Unemployment and Jobs in Houston

Strong job and industry growth are essential to increasing economic opportunity and security for all Houstonians

Houston’s three-county region continues to have strong jobs and industry growth over the last decade.

The data

Houston-area unemployment rates hold steady from 2022 to 2023

The unemployment rate measures the share of workers in the labor force who do not currently have a job but are actively looking for work. The level of unemployment is a general measure of how the overall economy is operating, and changes in the rate can be an important signal of changes in the labor market and economy.

During the Great Recession in 2010, unemployment rates in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties were at a 30-year high but steadily declined to a two-decade low in 2019. Of course, unemployment rates spiked in 2020 — the result of pandemic-related job losses. However, between 2020 and 2022, unemployment rates declined significantly returning to pre-pandemic levels and have remained flat since then. In 2023, the unemployment rate in Harris County (4.3%) was highest in Houston’s three-county region, while the unemployment rate was 4.0% in Fort Bend and 3.9 in Montgomery counties.

Job growth in Houston’s three-county region is positive but slower from 2022

Job growth is a key indicator of economic expansion and a strong job market. As a leading economic indicator, robust job growth typically signals a healthy economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected job availability with all three counties, the state, and the nation experiencing the greatest decline in jobs in 2020 than in at least the last decade. Recovery began in 2021, and by 2022, job growth reached its highest levels in years. However, between 2022 and 2023, job growth stagnated or declined with Fort Bend County experiencing the sharpest decline in job growth decreasing by eight percentage points.

Even so, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties continued to experience strong job growth between 2022 and 2023 at about 5% outpacing job growth across Texas (3%) and the U.S. (2%).  Looking at trends over a longer period of time between 2010 and 2023, job growth in Fort Bend (88%), Montgomery County (77%), and Harris County (21%) outpaced the nation overall (19%).

Industries in Houston see steady, consistent growth

Texas and Houston’s three-county area continue to be a place of business opportunity and growth. According to the Greater Houston Partnership, which provides economic data and analysis for the nine-county Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area (Houston MSA), found that the region ranks third in the number of  Fortune 500 headquarters, and Texas has ranked the best state for business for 19 years in 2023.

Between 2010 and 2023, Houston’s three-county region saw the greatest growth in businesses in the following industries: education and health services,leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services. Growth in Houston-area businesses has occurred in each of the three counties, with Fort Bend and Montgomery counties experiencing the fastest businesses growth — mirroring their rapid population growth. While it may appear that Harris County business growth has slowed, the lower growth rates are more a reflection of a large, existing set of businesses already in Harris County, and so while growth continues for the county, its relative growth is smaller compared to its rapidly growing neighbors. 

Fort Bend County has doubled the number of business establishments between 2010 and 2023, with the greatest growth in professional and business services (136% increase), followed closely by information (132% increase) and education and health services (130% increase), and then leisure and hospitality (113% increase).

In Harris County, the number of establishments increased by 25% from 2010 to 2023 — a slower growth rate given the volume in the third most populous county in the nation. Among the largest three industries, establishments in education and health services grew the most (61% increase), followed by leisure and hospitality (44%), and professional and business services (34%).

The number of establishments in Montgomery County grew by 75% between 2010 and 2023. Among the largest three industries, establishments in education and health services grew the most (115%), followed by information (104%), and professional and business services (94%).

The top Houston-area job is in office and administrative support

The type of work people do, or occupational mix, is important to understanding the economy of a region. Changes in occupation often reflect business innovations. When a business adopts new technology, produces new products, or makes other changes to its processes, doing so usually causes changes in occupational mix. For example, if a factory automates, the number of production workers usually declines, while the number of engineers increases.²

There have been five major shifts in the occupational mix in U.S. history: the decline of agricultural employment (1870 to 1970), the rise of office work (1870 to 1970), the decline of manual labor (1940 to 1970), the decline of production work (1950 to 2010), and the rise of management (1970 to 2005).³

The top Houston-area job in each county is in office and administrative support, and while the counties share commonalities in occupational mix, there are notable differences. In Fort Bend County, most people are employed as office and administrative support (12%), educational instruction (10%), food prep and serving (10%), sales (10%) and transportation/warehouse (10%). In Harris County, most residents are employed as office and administrative support (12%) and transportation/warehouse (10%), reflecting the significance of trade in Houston — which is a major distribution center for the nation and globe, as the port of Houston is the top foreign trading port in the U.S. by weight. In Montgomery County, most workers are employed as office and administrative support (13%), food prep and serving (11%), and sales (10%).

More than half of Houston-area jobs pay more than $40,000 annually

Availability of jobs is crucial, but it is equally important that those jobs offer fair and livable wages. The Census categorizes jobs as low-wage (i.e., jobs that pay $15,000 or less annually), medium-wage, and high-wage, with “high-wage” jobs being any work that earns more than $40,000 annually. An individual earning more than $40,000 annually is living above the Federal Poverty Line, however, they are not earning enough to make ends meet given the line’s rudimentary determination.

Based on the Census definition, 58% of jobs in the three-county area are classified as “high-wage” positions, in that they pay more than $40,000 annually. When comparing across the three-counties, Harris County has the largest percentage of residents working in a high-wage job (59%) compared to Fort Bend County (47%) and Montgomery County (53%). Between 2005 and 2022, the number of “high-wage” jobs increased 211% in Fort Bend, 106% in Harris, and 328% in Montgomery counties and 119% in Texas overall.

About 16% of the three-county area residents are in low-wage jobs ($15,000 or less annually). About 21% of workers in Fort Bend County, 18% in Montgomery County, and 15% in Harris County are in low-wage jobs. This means that 1 in 6 workers in the region work at least 40 hours a week, yet bring home less than $1,250 a month.