The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) provides public transportation in the form of buses, light rail, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, and paratransit to fifteen municipalities throughout the Greater Houston area and parts of unincorporated Harris County. While not in Tornado Alley, like much of Northern Texas, spring supercell thunderstorms sometimes bring tornadoes to the area. As of July 2018, the Census Bureau estimated the Houston area was home to nearly 7 million people, making it the country's fifth largest metro. An official website of the United States government. Demographic data includes, but is not limited to: population . [105][108], Houston has excessive ozone levels and is routinely ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States. Users should exercise caution when comparing 2017-2021 ACS 5-year estimates to other ACS estimates. [318], The eight-county Greater Houston metropolitan area contains over 25,000 miles (40,000km) of roadway, of which 10%, or approximately 2,500 miles (4,000km), is limited-access highway. Since the recession of the 1990s, Houston has worked to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on petroleum. [350], The Mayor's Office of Trade and International Affairs (MOTIA) is the city's liaison to Houston's sister cities and to the national governing organization, Sister Cities International. A third, 180-mile (290km) loop with a radius of approximately 25 miles (40km), State Highway99 (the Grand Parkway), is currently under construction, with six of eleven segments completed as of 2018[update]. According to the Texas Demographic Center, the city's populationabout 2.33 millionhas remained almost the same for the past five years. The region is serviced by four spoke tollways: a set of managed lanes on the Katy Freeway; the Hardy Toll Road, which parallels Interstate 45 north of Downtown up to Spring; the Westpark Tollway, which services Houston's western suburbs out to Fulshear; and Fort Bend Parkway, which connects to Sienna Plantation. The Houston Dynamo is a Major League Soccer franchise that has been based in Houston since 2006, winning two MLS Cup titles in 2006 and 2007. [94] The last time Houston saw single digit temperatures was on December 23, 1989. For the unrelated county, see, This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties Through their official city-to-city relationships, these volunteer associations promote people-to-people diplomacy and encourage citizens to develop mutual trust and understanding through commercial, cultural, educational, and humanitarian exchanges. About 62percent of Hispanics (of any nationality) in the area are declared or favor Democrats. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a mini-boom of midrise and highrise residential tower construction occurred, with several over 30 stories tall. In 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York purchased a large area of land along Buffalo Bayou to found a city. Other tourist attractions include the Galleria (Texas's largest shopping mall, in the Uptown District), Old Market Square, the Downtown Aquarium, and Sam Houston Race Park. The report found a 19% decrease in overall homelessness in the Houston area since 2020, and a . Houston's population grew nearly 10 percent in the last decade, fueled by large gains in the number of Latino and Asian residents that will shape the political future of Texas for years to . [264] The city has often been known to be the most politically diverse city in Texas, a state known for being generally conservative. As Brookings Institution demographer William Frey and many others have pointed out, the population of large U.S. citiesover 1 million peoplehas been going down since 2016. [90] In 2002, Uptown had more than 23 million square feet (2,100,000 m2) of office space with 16million square feet (1,500,000 m2) of class A office space.[91]. 5,911,000 The current metro area population of Atlanta in 2021 is 5,911,000, a 1.86% increase from 2020. [327] The light rail system saw approximately 16.8 million boardings in fiscal year 2016. [83] A seven-mile (11km) system of tunnels and skywalks links Downtown buildings containing shops and restaurants, enabling pedestrians to avoid summer heat and rain while walking between buildings. January 2021 Economy at a Glance. [184] Petroleum products, chemicals, and oil and gas extraction equipment accounted for roughly two-thirds of the metropolitan area's exports last year. The museum houses the original Popemobile used by Pope John Paul II in the 1980s along with numerous hearses, embalming displays, and information on famous funerals. Before Hurricane Harvey, the city had bought $10.7 million in houses in this area specifically to take them out of danger. [156][157] Historically, Houston has been a center of Protestant Christianity, being part of the Bible Belt. It is the second-largest concentration of theater seats in a Downtown area in the United States. [331], Houston has the largest number of bike commuters in Texas with over 160 miles of dedicated bikeways. Earthbound Houstonians