Population, Diversity and Immigration in Houston

One of the strongest forces to shape the region, Houston’s diverse population is also its greatest asset.

In the last decade, the population in Houston’s three-county region — due to strong levels of international and domestic migration — grew substantially and became far more diverse.

The data

Nearly 6.5 million people call the Houston-area home

Harris County covers 1,777 square miles in the region, followed by Montgomery County with 1,077 square miles coverage, and Fort Bend County with 885 square miles. Together, the three counties cover 40% of the nine-county Houston-Sugar Land-The Woodlands Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).¹

How many Houstonians are there, and where do they live? Houston’s three-county region has a total population of nearly 6.5 million that accounts for 86% of the Houston MSA population.

Each county has witnessed remarkable population surges over the past few decades. In Fort Bend County, the population doubled over the last two decades, reaching nearly 920,000 in 2023. Montgomery County’s population also doubled, soaring from 294,000 in 2000 to 710,000 in 2023. In Harris County, the most populous county in the region and the state, the population climbed above 4.8 million.

This recent population growth is a part of a robust historical trend. Since 1980, Greater Houston’s population growth has consistently outpaced national and statewide trends. Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, in particular, have emerged as leaders, regularly recording growth rates that are double or even triple those observed in Harris County and Texas. The implications of this sustained population growth are profound, shaping Houston into a national power player and propelling economic growth in the region.

In the most recent decade, 2013 to 2023, population growth rates have stayed the same in our region and continues to outpace national growth. During this decade, population increased by 41% in Fort Bend County, 12% in Harris County, and 43% in Montgomery County compared to a 15% growth across the state and 6% across the nation.

Houston’s racial/ethnic composition continues to be diverse

Since 2000, the racial composition of Greater Houston’s population has changed significantly. The number of Hispanic and Asian-American residents has boomed, propelling the region into one of the most ethnically diverse in the country.

In each of Houston’s three counties, the number of residents that identify as people of color (non-white) grew faster than the population of white residents. This has driven the profound demographic change that the Houston area has undergone over the last few decades.

In 2023, Asian American (22.2%), Black (21.2%), and Hispanic (24.8%) residents comprised two-thirds of Fort Bend County’s population. White people, comprising less than one-third of the county’s total population, grew steadily, but slower compared to other racial/ethnic groups. While Fort Bend County’s Hispanic and Black population grew by over 50%, the Asian-American population doubled in size between 2010 and 2023.

Harris County has been majority-people-of-color since 2000, and recent data show that people of color continue to propel the county’s growth. Hispanics have been the largest ethnic group since 2010, and by 2023 they comprised 44.1% of the total population. Since 2010, the county has seen the most growth in the Asian American (42.5%) population, with more modest growths in its Black (21.6%) and Hispanic (27.5%) populations. Notably, Harris County is the only county in Greater Houston where the number of white residents declined between 2010 and 2023.

With 710,000 residents in 2023, Montgomery County’s population has doubled over the last two decades. While the county remains mostly white (57.8%) — with its Hispanic (28.3%), Black (7.0%) and Asian American (3.2%) populations making up nearly two-fifths of the county’s total population in 2023 — Montgomery County has experienced incredible growth in Asian-American (145.4%), Hispanic (112.3%) and Black (170.0%) populations between 2010 and 2023.

In Houston’s three-county area at large, the vast majority (80%) of children under five are people of color, indicating that Greater Houston will continue to become more racially diverse over time. Fort Bend County shows a somewhat-even distribution of races/ethnicities in this age group. A vast majority of Harris County’s youngest population are people of color (82%). In contrast, nearly half of children under five in Montgomery County are white (47%), a similar proportion to the country overall, and over a third are Hispanic.

Houston’s three-county region population soars 142% over four decades

Analyzing population distribution by age group provides a clearer picture of population change by revealing which age groups are driving growth and informing how resources should be allocated to address emerging needs.

While Houston’s population boomed during the 2010s, the growth between 2013–2023 was uneven among age groups. Notably, older adults (65 and older) saw the greatest percentage increase in Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery counties. The growth among older adults in Fort Bend was especially pronounced, soaring 105%.

