Natural Disaster Risks in Houston

Exploring natural disaster risks in our region

In the greater Houston region, natural disasters have become more frequent, dangerous and costly. The risks are only projected to increase in the future, threatening Houstonians’ lives and livelihoods.

The data

History of Disasters in the Houston area

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared a disaster in Fort Bend, Harris or Montgomery counties — the three most populous counties in Greater Houston — 26 times in the past 41 years, including the most recent severe winter storm in February 2021. Nearly a third of those (eight) have occurred since 2015.

Since 1980, the Greater Houston region has experienced 12 major rain/thunderstorm and/or flood events, five hurricanes, five tropical storms, two wildfires, a pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, and, most recently a severe winter storm in February 2021 which caused week-long power and water outages, busted pipes, and boil water notices.

The fact that about half of these disasters were caused by unnamed storms would not surprise most residents of the Greater Houston area, where heavy rains and flooding are commonplace.

Flooding risk in the Houston area

FEMA creates flood maps to designate areas lying in different flood zones based on varying levels of risk. Properties identified as having at least a 1% chance of flooding in any given year (also known as the base flood or 100-year flood) are designated as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) — the highest risk. Areas that have a 0.2% annual chance of flooding (a 500-year flood) are considered more “moderate” risk.

However, these maps have limitations that don’t accurately predict where flooding occurs. An analysis of flood claims in southeast Harris County between 1999 and 2009 found that 75% of damages were outside the 100-year flood plain.¹ The region experienced five major floods during that time, none of which met the criteria of a 100-year storm. Additionally, a 2012 study across the three decades before Hurricane Harvey found that 47% of flood damage claims made by Harris County residents were outside the 100-year flood zone.² More than half (55%) of homes damaged in the Tax Day Flood in 2016 were outside the 500-year zone, as were one-third of homes damaged during the Memorial Day Flood in 2015, according to an analysis by the Houston Chronicle. Three out of four homes and apartments in Harris County that flooded during Hurricane Harvey were outside the 100-year flood zone, and half of homes damaged were outside all flood zone designations.

First Street Foundation has developed specialized floodplain maps using a model that expands on FEMA’s current maps. While the FEMA maps are based on risk from a single 1-in-100-year or 1-in-500-year event, First Street’s model considers additional factors, such as rainfall flood risk, current climate risk, and areas not mapped by FEMA.

First Street identified 244,842 properties that are at substantial risk of flooding (located within their 100-year flood area) in the three counties — that’s 56,680, or 30%, higher than current FEMA estimates of 188,162. First Street’s model found 60,411  properties are at risk of flooding in Fort Bend County compared to 13,227 identified by FEMA. This is primarily due to incorporating the chance of levee failure in their models.

Given Houston’s history of flooding well-beyond the designated “high risk” zone, current flood maps haven’t accurately predicted the extent of flooding in the region. The broadest measure of flood risk expands beyond the number of properties within the 100-year flood zone to include those located in floodways, “protected” by levees, and are in the 500-year flood zone. Using this definition, more than 322,000 residential properties (21.7% of all residential properties) in Greater Houston are located in a flood plain.

Harris County has the most residential properties located in a floodplain (234,404), the majority of which are in 500- and 100-year flood zones. In Fort Bend County, where 68,264 residential properties are at some risk of flooding, the majority of those properties are protected only by a levee. Most residential properties in Montgomery County that are at risk of flooding are located in the 500-year flood zone.

In Fort Bend, 29.5% of residential properties are located in all flood areas combined, compared to 21.8% in Harris County and 11.1% in Montgomery County.

Disproportionate flood risks

Research has shown that the communities most vulnerable to flooding are low-income and non-white.³ This is especially true in Houston where these groups have historically lived on low-lying land (a result of decades of discriminatory housing policies), receive fewer flood mitigation projects, and are characterized by decades of disinvestment, such as poor stormwater infrastructure.⁴ A recent study found that Black and Latino Harris County residents who lived outside the FEMA-designated 100-year flood zone were flooded at disproportionately high rates during Hurricane Harvey.⁵

This proves particularly challenging as low-income homeowners seek to rebuild or prepare for the next disaster. FEMA’s “50% rule” states that if the cost of improvements or the cost to repair a property exceeds half its [pre-disaster] market value (known as “substantial damage”) it must be brought up to current floodplain management standards. This regulation is particularly challenging for households living in homes appraised at lower values because the typical minimum cost of home repair after a flood is around $25,000. That means homes valued at less than $50,000, for example, are typically out of repair options and at greater risk of further damage when the next storm hits.

More than 32,000 residential properties valued at less than $50,000 are located in flood areas in the three-county region, with the majority being located in Harris County.

In Harris and Montgomery counties, homes that are valued below $50,000 are more likely to be found in a flood area. Across the three-county region, 23.3% of residential properties valued at $50,000 or less are located in flood areas, compared to 21.7% of all residential properties.

Future flood risk

We know that extreme rain poses a growing threat to the Houston area, which means the frequency and intensity of flooding will continue to increase. First Street Foundation projects more properties will flood in the future because of rising sea levels and changing hurricane patterns — consequences of climate change.

The number of properties in Harris County at risk of flooding is projected to increase to 204,513 in 2050 (up 21.7% from 2020). As many as 64,000 in Fort Bend and 17,600 in Montgomery counties are at “substantial” risk of flooding in 2050.

That means potentially one in seven (14.2%) of properties in the three-county region will be at risk of flooding by 2050. That is about one in five properties in Fort Bend, one in seven in Harris, and one in 15 in Montgomery counties — each higher than the rate for Texas overall.