consider something uplifting", "Hammered by heavy rain and huge hail Thursday night, Houston braces for more downpours, flooding", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Houston Journal; Broiling on the Outside, But, Really, It's No Sweat", Texas hit with snow as winter weather system aims for Northeast, "Snow in Houston: It Happens More Than You Think", "3 Reasons Houston Was A 'Sitting Duck' For Harvey Flooding", "Remembering Houston's Memorial Day Flood, one of America's costliest floods", "Revisiting Houston's Tax Day Floods one year later", "Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas", "Houston fears climate change will cause catastrophic flooding: 'It's not if, it's when', State of the Air 2005, National and Regional Analysis, "The paradox of peak-based ozone air pollution standards", "WMO Climate Normals for HOUSTON/INTERCONTINENTAL, TX 19611990", "Houston council approves changes to floodplain regulations in effort to reduce flood damage", "What's in Houston's worst flood zones? The original city council line-up of 14 members (nine district-based and five at-large positions) was based on a U.S. Justice Department mandate which took effect in 1979. [256] Houston is a home rule city and all municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan. [269] In 2010, the city's murder rate (per capita rate of 11.8 murders per 100,000 population) was ranked sixth among U.S. cities with a population of over 750,000 (behind New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, and Philadelphia) according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. KUHT channel 8 (Houston Public Media) is a PBS member station and is the first public television station in the United States. In 2000 there were over 41 mosques and storefront religious centers, with the largest being the Al-Noor Mosque (Mosque of Light) of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston. Houston now has the 3rd largest Hispanic population in the United States. The city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. The Texas Medical Center is now the largest medical complex in the world and employs 106,000 people. Within Hermann Park are the Houston Zoo and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Houston is home to 24 Fortune 500 companies with another 17 on the Fortune 1000 . [210] Additionally, more than one in five foreign-born residents are from Asia. Bayou Place is a large multilevel building containing full-service restaurants, bars, live music, billiards, and Sundance Cinema. Houston (/ h ju s t n / (); HEW-stn) is the most populous city in Texas and in the Southern United States.It is the fourth most populous city in the United States after New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, and the sixth most populous city in North America.With a population of 2,304,580 in 2020, Houston is located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is . Under 18 years. [17], The Houston area occupying land that was home of the Karankawa (k rangk w,-w,-w) and the Atakapa (tkp) indigenous peoples for at least 2,000 years before the first known settlers arrived. [13][14] The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled. [185], The Houston area is a leading center for building oilfield equipment. Percent Population by Age Group Zip Code: 77081 Zip Code: 77081 County: Harris State: Texas 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-17 18-20 21-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75-84 85+ 0 5 10 15 20. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area. In 2013, its metropolitan area surpassed the 5.5 million mark for the first time. [183] The Houston Ship Channel is also a large part of Houston's economic base. Officials predicted there would be 323 homicides in 2016. The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball expansion team formed in 1962 (known as the "Colt .45s" until 1965) that have won the World Series in 2017 and 2022 and appeared in it in 2005, 2019, and 2021. Some of the academic and research health institutions at the center include MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, UT Health Science Center, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital, and University of Houston College of Pharmacy. [29] After the Civil War, Houston businessmen initiated efforts to widen the city's extensive system of bayous so the city could accept more commerce between Downtown and the nearby port of Galveston. A megachurch, it had 44,800 weekly attendees in 2010, up from 11,000 weekly in 2000. [129] The median monthly owner costs with a mortgage were $1,646, and $536 without a mortgage. The third, Ellington Airport, is home to the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. [95] Air conditioning is ubiquitous in Houston; in 1981, annual spending on electricity for interior cooling exceeded $600 million (equivalent to $1.79 billion in 2021), and by the late 1990s, approximately 90% of Houston homes featured air conditioning systems. There is evidence suggesting that White teachers, who represent most teachers in the United States, may act