The continued development and evolution of the Greater Houston economy benefits from understanding its workforce. To this end, nearly 9,000 Fort Bend, Harris and Montgomery county residents were surveyed in June and July 2025 about their job priorities, current work and intentions to change careers.
Key findings
- Work-life balance (30%), salary (27%) and enjoyment (20%) are top priorities for workers when looking for a job.
- Forty-eight percent of workers view their job as a career while 30% view it as “just a job.”
- About half (54%) of workers plan to stay in a job similar to what they are currently doing.
- About 18% of workers — or more than half a million people — say it is very or extremely likely they will change careers in the next 5 years.
Suggested citation: Simburger, D., Dawson, L., DeLisi, A. G., Goolsby, K., Niznik, A., Njeh, J., Potter, D., Valikanova, A., & Williams, L. (2025). What's important to workers and changing careers in the Greater Houston area. Houston, TX: Houston Population Research Center, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25611/b766-7270
