Demographics of Houston
In the U.S. state of Texas, Houston is the largest city by both population and area. With a 1850 United States census population of 2,396—and 596,163 a century later, in 1950—Houston's population has experienced positive growth trends. In 2000, the city had a population of 1,953,631 people in 717,945 households and 457,330 families, increasing to 2,304,580 at the 2020 census.
In common with most U.S. communities leading up to the 20th and 21st centuries, Houston was a predominantly non-Hispanic white city. Since the New Great Migration and immigration from Latin America, Africa, and Asia during the latter half of the 20th century, the city has become a majority-minority city with Hispanic and Latino Americans constituting the plurality at 44% of the population. According to Los Angeles Times and NPR in 2017 and 2013, Houston has been described as the most diverse place in the United States.
Race and ethnicity
| Racial and ethnic composition | 2020 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 | 1970 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 47.0% | 43.8% | 37.4% | 27.6% | 11.3% |
| Black or African American | 25.1% | 24.7% | 25.3% | 28.1% | 25.7% |
| Whites | 23.7% | 25.6% | 30.8% | 40.6% | 62.4% |
| Asian | 7.2% | 6.0% | 5.3% | 4.1% | 0.4% |
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | % 2000 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 601,851 | 537,901 | 545,989 | 30.81% | 25.62% | 23.69% |
| Black or African American alone | 487,851 | 485,956 | 509,479 | 24.97% | 23.15% | 22.11% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 3,234 | 3,528 | 3,669 | 0.17% | 0.17% | 0.16% |
| Asian alone | 102,706 | 124,859 | 165,189 | 5.26% | 5.95% | 7.17% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone | 680 | 711 | 960 | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.04% |
| Other race alone | 2,614 | 4,128 | 11,884 | 0.13% | 0.20% | 0.52% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | 23,830 | 22,700 | 53,987 | 1.22% | 1.08% | 2.34% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 730,865 | 919,668 | 1,013,423 | 37.41% | 43.81% | 43.97% |
| Total | 1,953,631 | 2,099,451 | 2,304,580 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
White non-Hispanic and European Americans
of northern and western European origin—particularly those of German and British origins—founded the city of Houston. Historically in the mid-nineteenth century, Southern Anglo settlers primarily from the southeastern United States crossed the Mississippi River, migrating to Texas. Roberto R. Treviño, author of The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston, said that German Americans "historically played a central role in Houston, far outnumbering other whites such as the British, Irish, Canadians, French, Czechs, Poles, and Scandinavian groups who historically have comprised a smaller part of the city's ethnic mosaic."In 1910, prior to new waves of immigration from eastern and southern Europe, descendants of ethnic whites who had founded Houston numerically outnumbered other ethnic groups who had later settled in Houston. After European immigrants and their descendants assimilated into United States culture, they tended to develop with the city of Houston. Demographics at mid-century reflected a white majority, with Latino and African American minorities. The state legislature had disfranchised most blacks at the turn of the century and in practice, erected barriers to Hispanic-Latino voting as well.
After the civil rights movement gained some successes—such as congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce minority constitutional rights—in the 1970s, white flight occurred in Houston as wealthier people moved to newer housing in suburbs, also choosing to avoid the mandated economic and racial integration of public schools in the city. The effects of the non-Hispanic white exodus were partly mitigated due to the policy of the city government to annex neighboring areas where non-Hispanic whites had moved. Between the 1970–1971 and the 1971–1972 school years, enrollment at the Houston Independent School District decreased by 16,000. They were overwhelmingly ethnic whites; 700 Black and African American students left the system.
As the suburbs developed and Texas enjoyed the 1970s oil boom, many non-Hispanic whites settled directly in established suburbs as they lacked any ties to inner city Houston. In 2004, 33% of non-Hispanic whites residing in Harris County originated from the Houston area, either by birth or from growing up there as children.
Demographers Max Beauregard and Karl Eschbach, both of University of Houston Center for Public Policy, concluded from their analysis of the 2000 U.S. census that white flight from the city continued to occur in the 1990s. In the decade prior to the 2000 census, white non-Hispanic residents left neighborhoods within Houston such as Alief, Aldine, Fondren Southwest, Gulfton, and Sharpstown as well as Inwood Forest, Northline, Northside, and Spring Branch while neighborhoods such as Clear Lake City and Kingwood experienced non-Hispanic white population growth.