Maternal & Child Health

Pregnant women and children in Houston’s three-county region have poorer health outcomes compared to national averages, jeopardizing the future well-being of mothers and their children

Overall infant and child mortality rates in the region are down, but we’ve seen declines in health and well-being in pregnant women, infant vaccinations and child nutrition over the last decade. Disparities have either widened or remained flat — the result of variation in underlying chronic conditions, disproportionate access to quality health care, and internalized bias in our health care system.

The data

Disparities in maternal and child health outcomes across racial/ethnic groups are deep and pervasive

Disparities in maternal, infant and child mortality and health have been evident for many years.⁶ Women of color, particularly Black women, consistently have the highest maternal mortality rates. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in underlying chronic conditions, access to quality health care, internalized bias and structural discrimination.

For a variety of environmental and social reasons, Black women are more likely to have pre-existing conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes prior to being pregnant, which increases pregnancy risks and the likelihood of maternal and child health issues.⁷ Further, the health care they receive is typically of lower quality — not only because of lower-quality health care establishments and caregivers⁸ but also because of implicit racial bias embedded in the health care system. For example, health concerns and reported pain from Black patients are more likely to be dismissed than those from white people.⁹ The Listening to Mothers Survey III found that one in five Black and Hispanic women reported poor treatment from hospital staff — citing factors such as race, ethnicity, cultural background or language — compared with 8% of white mothers.¹⁰

National data show that Black women are more likely to receive delayed prenatal care (after the first trimester) or none at all.¹¹ While Medicaid covers women who are pregnant, women must first learn they are with child, apply for coverage, and wait to be approved before they are able to seek care. By the time this happens, it could be after the first trimester of gestation.

Black women are also more likely to receive poor follow-up care after the baby’s birth or none at all.¹² Nearly 71% of women who died from pregnancy-related causes in Texas in 2013 died within one year after the baby was born, according to a 2020 report from the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee.

Black women have higher maternal mortality rates than white women even when income and education are controlled.¹³ This phenomenon led some researchers to theorize that extreme emotional and psychological stress can produce a sufficient physiological reaction, called “weathering,” that harms, or ages, the body and could lead to negative health outcomes, including maternal and infant mortality rates.¹⁴ Meaning, the compounding trauma and stress simply from being both Black and a woman could contribute to racial disparities and negative outcomes in maternal and child health. This could also explain why the mortality rate for Black mothers over 40 is nearly triple that for white mothers in the same age group.^15,16,17

The national maternal mortality rate jumped 37% between 2018 and 2020

One of the more troubling trends in health is the increasing number of women who die from pregnancy-related complications. The World Health Organization defines a pregnancy-related death as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy.

The leading causes of pregnancy-related death in Texas include cardiovascular-related issues, mental disorders, hemorrhaging, and preeclampsia, characterized by extremely high blood pressure.The Texas Department of State Health Services estimates 89% of these deaths in 2013 could have been prevented.

Between 1987 and 2018, maternal mortality in the United States soared 140%. (Because of changes in methodology, data prior to 2018 cannot be compared with data for 2018 and after.)

In 2020, 861 women died of maternal causes (i.e., women who die from pregnancy-related complications while pregnant or within 42 days of giving birth) in the U.S., an increase from 754 in 2019. The maternal mortality rate in 2020 was 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, up from 20.1 in 2019, and higher still from the 2018 rate of 17.4 — a 37% increase.

Texas’ maternal mortality rate is above the national average

Other wealthy nations are not experiencing the high rates of maternal mortality found in the U.S. In Canada, the maternal mortality rate is about 10 per 100,000 live births, while in the U.K. it is 7. The U.S. trend is also at odds with several less developed countries, where maternal mortality has declined.

The Texas maternal mortality rate in 2018 was 18.5 per 100,000 live births, above the U.S. average of 17.4. When data between 2018 and 2020 are combined, the Texas maternal mortality rate is 22.9 — still higher compared to 20.4 overall in the U.S. Among the 30 states for which a rate was calculated, Texas ranks in the middle, with the highest rate in Arkansas (40.4) and the lowest rate in California (10.2).

Maternal mortality rates vary drastically by both race/ethnicity and age. In 2020, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. This is not only nearly three times the rate for white women (19.1), but it is also 1.5 times the rate from two years earlier in 2018 (37.3 deaths per 100,000 live births).

Typically, the younger the woman’s age, the lower the mortality rate. The maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births was 13.8 for all women under 25 years of age, 22.8 for women between 26 and 39, and 107.9 for women 40 and older. However, Black women under 25 are still 1.5 times more likely to die than white women between 25 and 39 years of age.

Women over 40 face a much higher rate of maternal mortality than women under 40. Black women across all ages experience higher rates of maternal mortality. In 2020, Black women over the age of 40 had a maternal mortality rate of 263.1 per 100,000 live births, nearly triple the rate for white women in the same age group (96.8).

What is maternal morbidity?

The World Health Organization defines maternal morbidity as any health condition attributed to and/or aggravated by pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal mortality can be too small (statistically) to see meaningful trends at smaller geographies, so researchers often cite severe maternal morbidity. Severe maternal morbidity can be considered “a near miss” for maternal mortality and refers to unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery resulting in significant short- or long-term consequences to a woman’s health.¹⁸

Between 2008 and 2015, Harris County’s incidence of maternal morbidity increased 53%, compared to a 15% percent increase for Texas overall. In order to address this rise in Texas, in 2021 lawmakers passed a bill expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to six months, but many advocates hoped for a full year of health coverage to reflect the long-term impact of giving birth on a woman’s body. Similar to maternal mortality, maternal morbidity in Texas has significant variation in rates across racial/ethnic groups.¹⁹

Pregnant women in Fort Bend and Harris counties access prenatal care in their first trimester at lower rates than the state and nation

Early prenatal care is defined as pregnancy-related care beginning in the first trimester (1-3 months). It has been viewed as a strategy to improve pregnancy outcomes for more than a century.