While older adult populations had the largest growth, there were age-specific disparities within racial groups. In Fort Bend County, the number of children of color under five increased by 30%, while the number of non-Hispanic white children in the same age group decreased. In Harris County, the number of children under 5 decreased overall while children ages 5 to 17 and adults ages 18 to 64 who are non-Hispanic white decreased and those who are people of color increased. This trend is very similar to what occurred across Texas during the same time frame and matches trends in population growth by age at the national level. Montgomery County’s overall, non-Hispanic white, and people of color populations increased across all age groups with people of color increasing the most within each age group.

Population in Greater Houston could double to 12 million by 2050

Analyzing population growth by age group provides insights into the region’s demographic future. Population projections are used to make decisions about how to prepare for future demand and needs for resources like food, water, energy, housing, and services. By analyzing how Houston’s population grew the last few decades, we better understand what the impacts of that growth will be.

The following are demographic forecasts for Houston’s three major counties. By 2050,

• Fort Bend County is projected to reach over 2 million people with a demographic breakdown of 40% Asian, 24.9% Hispanic, 22.2% white, and 12.9% Black.
• Harris County is projected to reach almost 8 million people with demographic breakdown of 42.4% Hispanic, 20.8% white, 19.5% Asian/Other, and 17.6% Black.
• Montgomery County is projected to reach 1.5 million people with a demographic breakdown of 41% white, 40% Hispanic, 13.3% Asian/Other, and 7.7% Black.

Immigration in Houston drives population growth

What is driving Houston’s population growth? Generally, the primary drivers of population growth are the result of three factors: levels of fertility, mortality, and migration. Simply put, our population would grow as long as the number of births exceeds the number of deaths — this is known as the natural population increase. Migration, on the other hand, measures the movement of people from one area to another, and net migration measures the difference between the number of people who move into and out-of an area. Migration can be domestic, referring to the migration of people within the United States, or international, which refers to the movement of people across national borders.

From 2010 to 2023, population growth in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties was largely driven by domestic migration. In Fort Bend, natural changes in population accounted for an additional 75,000 people, while 203,000 people moved into the county from elsewhere in the United States. In Montgomery County, natural changes in population resulted in an additional 44,300 residents, while 193,100 people moved to the county from elsewhere in the United States.

The story is different in Harris County. Overall, net migration was positive from 2010-2016 but became negative almost entirely due to the drop in domestic migration. In fact, net migration was consistently negative in Harris County between 2017 2021 rebounding once again in 2022 solely because of international migration as net domestic migration has been negative in Harris County since 2016. From 2010 to 2023, natural changes in population resulted in an additional 532,900 Houstonians, while 378,000 people moved into the county from outside of the United States.

Immigrants comprise a larger share of the Houston area than the nation overall

The Houston area owes much of its economic success and cultural vibrancy to the immigrants who have made this region their home. While categorized under one label, the “immigrant population” comprises people who were born outside the United States (foreign born), including naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents, temporary residents, and unauthorized immigrants.

More than one in four individuals living in the Houston three-county region are immigrants. Among the three counties, Fort Bend County is home to the highest share of immigrants (31%) with Montgomery County home to the lowest (17%). For the past few decades, Houston’s immigrant community has grown at a faster rate than the U.S.-born population, and this trend is showing no sign of slowing in Fort Bend.

The number of new Americans rebound to pre-pandemic numbers

What are naturalized citizens? When a foreign-born resident becomes naturalized, they become a legal citizen of the United States and now have the same constitutional rights and civic responsibilities as a native-born citizen, including eligibility to vote. To become a naturalized citizen, immigrants must meet certain requirements, including completing a five-year period of lawful permanent residence, demonstrating basic proficiency in English, U.S. history, and civics, and passing a background check. Naturalized citizens tend to have higher incomes and rates of homeownership compared to non-citizens.²²

The number of residents achieving lawful permanent resident status in Texas and the Houston MSA has declined sharply after peaking in The number of residents achieving lawful permanent resident status in Texas and the nine-county Houston Metro Area has rebounded after a sharp decline in 2020. The same is true for the number of residents becoming naturalized citizens with current numbers surpassing what we have seen in the last two decades. These trends mirror national trends where in 2022 the number of U.S. residents becoming naturalized citizens was the third highest on record.