to the detriment of the academic and socioemotional outcomes of minoritized students. Per capita income in past 12 months is $31,576 and poverty rate is 20.6%. Much of the city was built on forested land, marshes, or swamps, and all are still visible in surrounding areas. [317] A plurality of survey respondents also indicated traffic congestion was the most significant problem facing the metropolitan area. To the north in Neartown, the University of St. Thomas, founded in 1947, is Houston's only Catholic university. [77], Though Houston is the largest city in the United States without formal zoning regulations, it has developed similarly to other Sun Belt cities because the city's land use regulations and legal covenants have played a similar role. [265], Texas has banned sanctuary cities,[266] but Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Houston will not assist ICE agents with immigration raids. The new figures put the metro area's population over 7.1 million residents. During that period, the state added 310,288 residents . In addition to developing new streets and single-family housing within a floodplain, a flowing flood-water stream termed a floodway runs through the development area, a most dangerous place to encounter during any future flooding event. As of May 2021, I graduated . [332] The city is currently in the process of expanding its on and off street bikeway network.[when? The Museum District is home to nineteen museums, galleries, and community spaces. Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources. [2] An estimated 600,000 undocumented immigrants resided in the Houston area in 2017,[120] comprising nearly 9% of the city's metropolitan population. The ship channel continues past Galveston and then into the Gulf of Mexico. Under 5 years . KTRK-TV, KTXH, KRIV, KTXH, KIAH, KXLN-DT, KTMD-TV, KPXB-TV, KYAZ and KFTH-DT operate as owned-and-operated stations of their networks.[295]. [dubious discuss][117], In a recent case testing these regulations, near the Brickhouse Gulley, an old golf course that long served as a floodplain and reservoir for floodwaters, announced a change of heart toward intensifying development. The highest rate of high school graduation is among white people with a rate of 86.22%. Houston city, Texas: Phoenix city, Arizona: Philadelphia city, Pennsylvania . The Astrodome, nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World",[43] opened in 1965 as the world's first indoor domed sports stadium. [108] The majority of rainfall occurs between April and October (the wet season of Southeast Texas), when the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico evaporates extensively over the city. The Houston Texans were formed in 2002 as an NFL expansion team, replacing the Houston Oilers, which had left the city in 1996. The city of Houston has a strong mayoral form of municipal government. The age group where males are most likely to be married is Over 65, while the female age group most likely to be married is 45-54. [173], The Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist communities form a growing sector of the religious demographic after Judaism and Islam. [144], At the 2000 U.S. census, the racial makeup of the city in was 49.3% White, 25.3% Black or African American, 5.3% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 16.5% from some other race, and 3.1% from two or more races. Venues across Houston regularly host local and touring rock, blues, country, dubstep, and Tejano musical acts. Nearly 1,600 refugees arrive at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport every year from all over the world. [53] The worst came in late August 2017, when Hurricane Harvey stalled over southeastern Texas, much like Tropical Storm Allison did sixteen years earlier, causing severe flooding in the Houston area, with some areas receiving over 50 inches (1,300mm) of rain. The damage for the Houston area was estimated at up to $125 billion U.S. dollars,[55] and was considered to be one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States,[56] with the death toll exceeding 70 people. [341] In 2006, the United States Department of Transportation named IAH the fastest-growing of the top ten airports in the United States. [155], Houston and its metropolitan area are the third-most religious and Christian area by percentage of population in the United States, and second in Texas behind the DallasFort Worth metroplex. [112] Excessive man-made emissions in the Houston area led to a persistent increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide over the city. With explosive population . [118] A nationwide developer, Meritage Homes, bought the land and planned to develop the 500-year floodplain into 900 new residential homes. Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. Houston is known for stellar Tex-Mex cuisine, the Texas Medical Centrethe largest medical complex in the worldand for being the . [293], Rice University, near the Museum District and Texas Medical Center, is the most selective private institution in Texas. 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