Greater Houston Area

Houston is among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area was the fastest growing metro area numerically during the 2013-2014 census year, with 156,371 people added. The area grew 25.2 percent between the 1990 and 2000 censuses—adding more than 950,000 people—while the nation’s population increased 13.2 percent over the same period. From 2000 to 2007, the area grew by 912,994 people. From 2000 to 2030, the metropolitan area is projected by Woods & Poole Economics to rank fifth in the nation in population growth—adding 2.66 million people. In 2009, Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners ranked the then named Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown MSA as the fifth-best performing metropolitan area; the Houston area had moved up 11 spaces from the previous year’s ranking. It is a part of the Texas Triangle megapolitan area.