Most unauthorized immigrants in the Houston-area have lived in the country for five or more years

How many unauthorized immigrants are in the U.S.? About 11 million unauthorized immigrants reside in the nation, representing about 24% of the total immigrant population in the U.S. About 16% of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population — around 1.7 million — live in Texas. 

How many unauthorized immigrants are in Houston? The Migration Policy Institute estimated in 2021 (most recent available as of publication) that 481,000 unauthorized immigrants live in Harris County, 39,000 in Fort Bend County, and 28,000 in the area of Montgomery, Chambers, and Liberty counties. Harris County is home to the second largest unauthorized immigrant community in the nation — Los Angeles County leads the nation with 951,000 unauthorized immigrants.

Most unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. and Texas have lived in the country for five or more years. The share of undocumented immigrants by years of residence is about evenly distributed across Houston’s three-county area. Fort Bend County has the highest proportion of undocumented immigrants who entered the country in the last five years (30%), while Montgomery County has the highest proportion of unauthorized immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 20 or more years (25%). Harris County, meanwhile, has the highest proportion of unauthorized immigrants who have lived in the county for 10-14 years (19%).

The distribution of the unauthorized community by age is fairly consistent across the U.S., Texas, and Houston’s three-county area. Most unauthorized residents — 55% — range from 25 to 44 years old. The smallest groups of unauthorized immigrants are under the age of 16 and over the age of 55.

Where are most unauthorized immigrants in Houston from? People from Mexico and Central America are the majority of unauthorized immigrants in Houston’s three-county region. In Fort Bend County, 35% of unauthorized immigrants come from Asia (compared to 15% nationally), and in Montgomery County 85% of unauthorized immigrants hail from Mexico or Central America.

More than 140 languages are spoken in the Houston area

One of the main ways in which diversity in Houston manifests itself is in the number of languages spoken in the region. Houstonians are multi-linguistic: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Hindi are all spoken at high rates.

Other than English, the most commonly spoken language across Houston’s three-county region is Spanish. Following Spanish, the most commonly spoken languages are Vietnamese, Chinese, and other Indo-European languages, such as French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Russian, Urdu, etc. Fort Bend County has the greatest linguistic diversity of Houston’s three counties.

The Houston region is diverse, but is it integrated?

While the Houston area is remarkably diverse, this diversity alone does not necessarily guarantee meaningful interaction between residents of different backgrounds. Historically, the United States’ major cities — including Houston — were highly segregated. Residents of different racial and ethnic backgrounds can not interact and connect with each other if they are forcefully separated by exclusionary zoning codes, interstate highways, and social stigma. While explicit segregation is illegal, we continue to see its impact in the make-up of our modern neighborhoods. 

The fractionalization index uses population data to measure the likelihood that two random people in a given area will be of a different race or ethnicity. Scores range from 0 to 1, with 0 indicating that two randomly chosen people belong to the same ethnic group, and one indicating maximum diversity (a 100% chance that two randomly chosen people are of different racial/ethnic backgrounds).

In 2023, Fort Bend County had the highest level of racial/ethnic mixture in Houston’s three major counties, scoring a 0.76 in the fractionalization index. Harris County scored a 0.7, while Montgomery County scored a 0.58, reflecting a lower probability that two randomly selected individuals in the areas will belong to different racial or ethnic groups. Neighborhoods in both Fort Bend and Harris counties exhibit more racial and ethnic plurality than the average American and Texan neighborhood (0.62 and 0.67, respectively).

Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery counties scored higher on the fractionalization index in 2023 than in 2010, indicating these places grew more diverse in the last decade. Fort Bend County’s score increased from 0.74 to 0.76; Harris County’s from 0.69 to 0.70; and Montgomery County saw the greatest increase, jumping from 0.45 to 0.58 in the fractionalization index.

Nearly 210,000 veterans live in Houston’s three-county region

A veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. As of 2023, there are nearly 16 million veterans in the United States. Texas is home to the largest number of veterans with 1.4 million in the state.