Hispanic and Latino Americans
The Hispanic and Latino American population in Houston has been increasing as more immigrants from Latin American countries come to work in the area, although several Hispanic and Latino communities existed in Houston since the 1800s. As of 2020, Houston had the 3rd-largest Hispanic-Latino population in the United States. In 2011, Karl Eschbach, a University of Texas Medical Branch demographer, said that the number of illegal immigrants in the Houston area was estimated at 400,000, with over 70% being of Mexican descent.As of 2011, the city had 44% Hispanic and Latino Americans and of the city's U.S. citizens that are Hispanic-Latino, half are at voting age or older. Many Hispanics and Latinos in Houston are not U.S. citizens, especially those living in Gulfton and Spring Branch. As a result, Hispanic and Latino Americans have proportionally less representation in the municipal government than other ethnic groups. As of April 2011 two of the Houston City Council members were Hispanic-Latino, making up 18% of the council.
As of 2010, Strait and Gong, authors of "Ethnic Diversity in Houston, Texas: The Evolution of Residential Segregation in the Bayou City, 1990–2000," stated that Hispanics and Latinos had "intermediate levels of segregation" from non-Hispanic whites.
In the early 1980s, there were 300,000 native Hispanics and Latinos, and an estimated 80,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico in Houston.
In 1985, Harris County had about 500,000 Hispanics and Latinos. Eschbach said that, historically, this population resided in specific neighborhoods of Houston, such as Denver Harbor, the Houston Heights, Magnolia Park, and the Northside. Between 1985 and 2005, the county's Hispanic population tripled, with Hispanics and Latinos making up about 40% of the county's residents. In most communities inside and outside Beltway 8, Hispanics and Latinos became the predominant ethnic group. Some communities in Greater Houston which do not have Hispanics or Latinos as the predominant ethnic group include expensive, predominantly non-Hispanic white communities such as Memorial, Uptown, and West University Place; and historically African-American neighborhoods located south and northeast of Downtown Houston. Eschbach said, "But even these core black and white neighborhoods are experiencing Hispanic inroads. Today, Hispanics live everywhere."
At the publication of the 2020 census, the Hispanic and Latino American population remained stable at 44% of the city's population.
Black and African Americans
Historically, the city of Houston had a significant African American population, as this area of the state developed cotton plantation agriculture that was dependent on enslaved laborers. In 2020, its Black and African American population constituted 22.1% of the population. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the American Civil War. Many of them worked on sugar and cotton plantations. Slaves held in the city primarily worked in domestic household and artisan jobs. In 1860 forty-nine percent of the city's population was made up of enslaved people of color. In 1860 nearby Fort Bend County had a population with twice as many black slaves as white residents; it was one of six majority-black counties statewide.From the 1870s to the 1890s, black people made up almost 40% of Houston's population. Before being effectively disfranchised by the state legislature imposing payment of a poll tax in 1902, they were politically active and strongly supported Republican Party candidates. After disfranchisement, the state legislature established legal segregation and Jim Crow. Between 1910 and 1970, the black population of Houston ranged from 21% to 32.7%. They were virtually without political representation until after 1965 and passage of the federal Voting Rights Act, which enforced their constitutional rights of suffrage. Many blacks left Houston for the West Coast during and after World War II in the Great Migration, as jobs increased rapidly in the defense industry on that coast and social conditions were better.
In 1970, 90% of the black people in Houston lived in predominantly African American neighborhoods, reflecting decades of legal, residential segregation. By 1980 there was some increase in diversity in the city, and 82% of blacks lived in majority-black areas. Since the late 20th century, with changes in social conditions and the burgeoning Houston economy, there has been an increasing New Great Migration of blacks to the South. Many are college educated and have moved to Houston for its lower cost of living and job opportunities compared to some northern and western cities. Many of the new professional migrants settle directly in the suburbs, which offer more housing than the city; among them are upper class, majority-black neighborhoods. Black Enterprise has referred to Houston as the next black mecca. Houston has been ranked among the best U.S. metros for Black professionals. In 2010 Strait and Gong stated that of all ethnic groups in Houston, African Americans were the most segregated from non-Hispanic whites.