston in the Third Ward. It cost $120 million
to build. The stadium features 40,000 seats
including 5,000 in club and suite areas. Sun and
shade studies were also conducted to improve
the best level of comfort for Houston fans and not
affect student-athletes.
•
Rice Stadium, opened in 1950, is located in the
historic museum district. It seats up to 70,000
fans. It is the location where President John F.
Kennedy made his famous challenge to America
to place a man on the moon.
Sugar Land Skeeters Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
Constellation Field
Texas City Rangers American Basketball Association
La Marque High School
Conventions and Major Events
•
With more than 4.44 million sq. ft. of convention
space, metropolitan Houston ranks at the
top of American cities when comparing
convention venues.
•
According to the Greater Houston Convention
& Visitors Bureau, in 2014, Houston hosted
364 conventions, events and shows that drew
774,152 attendees to Houston, translating into
an economic impact of $485 million, based on
attendance.
•
Houston has served as host to the following
major conventions and events: 2002 World Space
Congress; 2008 Latin Grammy Awards ceremony;
2013 American Association for Clinical Chemistry;
and the 2013 National Rifle Association. In 2017,
Houston will host its second Super Bowl (Super
Bowl L). The first time Houston hosted a super
bowl (Super Bowl XXXVIII) was in 2004.
George R. Brown Convention Center
Hotels and Motels
Golf
The Houston MSA in Spring 2015, according to PKF
Consulting, had:
•
In 2015, PGA.com lists 175 golf courses within a
50-mile radius of downtown Houston.
•
798 major hotels and motels, totaling 76,721 rooms.
•
•
Room occupancy averaged 71.8 percent with an
average room rate of $106.93.
The City of Houston Parks and Recreation
Department maintains seven municipal golf parks.
•
The Houston area has three Top Golf locations.
•
Houston’s Central Business District has eight
hotels planned to open before the Super Bowl
comes to town in 2017.
2015 Selected Recurring Events and Festivals
January
February
March
Black Heritage Society’s Annual
“Original” MLK Birthday Parade
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™
Azalea Trail
Mardi Gras! Galveston
Bayou City Art Festival Memorial
Chevron Houston Marathon
Buffalo Bayou Regatta
Martin Luther King Jr. Grande Parade
Houston’s Children’s Festival
Shell Houston Open
South West International Boat Show
April
May
June
BP MS 150
Art Car Parade and Festival
Caribbean Heritage Month Festival
Houston Barbecue Festival
Carnival Houston Show + Parade
Houston Beer Fest
Japan Festival
Cinco de Mayo Parade and Celebration
Juneteenth Freedom Festival
Art Car Parade
Dragon Boat Festival
Pride Houston
WorldFest: Houston International
Film Festival
Pasadena Strawberry Festival
July
August
September
Freedom Over Texas Festival
Fiestas Patrias
Star-Spangled Salute
Houston Black Heritage Music
and Arts Festival
Houston International Jazz Festival
Houston Shakespeare Festival
Houston Fine Arts Fair
White Linen Nights in the Heights
October
November
December
Bayou City Art Festival Downtown
Day of the Dead
Candlelight Tour in the Park
Festa Italiana
Interfaith Thanksgiving Service
at Rothko Chapel
Dickens on the Strand
Texas Championship
Native American Pow Wow
The Mayor’s Official Downtown
Houston Holiday Celebration
International Quilt Festival
Texas Renaissance Festival
The Original Greek Festival
Turkish Festival
Wings Over Houston Airshow
Fiesta Guadalupana
The Nutcracker Market
Uptown Houston Lighting
Zoo Lights
HOUSTON.ORG – 29
Racing
Performance Arts Facilities
Racing facilities include:
Theater District:
•
Alkek Velodrome – concrete bicycle racing track,
one of 29 velodromes in the United States
•
Galveston Bay Cruising Association – an all
volunteer non-profit sailboat racing club
•
Gulf Greyhound Park – dog racing
•
Houston Motorsports Park – NASCAR speedway
and National Hot Rod Association drag strip
•
Houston Raceway Park – dragstrip complex
•
Sam Houston Race Park – Thoroughbred and
American Quarter horse racing
Biking and Hiking
Biking options are found throughout the region and
include paved and unpaved paths, mountain-bike
trails, and shared-road lanes.
•
•
•
The City of Houston offers a more than 300mile interconnected bikeway network spread
over 500 square miles. The network includes
bike lanes, bike routes, signed-shared lanes and
shared-use paths.