Nearly 210,000 veterans live in Houston’s three-county region, with the greatest concentration of vets in Montgomery County (6.6%). About 4% of the population in Fort Bend and Harris counties are vets.

Compared to non-veterans, veterans are about twice as likely to have a disability, and they are half as likely to live below the poverty threshold.

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Houston is Diverse
• Houston is Vibrant
• Houston is Changing
• Key insights from our webinar on housing inequities
• Houston’s Three-county Region Accounts For a Quarter of Texas’ Population Growth

Transportation Access in Houston

Our ability to easily access safe, affordable, and reliable transportation shapes how we interact with our larger community

Houstonians tend to love their cars and love driving them. But they also have few other options to meet their transportation needs, forcing thousands of residents to bear the costs of a personal car or forgo accessible transportation altogether.

The data

Houstonians overwhelmingly depend on private vehicle ownership to meet transportation needs

Even in the famously car-centric United States (where 92% of households own a car), Greater Houston is a relative outlier for its reliance on private vehicles (and robust car culture). Over nine out of 10 Harris County residents own at least one car, and more than half own two or more. Vehicle ownership rates are even higher in the suburbs than in the city. 

While this system ensures that drivers can take their car anywhere, it offers few options to Houstonians without a private vehicle. Additionally, relying on a system of freeways and private cars makes accessing transportation difficult for residents without a driver’s license. These Houstonians often struggle to meet their transportation needs for the same reason why Houstonians rely on private vehicles to get around: driving is incentivized by inadequate public transportation and poor walkability in most of the city.

In 2021, 7.1% (122,775) of households in Harris County reported having no vehicle. Similarly, the proportion of households with no vehicles in Fort Bend county increased from 2.2% (5,514 households) in 2019 to 3.5% (9,789 households) in 2021. Montgomery County had the lowest proportion of households 2.4% (5,514) with no vehicle.

The increase in the share of households with no vehicles in 2021 suggests an increased reliance on public or alternative methods of transportation particularly in Harris County. Limited public transportation choices mean many households are forced to purchase an additional vehicle, adding burdensome car payments to a household’s annual budget.

Less than 5% of Houston-area workers use public transportation

One of the most dreaded aspects of life in Houston’s three-county region is “rush hour.” As a result of the pandemic, the Census Bureau began tracking whether workers worked from home, in addition to the typical methods: driving alone, carpooling, using public transit, walking, and cycling.

Nearly all workers in Houston’s three-county region either drive alone to work or work from home, leaving a small minority to navigate the region on foot, by bike, or using public transportation. In Fort Bend County, known for its large workforce in professional and technical services, 20.6% of workers do so from home, and an additional 69.4% drive alone. A similar proportion of workers in Harris County drive in alone to work. In Houston’s three-county region, Residents of Montgomery County are the most likely to drive alone to work (73.6%).

Access to public transportation is inadequate

A lack of public transportation contributes to the primacy of private vehicle ownership in Houston. Public transportation in Greater Houston is administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, commonly known as METRO. METRO offers commuters bus routes, light rail lines, and a host of other services designed to serve Houston’s sprawling suburbs. While upcoming travel improvements as a part of the METRONext program aim to expand METRO’s services, most Houstonians currently struggle to access public transportation.

Improving METRO’s services would increase access to transportation for those without private vehicles and offer residents more ways to traverse the city. It would also reduce the car dependency that creates traffic and increases commuting times for everyone on the road. Houstonians may always love our cars, but we should have other accessible ways to effectively travel around Houston.

Only 4.4% of Harris County residents and 3% of Fort Bend and Montgomery County residents live within a quarter mile of any public transit station. The result of this is that for over 95% of Houstonians, accessible public transportation is unavailable.

Harris County has the most households within one-fourth mile of a public transit stop. Access is lower in Fort Bend County and Montgomery County — both areas with longer-than-average commute times. The Fort Bend and Montgomery transit lines also provide little in the way of neighborhood connectivity, serving almost exclusively commuters to job centers and no local bus service beyond the METRO service area.