Nationally, less than 2% of pregnant women received no prenatal care during their pregnancy in 2020. In Texas, the rate was double at 4%. In the three-county area, the rate of no prenatal care ranged from 5.6% in Harris County to 3.2% in Fort Bend and 1.5% in Montgomery in 2020.

While none of the three counties is considered maternity care deserts, a lack of health insurance is the largest contributor to women delaying or not accessing prenatal care.²⁰ While Medicaid covers women who are pregnant, women must first learn they are with child, apply for coverage, and wait to be approved before they are able to seek care. By the time this happens, it could be after the first trimester of gestation. In an analysis of national data, researchers found women with Medicaid were less likely to begin prenatal care in the first trimester and were less likely to receive adequate prenatal care compared to privately insured women.²¹

More than 77% of pregnant women in the U.S. received prenatal care in the first trimester in 2020, unchanged since 2016. While early prenatal care has slightly increased recently in Texas to nearly 70% in 2020 from 67% in 2016, it remains below the national rate. In fact, Texas was ranked last in the country for early prenatal care in 2016, according to the most recent report on the topic from National Center for Health Statistics.

Regionally, pregnant women in Montgomery County receive early prenatal care at higher rates, 73% compared to 60% in Fort Bend and Harris counties. The rate of early prenatal care in Harris County has not improved since 2016, and the rate in Fort Bend has declined by more than 10 percentage points from 2019 to 2020.

Overall infant mortality in the Houston-area has ticked down in the last decade, though racial disparities have widened

Infant mortality is defined as the death of a baby before their first birthday, and it is regarded as a strong indicator of the overall health of a population. The five leading causes of infant death are congenital malformations, low birth weight, maternal complications, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and unintentional injuries. The health of the mother, level of prenatal and postnatal care, and access to health care also influence infant mortality.²²

Infant mortality rates are highest among infants born to teenage moms and women over 40. Babies born to mothers with obesity or mothers who smoke or consume alcohol during pregnancy also have a greater risk of infant mortality, particularly during the first 28 days after birth.^23,24,25

The infant mortality rate in the United States was 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019. Despite the progress made to reduce infant mortality in the past decades, the national rate is still higher than that of other developed countries. Data from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows the 2021 infant mortality rate in the U.S. is higher compared to several nations, including Russia, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Poland, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Estonia.

What is the infant mortality rate in Texas? Houston’s three-county region?

Infant mortality in Texas was 5.6 per 1,000 live births in 2017–19, slightly lower than the national average. Locally, the highest infant mortality rate is in Harris County, and the lowest rate is in Fort Bend County. While infant mortality rates over the past decade have dipped in Texas, they have remained relatively flat in Harris County. Wide disparities exist among racial groups, for many of the same reasons described above.

In Harris County, the infant mortality rate for babies born to Black mothers is three times that for babies born to white women. While the infant mortality rate in Harris County for white women has remained relatively flat, it has worsened for Black women — up 26% between 2011 and 2018. The racial disparity in infant mortality rates in Harris County is nearly 1.5 times the gap at the state and national level.

Among the three regional counties, the mortality rate in 2018 for babies born to Black mothers was highest in Harris County (11.19 per 1,000 live births) compared to the nation (10.6) and Texas (9.9). This is different from what we see among white mothers. The mortality rate in 2018 for babies born to white mothers was lowest in Harris County (3.7 per 1,000 live births) compared to Texas (4.5) and the nation (4.5).

Continue reading about disparities in life expectancy in Texas and how it varies across neighborhoods in Houston’s three-county region. 

Babies born to mothers in Fort Bend and Harris counties tend to have the lowest birth weights in the region

Newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams, or 5.5 pounds, are considered low birth weight. In addition to the high risk of infant mortality, infants with low birth weight also face short- and long-term health conditions that can permanently affect their quality of life, such as intestinal disorders, learning and behavioral problems, and type 2 diabetes.^26,27

The most common causes of low birth weight are premature birth (birth prior to 37 weeks gestation) and restricted fetal growth (when a fetus is smaller than expected for its gestational age). Environmental risk factors contribute to fetus development — exposure to air pollution (both indoor and outdoor) and drinking water contaminated with lead are also found associated with low birth weight.²⁸ This has significant implications since communities of color and low-income communities are more likely to be exposed to contaminated air and water, due to years of systemic environmental racism. Additional risk factors such as smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy may also lead to slower fetus development even if the baby was born full-term.

Continue reading about water and air pollution in Houston.

Nationally, the percentage of infants born with low birth weight has ticked up slightly to 8.24% in 2020 from 8.15% in 2010. Regionally, 8.26% of babies in Fort Bend County, 8.72% in Harris County, and 6.79% in Montgomery County were born with low birth weight in 2020. Low birth weight is more prevalent among babies born to Black women than those born to Hispanic or white women, even when controlling for education, according to a national analysis.²⁹ Again, this can be attributed to many of the same aforementioned reasons.

Vaccination rates in Houston and Texas have fallen while they have risen nationally

Immunization is a safe and cost-effective means of preventing illness in young children and interrupting disease transmission within the community.

The seven-vaccine series provides immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliovirus, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis b, hemophilus influenza b, chicken pox, and pneumococcal infections. The seven-vaccine series indicator measures overall compliance with the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for young children.