The City of Houston also offers more than 128
miles of hike and bike trails that loop within its
parks or are linear and run along bayous and
outside park boundaries.
Harris County offers 45 hike and bike trails
totaling 228.8 miles.
Arts and Cultural Industry
Houston’s Theater District, located in downtown
Houston, features nine renowned performing arts
organizations, and many smaller ones, in four venues
– Jones Hall, Wortham Theater Center, Alley Theatre
and Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Houston
Ballet’s Center of Dance is also located in the heart of
the Theater District.
•
Alley Theatre, home to Houston’s leading
repertory company, offers two stages – the 824seat Hubbard Stage and the 310-seat Neuhaus
Stage. A wide-ranging repertoire of 11 productions
is presented each season.
•
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, opened in
2002, is home to Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS),
Broadway Across America, the Humphreys
School of Musical Theatre and Uniquely Houston.
Its two stages have seating for 2,650 and 500.
•
Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts,
home to the Houston Symphony and the Society
for the Performing Arts, seats 2,912.
•
Wortham Theater Center, built entirely with
private funds and opened in 1987, is home to the
opera and ballet companies. Its two halls seat
2,405 and 1,100.
•
Houston Ballet’s Center for Dance, opened in
April 2011, is a 115,000-square-foot, $47-million,
six-story structure.
Outside the Theater District:
•
Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park offers
free performances by Houston’s performing arts
organizations. The city-owned theatre is located
on approximately 7.5 acres of land in Hermann
Park, site of the Houston Zoo and the Garden
Center. Seating is provided for 1,700 patrons
under the covered pavilion, plus a sloping lawn
that accommodates approximately 4,500 more
on blankets or lawn chairs.
•
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, located in The
Woodlands, offers outdoor performance space
and accommodates 16,267. Established in 1990, it
presents an eclectic range of programs featuring
nationally and internationally recognized artists.
•
The Grand 1894 Opera House, listed in the
National Register of Historic Places, presents
more than 25 productions annually. The
Romanesque Revival style theater is located in
Galveston and has seating for 1,000.
•
Stafford Centre, located in Stafford, Texas,
More than 500 institutions are devoted to the
performing and visual arts, science and history in the
Houston area.
Houston’s nonprofit arts and culture industry is on the
rise with annual expenditures of $579 million according
to the Arts & Cultural Heritage Community Indicator
Report 2014, a study by the Center for Houston’s
Future. Arts and culture industry expenditures in
Houston grew twice as fast as the area’s population
from 2000 to 2010. The sector employs more than
16,000 according to Arts & Economic Prosperity IV,
a study conducted by the Houston Arts Alliance and
Americans for the Arts. Of the 16.2 million arts and
culture patrons in 2011, 2.2 million were from outside
of the Houston region.
major international competitions. Houston Ballet
has toured to critical praise in Europe, the United
Kingdom, Canada, Asia (including the People’s
Republic of China) and cities throughout the
United States. The company presents more than
75 performances during eight months per year.
includes a performing arts theater with seating for
1,154 and more than 24 acres of outdoor festival
green space.
•
Berry Center, located in Cypress, Texas, includes
an 11,000-seat athletic stadium, a conference
center, an 8,300-seat arena and a 456seat theater.
Performance Arts
Houston is one of the few U.S. cities with resident
companies in drama, ballet, opera and orchestra.
Theater:
Houston is one of the nation’s foremost centers of live
dramatic and musical theater.
•
Alley Acting Company was founded in 1947 and
is one of the few American theater companies
that support a company of actors, designers,
artisans and craftspeople throughout the year.
The company has toured U.S. cities and abroad.
The Alley is also home to educational programs
for students and teachers, including the Young
Performers Studio, From Stage to Page, HYPE
(Houston Young Playwrights Exchange) and
Playwright 360°.
•
Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) offers lavish
musical theater productions, both new works
and revivals, in a winter subscription season and
in popular free summer productions at Hermann
Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre. It also operates
the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre.
•
Main Street Theater enjoys growing critical
acclaim for dramatic and musical productions. In
35 years, its MainStage program has presented
over 30 world premieres. MST’s Youth Theater
produces plays directed to young audiences.
Its Kids On Stage classes emphasize theatrical
traditions from cultures worldwide.
•
Ensemble Theatre, located in midtown Houston
and established in 1976, is the only professional
theater in the Southwest devoted to the AfricanAmerican experience. This theatre offers two
stages and a full season of productions.