Poor walkability necessitates driving

Poor walkability is also a major contributor to Houston’s overreliance on cars for transportation. The National Walkability Index — the EPA’s assessment of the pedestrian-friendliness of an urban area, ranging from a low of one to a high of 20.

The National Walkability Index rates Harris County as slightly more walkable than the average American neighborhood with 11.43. Fort Bend and Montgomery County are less pedestrian friendly; they receive a 7.97 and a 6.65, respectively.

Most of Harris County’s walkable neighborhoods are clustered around downtown Houston. While some communities there receive high scores, the majority of land in Harris County has below average walkability. The same is true in Fort Bend and Montgomery County. Despite a few exceptions, most of the Houston suburbs are unwalkable and without public transportation. This leaves residents with no option but to drive, creating traffic and leaving those without a car unable to access adequate transportation.

Sidewalks remain a luxury in Houston

Contributing to Houston’s walkability issue is a lack of sidewalks. Houston scores poorly in terms of sidewalk distribution — the ratio of sidewalks to streets.

In all three counties, the sidewalks to streets ratio is below 1.0 (a 2.0 score represents an ideal score, with each mile of road flanked by a sidewalk on each side). Harris County scores the highest with a ratio of 0.95, followed by Fort Bend County at 0.75, and Montgomery County at 0.14. Ideally, every street would have an accompanying sidewalk, but only 47% of Harris County’s roads, 37% of Fort Bend County’s roads, and 7% of Montgomery County’s roads have sidewalks. 

Without sidewalks, we are more likely to drive which adds pressure on our aging infrastructure and contributes to poor air quality. Not only are there tangible costs, but research shows that communities with sidewalks are more likely to know one another which helps build social ties and gives us the feeling of belonging and community — critical ingredients for a thriving neighborhood.¹

Sidewalk density measures the average number of linear miles of connected sidewalk per square mile of land. Lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure can discourage people from walking even short distances.

Harris County has the most neighborhoods featuring more than 30 miles of sidewalk per square mile, followed by Fort Bend County. Virtually all neighborhoods in Montgomery County have less than five miles of sidewalk per square miles except The Woodlands. Montgomery County lags far behind the rest of the region at just over half a mile of connected sidewalk per square mile of land on average. 

Because of a lack of sidewalks, biking networks, and adequate public transportation, the neighborhoods east of I-45 are the least walkable. Poor walkability in this region has a disproportionate impact on the Black communities that historically live in the area. Despite 11.5% of Black residents of Harris County not having access to a private vehicle, Houston’s predominantly Black neighborhoods remain unwalkable and without sufficient public transportation. Thus, the result is significant disparities in transportation access by race. To ensure that all Houstonians are able to traverse the Houston area, these racial disparities must be confronted and eliminated.

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Examining Houston’s Reputation as a Car City
• Exploring the Legacy of Redlining in Houston
• Houston is Big
• Is Houston really that affordable?
• Houston is Changing

Public Safety & Criminal Justice in Houston

Public safety is foundational to building a healthy environment that allows a community to thrive.

Gun death rates in the Houston region continue to increase, except in Fort Bend County, and while traffic-related deaths have fallen since 2000 they have begun to increase in recent years in Fort Bend and Harris counties. The number of reported hate crimes in the region has decreased since 2021 while reported human trafficking cases have increased slightly in recent years. And while adult incarceration rates have fallen, the rate at which juveniles are referred to probation has risen.

The data

Gun deaths rise in last decade

For four consecutive years, between 2020 and 2023, the top cause of death for American children was related to firearms. Of children who died in 2023, 16% of those deaths were a result of a gunshot wound. The number of people, especially children, who die as a result of a firearm is a public health threat — in 2023, that totaled nearly 2,600 children.

Firearms are involved in most killings in the United States, including 79% of all homicides and 55% of all suicides in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2023, the firearm fatality rate in Harris County was the highest in the Houston region at 16.4 deaths from firearms per 100,000 people. The firearm fatality rate in Fort Bend County was the lowest in the region at 8.5 per 100,000. Fort Bend County has boasted the lowest gun death rate consistently since 2000.

