Demographics

Houston’s 15-year growth in three charts

Houston’s standing as the country’s fourth-largest city has been a constant for more than four decades.

From immigration to inequality to infrastructure: 5 ways Houstonians clearly agree

The 2025 Kinder Houston Area Survey, the largest edition in its history, revisits neighboring Fort Bend and Montgomery counties for the first time since 2018. And despite the survey’s expanded reach and the divisiveness of the current political landscape, researchers found several areas with profound agreement among residents.

Houston region projected to attract millions more residents by 2050. Will it maintain its appeal?

Last year, Harris County experienced the largest raw population increase in the nation, contributing more than half of the metro area’s nearly 200,000 new residents. Projections released in February indicate the region will gain millions more people over the next 25 years.

Religious identities shift in Houston and the U.S. with rise of the ‘nones’

In the last 15 years, more Houstonians have become religiously unaffiliated, according to the Kinder Houston Area Survey. In the 2009 survey, 54% of respondents identified as Protestant and 31% as Catholic. In 2024, Protestants decreased to 38% and Catholics to 26%.

Houston has an independent political streak, but it mirrors the nation on several key issues

Houston has had a lengthy run of residents affiliating as politically independent, according to 40-plus years of Kinder Houston Area Surveys.