•
Stages Repertory Theatre offers southwestern
and world premieres; experimental productions
of classic works; and revivals of American
masterpieces.
Music:
Houston is a haven for classical music, with the
Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera
at the fore.
•
•
Houston Symphony, founded in 1913, has an
annual budget of more than $30.7 million and
maintains an internationally acclaimed orchestra
of nearly 90 full-time musicians. Some 300,000
attend its season of more than 280 classical,
pops, educational and family concerts. The
symphony’s free summer concerts at Miller
Outdoor Theatre have been a tradition since
1940. The symphony’s long tradition of touring
in recent years has included Europe, Japan,
Singapore and many U.S. cities. The symphony
devotes approximately $1 million per year to
educational outreach programs, most of which
are offered for free or at a nominal cost.
Houston Grand Opera performs October through
May each year at the Wortham Theater Center
downtown. Founded in 1955, the company is
known worldwide and enjoys a reputation for
commissioning and presenting new works by
important contemporary composers, including 50
world premieres. Its tours have included the U.S.,
Japan, Italy, Egypt, Scotland and France. Houston
Grand Opera is the only opera company to have
won a Tony Award, two Grammy Awards and
two Emmy Awards. In 2014, the Houston Grand
Opera fund raised $12.9 million to help support
the company’s operations and endowment.
Dance:
Houston has an active dance community that includes
diverse styles and genres.
•
Houston Ballet, founded in 1955 and established
as a professional company in 1969, is the
nation’s fifth largest ballet company, with annual
operating expenses of more than $27 million and
55 dancers, many of whom have won medals at
Houston Museum District
The Houston Museum District is one of the most
visited and diverse cultural centers with 19 member
organizations within close proximity. These museums
provide rich experiences in art, history, culture, nature
and science.
•
Asia Society Texas Center (1370 Southmore
Blvd.) – opened in 2012, this facility houses an art
gallery along with a theater.
HOUSTON.ORG – 31
•
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (3816 Caroline
St.) – founded in 2000, is dedicated primarily to
preserving the legacy and honor of the AfricanAmerican soldiers that served on behalf of the
United States of America.
•
Children’s Museum of Houston (1500 Binz) –
founded in 1980, the museum, which receives
more than 850,000 visits annually, has hands-on
galleries and offers a multitude of exhibits and
programs for children through age 12.
•
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (5216
Montrose) – founded in 1948, is a non-collecting
museum presenting regional, national and
international art of the past 40 years through
exhibitions accompanied by publications and
educational programming.
•
Czech Center Museum Houston (4920 San
Jacinto) – established in 1995, was created to
celebrate, share and promote the rich culture of a
major Slavic ethnic group and their history.
•
Holocaust Museum Houston (5401 Caroline) –
opened in 1996, educates the public about the
dangers of prejudice and hatred in society.
•
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (4848
Main) – a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to
advancing education about the process, product
and history of craft.
•
Houston Center for Photography (1441 W.
Alabama) – founded in 1981, brings together a
community of people interested in photography
and lens-based work. The center is home to an
on-site library housing more than 3,000 books on
photography.
•
Houston Museum of Natural Science (5555
Hermann Park Drive) – established in 1909, the
museum includes four floors of permanent exhibit
halls; the Wortham IMAX® 3D Theatre; Cockrell
Butterfly Center; Burke Baker Planetarium; the
George Observatory in Fort Bend County; a
satellite facility in Sugar Land; and world-class
touring exhibitions.
•
•
Houston Zoo, Inc. (6200 Hermann Park Dr.)
– provides a fun, unique, and inspirational
experience fostering appreciation, knowledge,
and care for the natural world. Currently there
are over 6,000 permanent residents (animals)
attracting over 2 million guests each year.
Health Museum (1515 Hermann Drive) – founded
in 1996, this museum is a member institution of
the world-renowned Texas Medical Center. The
museum currently serves more than 180,000
visitors annually.
•
Jung Center of Houston (5200 Montrose Blvd.) –
founded in 1958 in honor of Carl Gustav Jung, the
revolutionary psychologist. The center displays
new exhibits each month. Much of the featured
artwork is generated by local and regional artists.
•
Lawndale Art Center (4912 Main) – founded in
1979, the center is one of the only institutions in
Houston that is dedicated to the presentation of
contemporary art with an emphasis on work by
regional artists.