Gun violence is rising at the state and national level as well. Since 2010, the firearm fatality rate increased 35.7% across the country, 37.5% statewide and 30.6% within Houston’s three-county region. In Montgomery and Harris counties, the firearm fatality rate increased 38.1% and 34.6% from 2010 to 2023, respectively. In Fort Bend County, the firearm fatality rate increased 10.7% in the past decade, slower than the national pace.

Traffic deaths fall by nearly half in Montgomery and Fort Bend counties

Motor vehicle crashes were the second leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 25, behind firearm fatalities. According to estimates from the CDC, over 43,000 Americans lost their lives in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2023. The human toll is devastating, but the economic impact is also costly. TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit, estimates that the total social cost of these crashes — which accounts for the economic costs of fatalities, injuries, and vehicle damage — was $460 billion in 2023 alone.¹

Historically, traffic death rates across the Houston region, Texas, and the United States declined over the past two decades. From 2000 to 2023, Montgomery County cut its vehicle death rate by more than half, while Fort Bend County saw a decline of 40%, compared to the statewide decline of 20% and 10% in Harris County and the nation. This decrease is part of a trend dating back to the mid-20th century attributable to advancements in car safety, increased seatbelt usage, and a successful campaign against drunk driving.² 

However, it is crucial to note that the decline in traffic fatalities has slowed down or, in some cases, even reversed in the 2010-2020 period. During this time, Montgomery County continued to experience a decrease in the rate of vehicular collision deaths. However, rates started increasing in Harris County by 2015, following statewide and national trends, and increased in Fort Bend County between 2020 and 2023. Scholars point to increased distracted driving and the prevalence of cell phone usage while driving as contributors to this concerning trend. Despite these increases, Houston’s three-county area still has a below average rate of traffic fatalities compared to the statewide and national averages.

In 2023, Harris County recorded 635 traffic deaths, equivalent to around 1.7 deaths every day. This translates to a traffic death rate of 13.1 per 100,000 population in Harris County. In the United States and Texas, the figures are 14.3 and 15.4, respectively, meaning that Harris County has relatively less traffic fatalities than the nation despite being less walkable and more car dependent. The traffic death rate In Fort Bend County (8.3 deaths per 100,000) was less than that of Montgomery County (12.8 deaths per 100,000).

The number of reported hate crimes decreased in Houston and across Texas after 2021

A hate crime is a committed criminal offense that is motivated entirely or partly by the offender’s bias against a race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity.

It is widely known that hate crimes are vastly underreported. In 2023, there were nearly 12,500 hate crime incidents reported by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, a study by the Bureau of Justic Statistics estimates that about 250,000 hate crimes occurred each year between 2005 and 2019.³ Historically, hate crimes have been chronically underreported because victims may not trust the authorities, experience language barriers, and find the reporting process difficult.⁴ And while the number of reported hate crimes declined across Houston and Texas since 2021, they continue to rise across the country.

Over time, the number of hate crimes reported to Houston Police Department (HPD) has generally increased. The number of reported hate crimes in 2020 exceeded the decade’s previous peak in 2015 and the number of reported crimes in 2021 exceeded those in 2022. While the numbers fell in 2022 and 2023, they are still higher than in the early 2010s. Historically, the majority of reported hate crimes are motivated by the victim’s race, ancestry, or ethnicity. However, for the first time in 2023, hate crimes motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation took up the largest proportion of hate crimes reported.

Across Texas and the United States, crimes motivated by race, ancestry, or ethnicity make up over half of all hate crimes reported. However, nationally, in the past decade since 2013, the number of hate crimes motivated by gender identity increased by over 1,500% and those motivated by gender increased by over 500%. The number of reported hate crimes motivated by race, ancestry, or ethnicity in the Lone Star State jumped from 88 in 2013 to 286 in 2023, increasing more than threefold while the number of similarly motivated hate crimes reported in Houston has nearly doubled during the same period.