For children born in 2017 and 2018, the seven-vaccine coverage rate by age 24 months was 70.5% in the U.S. In Texas, the rate was lower at 65.9%, and in the city of Houston, the rate was 65.2%.

Coverage by age 2 was lower for most vaccines among children who did not have private health insurance. Coverage was lower for both Black and Hispanic children compared with white children for most vaccines. The lowest coverage was for the influenza vaccine (60.6%).³⁰ Research suggests racial disparities in vaccine uptake could be due to overall lower insurance rates, apprehensions or distrust of the health care system, or misconceptions about vaccine efficacy.³¹

Child mortality rates are highest in Harris County and lowest in Fort Bend

Because of advances in medicine over the last half of the 20^th century, child mortality has declined so much that even though youth comprise a quarter of the U.S. population, they represent less than 2% of all deaths.³² The leading causes of death among children and adolescents include accidents, assaults, suicide, and cancer.³³

In Texas, 48.6 per 100,000 children die before their 18th birthday. Within Houston’s three-county region, child mortality rates are highest in Harris County (51.4 per 100,000) and lowest in Fort Bend (31.6).

Child mortality rates for Black youth are consistently the highest compared to other race/ethnicity groups. Mortality rates in Harris County among Black children are the highest (96.5 per 100,000) — nearly 2.5 times that of white children. Even with the overall decline in child mortality in the U.S., racial disparities continue and are greatest for certain medical conditions that are sensitive to delays in medical care, suggesting poor access to health care and mental health care in the Houston area.³⁴

Nearly 232,000 Houston-area children do not have health insurance

Goals for maternal and child health don’t end after the postnatal period. While maternal and child health is focused on the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period — defined as up to one year after birth, the field of study also covers a child’s health during these stages and the first five years of life — the most important time of early childhood development.

Children may receive health insurance coverage from a variety of sources, including private insurance or public programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). However, some have no insurance at all. In 2020, 4.3 million American children under the age of 19 did not have access to health insurance coverage.

Nearly one million children in Texas do not have any form of health insurance coverage — about one in eight. Nearly 232,000, or 23%, of Texas’s uninsured children reside in Houston’s three-county region. The level of uninsured children in the Houston area (13.6%) is slightly higher than in Texas (12.8%), which is double that of the nation overall (5.7%). Fifteen percent of children in Harris County do not have insurance — the highest rate in the region — compared with 9.1% of children in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Consistent with coverage trends among adults, Hispanic children in the Houston region have the highest uninsured rates. One out of five Hispanic children in Harris County does not have health insurance compared to one out of 15 white children. One out of eight Black children in Montgomery County does not have health insurance.

Children from low-income families may be able to get access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid and CHIP.

On average in 2020, 3.2 million children in Texas were enrolled in Children’s Medicaid and CHIP. The COVID-19 pandemic caused an increase in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment across the country. Texas saw a 23% increase in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment from February 2020 to September 2021. In State Fiscal Year 2020,³⁵ nearly 633,000 children enrolled in Medicaid, and 80,000 children enrolled in CHIP each month in the three-county region.

Food insecurity among children was in decline prior to the pandemic

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to adequate food for a healthy life. Children who do not have enough to eat tend to experience lifelong health problems. Food insecurity has been found to not only have clear and consistent harmful impacts on children’s general health, chronic health, and acute health,³⁶ but also on their physical, behavioral and brain development.³⁷

Feeding America provides estimates for food insecurity at different community levels. Using the relationship between food insecurity and its closely linked indicators (poverty, unemployment, homeownership, disability prevalence, etc.) an estimated food insecurity rate is generated.

In 2020, 11.7 million (16%) children in the U.S. were food insecure, a rate higher than the general population (11.8%).³⁸

According to Feeding America, child food insecurity in the Houston area fell from 2017 to 2019. However, the effects of COVID-19 were estimated to have led to an increase in food insecurity in 2020, which remained elevated in 2021. Feeding America estimates one in four children in Harris County are food insecure — about a quarter of a million children.

More than a third of City of Houston and Texas high school students are overweight or have obesity

Even when children have enough to eat, they may have poorer nutrition or eat lower-quality food as budget constraints may prompt families to purchase cheaper, more energy-dense foods.³⁹ Childhood obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for their gender, according to the CDC sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts. About 18.5% or 13.7 million children and adolescents in the United States have obesity, putting them at higher risk for poor health.⁴⁰

In 2018, the obesity rate in Texas for children who are 2-4 years old and are enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) was 15.9%. While this is one percentage point lower than the 2010 rate, it remained above the national level of 14.4%.

The percentage of American high school students who are overweight ticked up from 15.2% in 2011 to 16.1% in 2019. In Texas, that rate increased nearly two percentage points to 17.8% during the same period. About 18.8% of high school students who live within the city of Houston are classified as overweight. Obesity rates in Houston grew faster than the rate of those who are overweight — an additional 19.5% of high school students have obesity, an increase of six percentage points since 2011. Combined, 38.3% of high school students in Houston are either overweight or have obesity compared to 34.7% in Texas and 31.6% nationally.

More Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Houston is Generous
• Houston is Engaged
• The Big Picture Event | Fort Bend County
• Ending Homelessness in Houston
• How Big is Houston?

Vulnerability to and Impacts from Disasters

Exploring unequal effects of natural disasters on Houston communities

Natural disasters have impacted hundreds of thousands of families in Greater Houston over the past 40 years. Non-white and low-income communities are not only more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters but also are disproportionately affected in significant ways.

The data

Social vulnerability to disasters in the Houston area

Before diving into the data on social vulnerability in Houston, let’s define what it means to be socially vulnerable. How does FEMA define vulnerability? FEMA defines social vulnerability as the susceptibility of social groups to the adverse impacts of natural hazards, including disproportionate death, injury, loss, or disruption of livelihood.