•
Menil Collection (1515 Sul Ross) – opened in 1987,
features a highly acclaimed collection of some
17,000 works of art concentrated in four areas:
antiquities; Byzantine and medieval treasures;
worldwide tribal art; paintings and sculpture. The
museum includes the Cy Twombly Gallery (1501
Branard) and Richmond Hall (1500 Richmond).
•
Museum of African American Culture (4807
Caroline) – exhibits the material and intellectual
culture of Africans and African Americans in
Houston, the state of Texas, the southwest and
the African Diaspora.
•
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) (1001
Bissonnet) – the first art museum in Texas, opened
in 1924. Today, it houses nearly 65,000 works from
antiquity to the present and ranks as the largest
art museum in the Southwest. MFAH includes:
The Caroline Wiess Law Building; Cullinan Hall;
Brown Pavilion; and the Audrey Jones Beck
Building. Other MFAH facilities include: Glassell
School of Art; the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen
Sculpture Garden; Blaffer Memorial Wing; Rienzi;
Central Administration and Junior School Building
and Bayou Bend. Beginning in summer 2015, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will start a new
master planned campus transformation.
•
Rice University Art Gallery (6100 Main Street)
– the only university art museum in the nation
dedicated to site-specific installation art, presents
temporary, large-scale environments that visitors
can enter and explore.
•
Rothko Chapel (3900 Yupon) – founded in 1971, it
is an intimate sanctuary welcoming over 80,000
visitors each year.
Additional Houston-Area Museums
•
Alliance Gallery (3201 Allen Parkway) – managed
by the Houston Arts Alliance, showcases recent
work by contemporary Houston artists.
•
Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston (4800
Calhoun Road) – furthers the understanding of
contemporary art.
•
Bryan Museum (1315 21st St. Galveston TX)
– opened in 2013, this facility is home to the
world’s largest collection of historical artifacts,
documents, and artwork relating to the
Southwestern United States.
•
Of the 55 largest parks located within cities, the
city of Houston contains three: #10 – Cullen Park
with 9,270 acres; #15 – George Bush Park with
7,800 acres; and #55 – Bear Creek Pioneers Park
with 2,163 acres inside the city limits of Houston.
•
Harris County Heritage Society (1100 Bagby) –
has restored and furnished ten early Houston
homes and a church that are on display in Sam
Houston Park. Its Museum of Houston Heritage
chronicles Texas history since 1519.
•
George Bush Park is the largest countymaintained park in the United States.
•
Hermann Park attracts more than 5.4 million
visitors annually.
O’Kane Gallery, University of HoustonDowntown (One Main Street) – is a conduit for
the visual arts and contemporary culture.
City of Houston parks:
•
•
•
•
•
Orange Show Center for Visionary Art (2402
Munger) – a nonprofit organization that was
founded in 1980 to promote the legacy of folk art
and traditional visual artists.
San Jacinto Monument and Museum of History
– located at San Jacinto Battleground State
Historic Site, features a wealth of artifacts and
documents covering four centuries of Texas
history. This 1,200-acre site is also a National
Historic Landmark and consists of the San Jacinto
battleground, monument with observation floor,
museum of history and Battleship Texas.
Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD)
oversees 366 developed municipal parks and more
than 220 green-spaces, which together encompass
approximately 37,851 acres.
•
Major City of Houston parks:
•
Buffalo Bayou Park (160 acres)
•
Cullen Park (9,270 acres)
•
Cullinan/Oyster Creek Park (754.83 acres)
•
Eisenhower Park (682.5 acres)
Space Center Houston – the $75-million, Disneydesigned visitors’ center for Johnson Space
Center, opened in 1992 and attracts more than
800,000 visitors per year. It features an IMAX
theater, Kids Space Place, live demonstrations,
Apollo, Mercury and Gemini capsules, a space
suit collection, and the world’s largest collection
of moon rocks.
•
Herman Brown Park (717.35 acres)
•
Hermann Park (445 acres)
•
Keith-Wiess Park (499.46 acres)
•
Lake Houston Wilderness Park (Approximately
5,000 acres)
•
Law Park (313.57 acres)
University Museum at Texas Southern University
(3100 Cleburne Ave.) – presents art created by
African and African American artists.
•
MacGregor Park (82.79 acres)
•
Memorial Park (1,503.68 acres)
•
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center provides
access to year-round activities for children and
adults with disabilities.
