Data

Doing the math: What it would cost to close Houston’s low-income housing gap

America’s housing shortage and housing costs have emerged as talking points in the race for the White House, with Vice President Kamala Harris addressing these problems in her opening remarks during the presidential debate with Donald Trump in September. Fixing them, however, will require federal, state and local action — and, of course, a lot of money.

Houston area led nation in issuing building permits for housing in 2023

Preliminary data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that the Houston metropolitan statistical area led the nation in building permit activity for housing in 2023, with 50,444 single-family homes making up the majority of the 68,755 permits issued for residential units.

Harris County appears to be losing more trees than it is planting. New datasets explore which neighborhoods lost the most.

New datasets on the Kinder Institute’s Urban Data Platform (UDP) make it possible to understand how tree canopy coverage has changed in the past decade across the Houston region. In short: We appear to be losing trees faster than we are planting them.

While Harris County grows a little, its suburbs see big change

Harris County is continuing to grow, but not at the rate of neighboring counties, a trend established more than a decade ago that has more recently emerged among other big counties statewide.

Voter registration data shows where Houston may have gaps

When it comes to potential voter strength, not all areas of Houston are the same. More densely populated areas generally have more registered voters, and some areas have fewer registered voters than they could have if every adult were accounted for.

More data, more connected: Dive into the updated Houston Community Data Connections dashboard

After a year of planning, development and collaboration with our partners, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research is proud to release a significant update to Houston Community Data Connections, a long-standing initiative to make local data more accessible to the public.

Migrants from other states more likely to call Texas their new home

In 2022, millions of Americans were on the move from one state to another. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas was the top destination in the country.

United Way data shows where Houstonians are struggling to make ends meet

According to the United Way of Greater Houston, more than 1 million households in the Greater Houston area are considered asset-limited, income-constrained and employed (ALICE) or are below the federal poverty level. These households — as many as 8 in 10 in some neighborhoods — are unable to afford basic necessities.

From Acres Home to Willowbrook: Making Harris County data more sensible and accessible with CTAs

Researchers and policymakers trying to study Harris County have a daunting task before them. It is the third-most populous county in the United States; if it were its own state, it would be bigger than Rhode Island in land area and would be ranked 25th in population. At this size, a single Houston neighborhood could have a population exceeding that of many Texas counties.

From rainfall totals to oral histories, Hurricane Harvey data offers multiple portraits of a disaster

The Kinder Institute’s Urban Data Platform warehouses over 50 datasets related to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath. These resources can help researchers, agencies and organizations work toward ways to prevent and withstand the worst effects of the storms to come.