The extent to which natural disasters affect households depends largely on their situation before disaster strikes. Non-white, low-income and immigrant families typically report impacts from disasters that are more severe than those experienced by white, higher-income and native-born families. In part, this is because these groups tend to have lower levels and quality of economic and job security, housing stability and conditions, health insurance coverage, and financial windfall, even prior to a disaster. At the same time, the neighborhoods impacted most are those that were established by segregation, are typically located in low-lying areas, and have experienced decades of disinvestment.¹ When disaster comes, these challenges are only exacerbated. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) measures the social vulnerability of counties and census tracts on a scale from 0 (indicating the lowest vulnerability) to 1 (highest vulnerability). Research suggests counties with high vulnerability tend to be less resilient to hazards or shocks and have higher levels of human and economic suffering and loss.² Part of this is associated with the level of access to resources needed to prepare for, cope with and recover from disasters.

Among Houston’s three most populous counties, Harris County’s SVI is the highest at 0.72, meaning that it is more vulnerable to the negative effects of disasters than 72% of counties across the nation. Fort Bend (0.29) and Montgomery (0.39) counties are less vulnerable by comparison. Their overall vulnerability relative to other counties remained relatively flat between 2014 and 2018.

A total of 3.4 million residents — or 58% — in the three-county region live in a census tract with at least medium-high vulnerability (greater than 0.5). In Harris County, almost 3 million residents, or 64% of the population, live in a census tract that is more vulnerable than half the census tracts in the nation. In Fort Bend County, 239,110 residents (32%), and in Montgomery County, 247,766 (45%), live in census tracts with medium-high vulnerability or higher.

View your neighborhood’s Social Vulnerability Index ranking with the map below.

What makes a person vulnerable to disasters?

The SVI comprises 15 demographic characteristics and social factors across four themes: socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, non-white status and language, and housing and transportation. Examples of vulnerabilities that increase a community’s SVI (i.e., indicating more vulnerability to impacts from disasters), include higher proportions of residents living in poverty, residents older than 64 years or younger than 18 years, non-white residents, and those with poor housing conditions and unreliable transportation.

One of the strongest determinants of community resilience is income and wealth. Higher-income communities are most likely to have access to resources that mitigate disaster impacts and facilitate recovery, allowing residents to be able to move on from disasters relatively swiftly. However, income is only part of the equation. Families of four that earn the median income for the region can still be economically insecure after incorporating the high costs of housing, transportation and other necessities.

Vulnerable households are more likely to experience food insecurity in times of disaster as food prices increase, food availability diminishes from disrupted supply chains, and public transportation halts. Of course, households with more disposable income that can regularly stock non-perishable goods, hygiene products and water are less likely to feel these impacts.

Fort Bend’s medium-low overall vulnerability index masks the fact that the county’s substantial non-white population could be at higher risk of vulnerability to disaster impacts. Any disaster preparedness plan in Fort Bend County should include protocols to target its residents who are potentially more vulnerable to disaster because of limited English language skills and/or social capital to call upon for help. Montgomery County reports higher social vulnerability than Fort Bend on household composition/disability and housing. Harris County is more vulnerable than the other two counties on all measures.

Read more about disaster relief in Houston.

Financial impacts of disasters in the Houston area

To address urgent basic needs, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) provides housing vouchers or cash directly to those affected through its Individual and Household Program (IHP), which is used to cover expenses caused by the disaster, including medical care, dental care, child care, funeral and burial costs, essential household items, clean-up items, moving and storage costs, and vehicle maintenance. Typically, the number of IHP requests from residents to FEMA indicates the scope of impact and need after a disaster.

More than half a million households across the three-county area applied for FEMA assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, compared to 104,000 after Hurricane Rita and 442,000 following Hurricane Ike. The majority of those seeking assistance after Hurricane Harvey were renters, whereas more homeowners sought assistance after Hurricane Ike. The number of households seeking assistance after floods and tropical storms is smaller than after hurricanes, and homeowners typically make up the majority of requests.

However, not all households that request assistance from FEMA receive it. Low-income households are less likely to receive government assistance.³ One reason for this is that FEMA uses the home’s value before the disaster to determine the level of assistance. If homes have “substantial damage” after the storm combined with “pre-existing” conditions, they are less likely to receive funding for repairs. 

The approval rate in the three-county area rarely rose above 50% for most disasters occurring since 2005, and homeowners were more likely to be approved than renters in seven of the last nine disasters. Approval rates for both homeowners and renters are lower in Harris County than in Fort Bend or Montgomery counties.

Three out of five Harris County residents reported financial challenges after Hurricane Harvey, according to a survey conducted one year after the storm by the Episcopal Health Foundation in partnership with the Kauffman Family Foundation. About 51% of white residents experienced financial struggles, compared to nearly 64% of Latinos and 75% of Black residents. One year later, 31% of Black respondents reported being in a worse financial position, compared to 25% of whites, as a result of the hurricane.

Housing impacts of disasters in the Houston area

FEMA provides data on the average cost of damage homeowners experience after disasters, regardless of whether the agency provides financial assistance to rebuild or repair.

Homeowners in the three-county region experienced damage at an average cost of $8,937 after the Memorial Day Flood in 2016, which caused the most damage to homeowners in Fort Bend County. Montgomery County homeowners experienced the most damage from the 2016 Memorial Day Flood and Tropical Storm Imelda. The average damage in Harris County was highest for Tropical Storm Erin and the 2016 Memorial Day Flood.