Parks
Parks within the city limits of Houston:
Houston contains 52,915 acres of parks managed
by five different entities, according to The Trust for
Public Land’s 2015 City Park Facts.
•
•
HPARD owns and operates 60 community centers
across the city, along with the Metropolitan MultiService Center.
Parks represent 14.3 percent of the city’s land
area, ranking in the top ten of U.S. cities with
similar density.
There are 24.1 acres of total parkland per 1,000
residents—well above the median of 12.8 acres
per 1,000 residents for cities of similar density
monitored by The Trust for Public Land.
Major downtown parks:
•
Allen’s Landing Memorial Park, located on the
banks of Buffalo Bayou.
•
Discovery Green, a 12-acre park adjoining
the George R. Brown Convention Center,
opened in 2008.
•
Eleanor Tinsley Park, a 124-acre linear park along
Buffalo Bayou immediately west of downtown.
•
Market Square, bounded by Preston, Milam,
Travis, and Congress streets, was donated to the
city in 1854 by Augustus Allen.
•
Martha Hermann Square Park is located at the
front steps of City Hall.
HOUSTON.ORG – 33
•
Sam Houston Park, the city’s first park, was
acquired in 1899. The park’s 19.7 acres contain
nine restored historic buildings.
•
Sesquicentennial Park, is a 22.5 acre urban
oasis in the heart of Houston’s downtown theater
district.
•
Tranquility Park, between Walker and Rusk
Streets, was officially dedicated on the 10th
anniversary of the first lunar landing.
Forests
•
Sam Houston National Forest, one of four
national forests in Texas, is 50 miles north of
Houston. The forest contains 161,508 acres in
Montgomery, San Jacinto and Walker counties.
•
W.G. Jones State Forest, a largely native loblolly
pine forest covering 1,722 acres, is located 40
miles north of Houston near The Woodlands in
Montgomery County. The forest is owned and
administered by the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Harris County parks:
The Harris County Park System consists of four
separate park departments that maintain a total of 179
parks totaling 25,126 acres.
Wildlife Refuges
Major Harris County parks:
•
Houston, situated on two of the four major North
American bird and butterfly flyways, offers
a bounty of avian species. According to the
Houston Audubon Society, the Houston region
has more than 400 species of birds as of 2015.
•
Texas National Wildlife Refuges in the Houston
MSA include the Anahuac and Moody National
Wildlife Refuges in Chambers County; the
Brazoria, San Bernard and Big Boggy National
Wildlife Refuges in Brazoria County; and the
23,000-acre Trinity River National Wildlife
Refuge in Liberty County.
•
Houston Audubon, one of the largest chapters of
the National Audubon Society, is headquartered
at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary in
West Houston. Prominent among its several
other sanctuary locations are Bolivar Flats and
High Island.
•
Alexander Deussen Park (309 acres)
•
Armand Bayou Nature Center (2,500 acres)
•
Arthur Storey Park (175 acres)
•
Bear Creek Pioneers Park (2,153 acres)
•
Challenger Seven Memorial Park (326 acres)
•
Congressman Bill Archer Park (926 acres)
•
Cypress Creek Parks (2,700 acres)
•
Gene Green Beltway 8 Park (230 acres)
•
George Bush Park (7,800 acres)
•
Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center (300 acres)
•
Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens (300 acres)
•
Roy Campbell Burroughs Park (320 acres)
•
Terry Hershey Park (500 acres)
•
Tom Bass Regional Park (more than 300 acres)
Houston Zoo
African Forest at the Houston Zoo
•
Founded in 1922, the Houston Zoo serves more
than 2.38 million visitors annually, ranking in the
top 10 nationwide in attendance.
•
Occupying 55 acres in Hermann Park, it is home
to more than 6,000 exotic animals, representing
more than 900 species.
•
The Houston Zoo is accredited by the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
•
Since 2002, the non-profit corporation, Houston
Zoo, Inc. has operated the zoo and invested more
than $100 million in an extensive renewal and
upgrading of its facilities.
Houston: The City With No Limits
In order to attract new businesses and the best and brightest talent to the area, the Partnership launched the
Houston Image Coalition to coordinate the implementation of the Houston: The City With No Limits campaign. The
plan positions Houston as not just a city with an innovative and growing business community, but a dynamic cultural
and livable city with a great quality of life.