Human trafficking rates in Texas continue to decline

Often described as modern-day slavery, human trafficking involves the use of force, intimidation, coercion, fraud or threats to exploit vulnerable individuals, including men, women, and children. While human trafficking takes various forms, sex trafficking and forced labor are the most common. Sex trafficking occurs when individuals use forms of coercion and intimidation to sexually exploit others and labor trafficking occurs when contractors, employers and others use forms of coercion to force people to work against their will. Because of its proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and its central position relative to major cities on the East and West Coasts, Houston is known as a hub for human trafficking.

Human trafficking data, from the National Human Trafficking Hotline statistics, paint a picture of statewide and national trends. Note that these statistics only reflect calls to the hotline, and not criminal charges.

In Texas, 890 cases of human trafficking were reported to the hotline in 2023. This represents a significant increase from just eight years earlier when 450 cases were reported. This surge in reported trafficking cases was observed for both trafficked children and adults, although the overall number of adult cases reported to the hotline was higher. Over this period from 2015 to 2023, the number of human trafficking cases reported nearly doubled, however, they are still slightly below the peak in 2019 when 940 cases were reported to the hotline.

In 2023, the rate of human trafficking cases in Texas reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (2.95 cases per 100,000 population) was only slightly higher than in the U.S. (2.87). In both Texas and the U.S., the rate of trafficking peaked in 2019 and continued to decline through 2022. Across Texas, rates continued to decrease but saw a slight uptick nationally.

The incarceration rate in Harris County is more than double the national rate

The incarceration rate measures the rate of people in federal/state prisons and/or local jails per 100,000 residents. The Vera Institute of Justice compiles data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to calculate the “total incarceration rate,” which accounts for both the state prison population and the county jail population, the latter of which is less typically included in measurements of incarceration.

In 2005, Harris County’s peak incarceration rate for ages 15-64 was nearly 1,600 per 100,000, triple Fort Bend’s rate, double Montgomery’s and the national rate, and slightly above Texas. By 2020, Harris County’s rate dropped 40% to 947 (below Texas’s 983 but over double the national 404). Meanwhile, Montgomery County’s rate stagnated, rising from parity with the US in 2000/2005 to 875 in 2020 (over double the national 404). Fort Bend County consistently had the lowest rate, at 355 in 2020, below the national average.

Across Houston’s three county region, there are pronounced disparities in the incarceration rates of different racial/ethnic groups.⁵ In the past decade, Black people are incarcerated at consistently the highest rates, reflecting — according to scholarly consensus — years of War on Drugs discriminatory policing and a legacy of economic exploitation and abandonment. In Harris County, the incarceration rate of Black adults in local jails is double that of white adults. In Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, Black people are 3.7 and 2.7 times more likely to be imprisoned, respectively.

Harris County’s juvenile probation referral rate rises after 2021

The juvenile detention system in Texas is a dedicated system focused on the “treatment and rehabilitation” of youth at least 10 years old but not yet 17 and are meant to be “protective, not punitive.” In lieu of being charged for a crime like adults, juveniles are “referred” to the court, which can then decide whether or not to place the minor on probation, pursue incarceration by charging the minor as an adult, or some other repercussion.

The juvenile probation referral rate, which adjusts for population changes over time, began increasing in 2022 after two years of declines. The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department expected this increase in the aftermath of the pandemic and predicted that numbers would eventually return to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, just over 1,000 per 100,000 young people received referrals, which is almost on par with the rate of referrals in 2019 (1,160 per 100,000 people aged 10 to 17). Despite this recent uptick, referral rates in Harris County are still 71% lower than they were in 2010.

Additionally, the rate of referrals diverted from the juvenile justice system has increased in recent years. These diversion programs, designed for youth involved in lower-level offenses, offer a constructive alternate to detention and minimize these youths’ exposure to the criminal justice system,

This general decline in referrals since 2010 applies to all examined racial/ethnic groups, although there was a recent uptick for Black and white juveniles between 2021 and 2023. Additionally, racial/ethnic disparities persist. In 2021 and 2023, Black juveniles in Harris County were referred to probation at rates roughly four times higher than Hispanic youth and seven times higher than white youth.

Local policy experts attribute the overall decline in referrals to the successful implementation of innovative programs within the county.⁶ These programs, which include mental health services and drug diversion initiatives, are designed to redirect young individuals away from the juvenile justice system.