Slightly more than 8% of Harris County respondents who were displaced by Hurricane Harvey were still living in a temporary shelter a year later, according to the Episcopal Health Foundation Survey. Many returned home to find an unlivable space and reported their current living conditions were not safe. Nearly three out of 10 households with incomes less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) cited unsafe living conditions, compared to one in 10 households with higher incomes. Hispanic residents of the 24-county area also reported higher rates of unsafe living conditions due to damage from Hurricane Harvey.

Environmental impacts of disasters and public health in the Houston area

Environmental impacts from flooding and other natural disasters in Houston’s three-county region can have significant effects on public health, both short-term and long-term. Sewage, debris and chemicals mix with flood waters.4 Chemicals known to be carcinogenic and gasses that worsen respiratory problems are released into the soil, water and air.

Water Quality

Rising water levels, flooding and heavy rainfall can carry pollutants into water bodies, residential homes and potable water supply.⁵ Sewage plants, for instance, are often located in low-lying areas, and are susceptible to flooding.⁶ When these plants or streets flood, sewage discharges into the flood water. The same happens when refineries and chemical plants are flooded — industrial waste from factories mixes with the flood water.⁷ Contaminated flood water flows into streets, streams and rivers, and also infiltrates groundwater.

During Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, thousands of gallons of sewage mixed with the one trillion gallons of rain  dumped on the region, resulting in high levels of E. coli contamination in local bayous and creeks, neighborhood streets, and residents’ living rooms.⁸ The map below shows the results for 37 water samples, taken between September 4 — 11, 2017 from surface water, flood water, and the interior of homes across Harris County.

E. coli levels were much lower before Harvey (denoted by black circles), indicating the significant impact hurricanes and flooding can have on water quality. Large purple, green, and yellow circles indicate post-Harvey E. coli levels far greater than the limit set by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). In some cases, contamination levels were more than 57 times above the acceptable limit. This is especially evident along Buffalo Bayou and in Southeast Houston outside the 610 Loop where levels were far above the limit (23,000 cfu/100mL or greater as opposed to the limit of 399 cfu/100mL).

Air Quality

Air pollution in the greater Houston area can worsen during major storms and hurricanes as oil refineries and chemical plants often conduct emergency shutdowns in preparation and then restart systems after the storm passes. This process involves burning excess fuels and chemicals in the pipelines which emits volumes of pollution into the air. At the same time, air quality monitoring has often been suspended in anticipation of a major storm to prevent equipment damage and can take days to get back online. This makes it difficult to track the exact amount of air pollution emitted during a storm. 

Industrial facilities in Greater Houston generated an additional 340 tons of toxic air pollution during Hurricane Harvey because of shutdowns, restarts and malfunctions.⁹ This figure is likely an undercount since facilities self report the data and it includes only 13 of nearly 400 major industrial facilities operating in Harris and Jefferson counties, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Houston Advanced Research Center mapped the environmental impacts of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and found significant increases in water and air pollution in the region.

Public Health

The cumulative effect of environmental hazards such as contaminated water and air can negatively affect one’s health immediately after a natural disaster and for an extended period of time afterward. Ingesting contaminated water can make us sick and a surge in air pollution can precipitate or aggravate respiratory conditions — or worse in more severe cases.

Not all physical health conditions that present after a natural disaster are caused by polluted water and air. Residents whose homes flood face unique hazards such as mold exposure or adverse effects sustained during clean-up activities. Mold typically grows on damp surfaces within 24 to 48 hours — and even faster in humid climates.¹⁰ Mold exposure affects everyone differently depending on the type and level, but typical symptoms include respiratory problems, nasal/sinus congestion and eye, nose, throat irritation.

After Hurricane Harvey, the Texas Flood Registry found that 63% of respondents experienced at least one negative health symptom such as runny nose, headaches/migraines, problems concentrating, shortness of breath, or skin rash. For the two storms surveyed after Harvey — the May 2019 storms and Tropical Storm Imelda — the results were less severe. Tropical Storm Imelda resulted in negative health symptoms for 9% of respondents, while 8% experienced negative health symptoms after the May 2019 storms.

Low-income communities in predominantly-Black and Latino neighborhoods are disproportionately subjected to environmental hazards and resulting public health problems.¹¹ Communities of color and low-income residents are more likely to reside in Houston areas that flood or contain petrochemical plants because of historical discriminatory housing policies, such as redlining, among other factors.¹² These neighborhoods also tend to lack effective wastewater infrastructure, exacerbating flooding risks. As more-intense storms are forecasted, health risks will only increase for Houstonians.

Mental health impacts of disasters in the Houston area

In addition to negative physical health outcomes, disasters hurt residents’ mental health.¹³

Nearly one-third of Harris County residents experienced negative effects on their mental health after Hurricane Harvey, according to the Episcopal Health Foundation Harvey survey.¹⁴ Black residents were most likely to report experiencing negative mental health. And individuals with lower incomes experienced more mental health distress than their higher-income counterparts. To make matters worse, only a small proportion received mental health services in the year following the storm. Latinos were least likely to receive help for mental health distress.

For recent, less intense storms, the Texas Flood Registry still found negative emotional impacts. In the three-county area, 27% of respondents to the Tropical Storm Imelda survey experienced negative emotional changes, while 20% also experienced negative mental health outcomes as a result of the May 2019 storms. An overwhelming majority of respondents in both surveys indicated that their mental health change was due to their experiences during Hurricane Harvey. In other words, mental health outcomes are tied to previous disaster experiences and have a long-term effect. Each new storm may exacerbate negative mental health outcomes from previous storms.¹⁵

The mental health impact of exposure to disasters, however, is not limited to storms. In mid-December 2021, almost two years after the arrival of COVID in Houston, more than 20% of Houston MSA residents reported that they felt nervous, anxious or on edge for at least more than half the days of a week.