LIMITLESS LIVING IN
HOUSTON
10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
1
2
NO.1 TOP 10
GLOBAL DESTINATION FOR
DESTINATION CITY
FOOD &
-According to
3
- According to
The New York Times
4
MOST DIVERSE REGION
Houston Region
22% of
Residents are
foreign born
MORE THAN 100+
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
5
ONE OF THE
LEAST
13% OF U.S. RESIDENTS
ARE FOREIGN BORN
EXPENSIVE CITIES
TO LIVE IN THE U.S.
LOWER THAN
THE NATIONAL
AVERAGE
CONFIDENT
Regardless of inevitable changes and challenges,
Houstonians have always believed that Houston’s
best days are ahead.
SUPPORTIVE
Houstonians love to see each other succeed and are
willing to get involved to make it happen.
7
PARK SPACE
MOST
WITH 6.5 MILLION
26 FORTUNE 500
C O M PA N I E S
3RD IN THE NATION
350+
MILES OF HIKE
th
POPULOUS MSA in U.S.
10
There are 6.5 million Houstonians with 6.5 million
versions of Houston. The attributes that follow,
however, remain constant and are the foundation of a
city with infinite possibilities - Houston.
-ACCORDING TO CreditDonkey
62,900+
5
WHAT IS HOUSTON?
AMBITIOUS
Even when others lag, we dream big and have the
staying power to see our dreams through.
TOTAL ACRES OF
8
From the moment Houston was founded, the limits of
what’s possible here were forever defined. The first
domed stadium, the first word heard from the moon,
the first artificial heart transplant – all were achieved
from that spirit of endless possibilities.
BEST CITIES FOR YOUNG
ENTREPRENEURS
6
HOUSTON: THE CITY WITH NO LIMITS
Today, that spirit is alive and well, and there’s no limit
to what Houston has to offer for those who want the
American dream and are willing to work hard for it.
CULTURE
U-HAUL
INTERNATIONAL
INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
& BIKE TRAILS
9
TOP CITY
FOR NEW
GRADUATES
-According to msnNOW
HARMONIOUS
Houston is not only the most diverse U.S. city, it is also
a city where people of all backgrounds live side by
side and are embraced according to their attitudes
and actions.
OPEN
Houstonians readily enjoy the benefits of living in a
global metropolis because the perks are well within
reach.
FORWARD LOOKING
Houstonians would much rather hear about your
plans for the future than stories from your past. Even
our finest historical moments were forward looking in
their time.
GET TO KNOW HOUSTON
Facebook.com/HoustonNoLimits
Twitter.com/HoustonNoLimits
Brand Central Password: limitless
TheCityWithNoLimits.com
04/21/2015 V3
#HoustonNoLimits
04/21/2015 V3
For more information, visit: TheCityWithNoLimits.com
HOUSTON.ORG – 35
History
1830s
1836 —
1836 —
1836 —
1837 —
On April 21, General Sam Houston’s
army wins Texas’ independence from
Mexico in the Battle of San Jacinto.
Houston founded on Aug. 30 by
brothers Augustus C. and John K.
Allen, who pay just over $1.40 per acre
for 6,642 acres near headwaters of
Buffalo Bayou.
Allen Brothers call on Gail Borden
(publisher, surveyor, originator of
condensed milk) and Thomas H. Borden
to survey the site. Gail Borden lays out
the town’s streets 80’ wide, with the
principal east-west street (Texas Ave.)
100’ wide.
General Sam Houston, first president
of the Republic of Texas, signs an act
authorizing Houston to incorporate.
Houston is capital of the Republic from
1837-1839.
1866 —
Houston’s first bank, First National Bank,
is founded.
1867 —
Houston Stonewalls defeat Galveston
Robert E. Lees 35-2 in first recorded
baseball game in Houston.
1868 —
Houston’s first trolley cars (muledrawn) appear.
1868 —
Houston’s first gaslights are installed.
1870 —
1870 —
Texas readmitted to the Union.
1870 —
Congress designates Houston a port;
first survey of Houston’s proposed ship
channel is conducted.
1872 —
Congress makes its first appropriation
— $10,000 — for ship channel
improvements.
Census shows Houston’s population up
to 9,332. Harris County’s has reached
17,375, ranking it second in the state.
The Laura is the first steamship to
visit Houston.
1874 —
1838 —
A bucket brigade, Protection Fire
Company No. 1, is formed to fight fires.
Houston Board of Trade and Cotton
Exchange are organized.
1875 —
First grain elevator is built on the
Houston Ship Channel.