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Houston is Generous
• Houston is Resilient
• Houstonians’ Experiences with Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 Pandemic
• After Six Federal Disasters in Five Years, Why Do We Not Fully Prepare?
• Houston is Big

Response to and Recovery from Disasters

Exploring how our region responds to and recovers from disasters

After disaster strikes, all levels of government, as well as the private sector, respond to provide assistance, though some in our region benefit more than others. The result is that some residents take much longer to recover, if they do at all.

The data

Federal response to natural disasters in the Houston area

FEMA’s Individual and Household Program

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) addresses urgent basic needs through the Individual and Household Program (IHP), which provides financial assistance to those affected. Thousands apply, but more than half of the applications are denied. Applications that are approved receive varying amounts depending on the extent of damage and disruption, and if property is owned or rented.

The total amount in IHP assistance FEMA distributed after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dwarfs that of other regional disasters in recent history. Residents of the three-county region received $918.2 million in FEMA disaster assistance as a result of damage from Hurricane Harvey. 

FEMA’s IHP program provides assistance to homeowners to repair or rebuild their houses and funding for temporary housing. It also provides funds for owners of multifamily housing complexes, like apartments or condominiums, to fix units. Renters are only eligible for funds for uninsured or under-insured disaster-caused expenses and serious needs, such as repair of personal vehicles, funds for moving and storage, and other miscellaneous expenses approved by the government. Consequently, homeowners typically get more federal financial assistance than renters, who typically receive 64% of the IHP assistance dollars homeowners receive. 

The average amount Houston homeowners in the three-county region received after Hurricane Harvey was $6,586, compared to $2,018 for renters. While FEMA paid out more for Hurricane Harvey overall than it did for other disasters, the highest average amount both renters and homeowners received in recent history was for the Memorial Day Flood in 2016. Across all disasters, Fort Bend County residents typically received more than residents of Montgomery and Harris counties.

Small Business Administration

In contrast to the direct aid of FEMA disaster assistance, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provides low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners, renters and business owners of all sizes, including nonprofit organizations, that experienced damage from a declared disaster. These loans can be used to cover operating expenses for small businesses as well as repairs and replacement of physical assets that were not previously covered through other means like insurance.

After Hurricane Harvey, the SBA issued $1.5 billion in home loans to residents in the three-county region, which is 50% more than the entire amount FEMA provided ($918.2 million). The three-county region received an additional $116.9 million in home loans for the four flood events in 2015 and 2016 combined.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known previously as “food stamps,” helps eligible low-income households buy food and groceries. For up to three months immediately after a declared disaster, SNAP eligibility requirements are expanded to benefit more people.

The greatest uptick in SNAP recipients occurred after Hurricane Harvey. The number of people using SNAP in Greater Houston increased by 50% — from 767,000 in August 2017 to 1,153,000 the following month. SNAP usage increased 53% in Harris County, 44% in Fort Bend County, and 6% in Montgomery County during the same time period.

National Flood Insurance Program

Possession of flood insurance alone does not necessarily translate to a quick recovery,¹ but it acts as a safety net. FEMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that is designed to compensate for damage from natural disasters. NFIP is the nation’s largest flood insurance program with more than 5 million policyholders nationwide. Properties located in the 100-year flood zone with mortgages from government-backed lenders are required to have flood insurance.

While properties outside FEMA’s designated 100-year flood zone are not required to get flood insurance, it is recommended, though most people are not aware of the dangers of flooding in their neighborhoods, partly because of outdated flood maps and the absence of state laws requiring landlords to disclose flooding history to renters. That’s one reason why about 80% of flood victims after Harvey did not have flood insurance. Affordability also plays a major role in whether one secures insurance — low-income households, even those who live in the 100-year flood zone are less likely to carry flood insurance. In a nationwide analysis, FEMA found that even though 41% of households are low-income, they comprise 51% of households inside the 100-year flood zone without an NFIP policy.²

More than half of NFIP policies in Texas are issued in the Greater Houston area. There are nearly half a million active insurance policies for both residential and non-residential properties in the three-county region, the vast majority of which are in Harris County. About 15-16% of Harris County residents carry flood insurance through NFIP. In high-risk areas, that climbs to 28%.³

Local response to natural disasters in the Houston area

Local government plays a large role at the beginning of the disaster recovery process. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, local governments establish shelters, provide basic necessities, coordinate and conduct rescues, and clean up and remove debris.

Local municipalities and districts also play a large role in mitigating the effects prior to the occurrence of disasters through investments in infrastructure and the adoption and enforcement of flood plain management policies. However, a majority of residents don’t believe the local government is successful in protecting their homes from flooding.

Six months after the flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey, about 40% of people in the region rated efforts by the local government to protect homes from flooding as “poor,” according to the Kinder Institute’s 2018 Houston Area Survey. Residents in Harris County have slightly more confidence in local governments than those in Fort Bend or Montgomery counties. Additionally, nearly half of both Black (49%) and white (45%) residents in the three-county region rated local government efforts as “poor.”

Buyouts

One method local governments use to mitigate the impact of future disasters is through property buyouts. The buyout program uses federal and local dollars to purchase properties in qualifying areas that have been flooded or affected by other natural disasters multiple times. Then, the land is used as parks, green space, or flood storage or overflow. Eligible properties include single-family homes, commercial buildings, places of worship and multi-family residences, but residential properties are the highest priority. This benefit is available to property owners only. If multi-family properties are bought out, the funds go to the owners, and tenants are required to leave. The average buyout takes longer than five years⁴ and only one in five typically qualifies.⁵

Harris County has used the buyout program more than any county in the nation. Harris County Flood Control District has spent roughly $342 million to purchase about 3,100 homes since 1985, according to a 2017 ProPublica report. There are still approximately 3,300 homes on the District’s priority-buyout list, which represents about 20% of homeowners who have volunteered.