1877 —
Houston’s first free public schools is
established.
1840 —
On April 4, seven Houston businessmen
form the Houston Chamber
of Commerce.
1880s
1841 —
1842 —
Houston Police Department is formed.
1880 — Texas’ oldest newspaper, The Galveston
County Daily News, is first published.
Houston’s first telephone exchange
is created.
1882 — Houston Electric Light Co. is organized.
Houston and New York are the first
cities to build electric power plants.
1846 —
Texas becomes the 28th state.
1882 — 1887 — 1850s
1850 —
First census after Texas joins the United
States counts 2,396 Houstonians.
Galveston, with 4,117 residents, is the
state’s largest city.
1853 —
Houston’s first railroad — the Buffalo
Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad —
begins operations.
1853 —
Texas Legislature appropriates $4,000
for Buffalo Bayou improvements.
1859 —
Three competing firefighting companies
combined into the Houston Volunteer
Fire Department.
1860s
1861 —
Houston and Harris County vote to
secede from the Union. During the Civil
War, the closest fighting is at Galveston.
1900 — A Category 4 hurricane strikes
Galveston, claiming more than 6,000
lives and causing property damage
exceeding $30 million ($846 million in
2012 dollars).
1901 — Houston Left Hand Fishing Club
purchases the city’s first automobile
from Olds Motor Works of Detroit.
1901 — Oil discovered at Spindletop.
Spindletop, and later discoveries at
Humble in 1905 and Goose Creek in
1906, put Houston in the center of new
oil and oilfield equipment development.
1902 — Congress appropriates $1 million for
work on the Houston Ship Channel.
1908 — Houston city council sets speed
limit of 8 mph.
1909 — Houston Museum and Scientific
Society, Inc., predecessor of the
Houston Museum of Natural Science, is
organized.
1909 — Houston police begin using motorcycles
to enforce speed limits.
1909 — Houston Country Club opens with
Houston’s first professionally-designed
18-hole golf course.
1910s
1910 — Congress accepts, from a group of
Houston businessmen headed by
the Houston Chamber of Commerce,
a novel plan to split ship channel
development costs between Houston
and the federal government.
1912 — Rice Institute (now Rice University)
begins classes.
1913 — 1914 — Houston Symphony is established.
1914 — The 25 foot-deep Houston Ship Channel
is completed and formally dedicated.
1915 — First deepwater vessel, the S.S. Satilla,
calls at Houston.
Houston gets its first arc light.
Sisters of Charity open Houston’s first
general hospital.
1890s
1891 — Houston is first Texas city with electric
streetcars.
1895 — Houston Business League is founded
(became Houston Chamber of
Commerce in 1910).
1895 — Houston Fire Department replaces
Houston Volunteer Fire Department.
1897 —
Automobile first appears in Houston as
an advertising gimmick.
1897 —
Houston’s first asphalt street paving is
laid on Franklin St.
1898 — Galveston Country Club opens with
Texas’ first recorded professionally
designed golf course.
First Houston city park opens. (This
site, now Sam Houston Park, contains
several of Houston’s earliest buildings.)
1900s
1870s
1837 —
1840s
1899 —
George Hermann donates 285 acres
to the city for a public park near Rice
Institute.
1920s
1920s-1930s — Oil refineries proliferate along
the Ship Channel, taking advantage of
inexpensive waterborne shipping.
1921 —
Houston adopts ordinance dedicating
tax monies to its library system.
1950s
1923 — Second National Bank becomes
Houston’s first air-conditioned building.
1953 —
1924 — KUHT-TV, the nation’s first public
broadcast TV station, goes on the air.
Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the first
fine arts museum in Texas, opens.
1955 — Houston Grand Opera Association and
Houston Ballet founded.
Natural gas first piped into Houston.
1955 —
Houston metro area population reaches
1,000,000.
1926 — 1927 — Houston Colored Junior College, the
forerunner of Texas Southern University,
established.
1927 —
Houston Junior College (now the
University of Houston) is established.
1928 —
National Democratic Convention is held
in Houston.
1928 —
1929 —
1992 —
Republican National Convention held
in Houston.
1994 — The Houston Rockets bring Houston its
first national sports title after winning
the NBA Championship.
1997 —
Former Police Chief Lee Brown elected
City of Houston’s first black mayor.
Municipal airport opened; air mail
service to Houston begins.
1965 —
1969 —
First event held in the Astrodome.
2000 —
Census finds Houston MSA has no racial
or ethnic majority.
City Planning Commission recommends
that Houston adopt a zoning ordinance
but finds scant support.
1969 —
2000 —
Minute Maid Park, home of Major
League Baseball’s Houston
Astros, opens.
2001 —
Tropical Storm Allison inundates
Houston June 5-9, claiming 22 lives
and inflicting $4.9 billion in property
damage, with storm precipitation as
high as 35.67 inches.
2002 —
NRG Stadium, home of the National
Football League’s Houston
Texans, opens.
2002 — Hobby Center for the Performing
Arts opens.
2003 —
Toyota Center, home of the National
Basketball Association’s Houston
Rockets, opens
2004 —
Houston’s first modern light rail line —
7.5-miles long — begins operations.
2004 —
2005 —
Houston hosts NFL Superbowl XXXVIII
2008 —
Hurricane Ike makes landfall Sept. 13
at Galveston as a Category 2 storm,
claiming at least 70 lives and causing
some $27 billion in property damage
along the Texas Gulf Coast, ranking it
third most costly among U.S. hurricanes.
2009 —
Houston elects Annise Parker, one
of the first openly gay mayors of a
major U.S. city
Houston Intercontinental Airport begins
operations.
“Houston” is the first word spoken from
the lunar surface.
1970s
1932 —
First Houston Fat Stock Show & Rodeo
(now Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo™) held.
1934 —
Intracoastal Canal links Houston to
Mississippi River navigation system.
1935 —
Braniff International inaugurates first
scheduled air passenger service
to Houston.
1970 —
1971 —
The Galleria opens.
1971 —
Shell Oil Co. relocates corporate
headquarters to Houston. More than
200 major firms move headquarters,
subsidiaries and divisions here in
the 1970s.
1973 —
1978 —
1940s
1940s — Petrochemical complex develops, taking
Leonel Castillo becomes Controller, first
Hispanic elected to city office.
Arab oil embargo quadruples oil prices
in 90 days, fueling Houston’s 1973-1981
economic boom.
Voters approve and fund Metropolitan
Transit Authority.
feedstocks from nearby refineries.
1980s
New master plan for Houston
thoroughfares emphasizes a
loop system.
1982 —
Employment peaks at 1,583,400 in
March before onset of recession.
Texas Medical Center is founded.
1983 —
155 office buildings completed in
12 months.
1983 —
Voters approve creation of Harris
County Toll Road Authority.
1987 —
Trough of recession in January; net
recession loss of 221,900 jobs.
1987 —
Wortham Center, home to Houston
Ballet and Houston Grand Opera,
and the George R. Brown Convention
Center opens.
1989 —
Houston Chamber of Commerce,
Houston Economic Development
Council and Houston World Trade
Association combine to form Greater
Houston Partnership.
Houston Golf Assn. hosts its first PGA
Tour event — now the Shell Houston
Open, 10th oldest event on the
PGA schedule.
Houston College for Negroes acquired
by Texas Legislature; established as
Texas State University for Negroes (now
Texas Southern University).
1947 —
1947 —
Alley Theatre established.
1948 —
Dec. 31 annexation expands Houston’s
area from 74.4 to 216 square-miles.
1948 —
Port of Houston ranks second nationally
in total tonnage.
1949 —
Houston City Council mandates first
zoning regulations.
2000s
Census ranks Houston as state’s most
populous city at 292,352.
1947 —
1991 —
NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center
moves to Houston.
1930 —
1943 —
1946 —
Houston hosts 16th annual Economic
Summit of Industrialized Nations.
1962 —
1930s
1941 —
1960s
1990 —
Engineering begins on the Gulf
Freeway, Texas’ first freeway.
KLEE-TV broadcasts first Houston
commercial TV program.
1990s
1990 —
More than 100,000 evacuees flee to
Houston from southern Louisiana in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina.
2010s
2011 —
By November, Houston returns to 2008
pre-recession employment levels; first
major metro to do so.
2012 —
BBVA Compass Stadium, home of
Major League Soccer’s Houston
Dynamo, opens.
2014 —
Metro Houston employment reached
an all-time high of 2.992 million
in December
Houston economic recovery complete;
April job count above March 1982 level.
HOUSTON.ORG – 37
2015
HOUSTONFACTS
1200 SMITH, SUITE 700 | HOUSTON, TX 77002 | 713-844-3600

The Houston Region - Greater Houston Partnership

Transcription

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