Between 1995 and 2016, 2,400 properties were bought out, according to FEMA data reported by NPR, among which nearly 90% occurred in Harris County (2,092). An additional 290 buyouts took place in Montgomery County and 18 in Fort Bend. More recent data from Harris County Flood Control District shows an additional 576 properties have been purchased and 695 buyouts are in process since 2017.

Buyouts are concentrated in areas that experience multiple floods to maximize the effectiveness of the strategy. Buyouts in Harris County have concentrated in Jersey Village (430 buyouts between 1995 and 2016), East Aldine (132), Acres Homes (130), Greenspoint (121), George Bush Intercontinental Airport (119), and Kingwood (114).  Buyouts in Montgomery County have been concentrated in Conroe (158). Fort Bend used the buyout program in 2016 to convert eight properties in Simonton to vacant land.

Private philanthropic response to natural disasters in the Houston area

The public sector plays the largest role in natural disaster recovery and response, though it can take time for public dollars to trickle down to individuals. Private philanthropic dollars often support an immediate response — including filling gaps in assistance for the most vulnerable — but philanthropy can also invest in innovative models of program and service delivery.

Between 2011 and 2019, about $202.6 million philanthropic dollars have been invested in Houston’s three-county region — the vast majority went to organizations based in Harris County, according to data from Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy. Over the past decade, disaster philanthropy in the region peaked in 2017 and 2018, with foundations, business and individuals investing $75.8 and $82.3 million in the region, respectively. 

Nonprofits in Houston that have been top recipients of disaster philanthropy between 2011 and 2019 include Attack Poverty, Fort Bend Family Health Center, and Focus Humanitarian Assistance USA in Fort Bend County; United Way of Greater Houston, BakerRipley, and Greater Houston Community Foundation in Harris County; and Connect Outreach, Missions on Wheels, and Habitat for Humanity in Montgomery County, according to data from Candid.

An analysis by the Houston Chronicle found that nearly $1 billion was donated after Hurricane Harvey — the most on record after a disaster. That includes $522.7 million by the Red Cross; $114 million by the Greater Houston Community Foundation; $100 million by the Rebuild Texas Fund; $87.5 million by the evangelical group Samaritan’s Purse; $61.4 million by United Way; $41.6 million by JJ Watt’s campaign; $30 million by the Salvation Army; and $14 million by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. A Charity Navigator report found 5.4 million people donated $742.6 million specifically for Hurricane Harvey relief.

Slow and uneven natural disaster recovery in the Houston area

Some residents in our region are not only hit harder by natural disasters in Houston, but also receive less assistance to recover. Research indicates that federal disaster assistance policies tend to place vulnerable groups at a disadvantage and reduce their ability to access resources and assistance for natural disaster recovery.⁶ As a result, the many impacts of disasters can last more than several years for those with the fewest resources needed to recover. Disasters can also widen the wealth gap. Joint research between Rice University and the University of Pittsburgh found that whites accumulated more wealth after natural disasters between 1999 and 2013 while residents of color accumulated less, even after controlling for a variety of demographic and household factors.⁷ In Harris County, the disaster-related increase in the Black-white wealth gap averaged $87,000.

Has Houston recovered from Harvey?

Data from the Episcopal Health Foundation’s Harvey survey found that Black, low-income and immigrant families were most likely to report they were not getting the help they needed to recover after Hurricane Harvey, and the financial assistance they did receive (if any) covered “very little” or “none” of their financial losses. 

About 41% of Black residents who were affected by Hurricane Harvey reported that their lives were still “somewhat” or “very” disrupted one year later, compared to 26% of white residents. Nearly one in five (17%) Harris County residents reported their overall quality of life one year after the storm is worse as a direct result of Hurricane Harvey, with Black (31%) and low-income households (20%) reporting higher levels of disruption than the region overall. 

Learn about social vulnerability and the Social Vulnerability Index

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Houston is Resilient
• Houston is Generous
• Houstonians’ Experiences with Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 Pandemic
• After Six Federal Disasters in Five Years, Why Do We Not Fully Prepare?
• Houston is Big

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Exploring how COVID-19 and its impacts have affected Houston

Beyond the human toll of COVID-19, the pandemic has caused the worst financial situation we have seen in generations. Thousands of families are struggling while also grieving the loss of loved ones.

The data

Note about the data

While we summarize authoritative sources on COVID-19 case and death counts for the three-county area, we’ve made an intentional effort to shed light on the broader impacts of the pandemic across a range of quality of life topics here.

The majority of data on the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 are from the Household Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. All Household Pulse Survey data presented for Houston are at the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) level — a statistical region delineated by the Office of Budget and Management that includes nine counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties. 

This new survey began in late spring and is currently in its third phase. Phase 1 of the survey was conducted weekly and ran from April 23, 2020 through July 21, 2020. Phase 2 moved to a bi-weekly survey conducted from August 19, 2020 through October 26, 2020. Phase 3 is also conducted bi-weekly and began October 28, 2020. Due to the nature of surveys, the data may change significantly depending on the time period, which is why we offer as much historical data as possible to provide a more complete picture. 

We will continue to update the site based on more recent data releases and research on how COVID-19 is affecting our region and residents.

Employment and financial impacts

COVID-19’s sweeping impacts on the nation’s economy began in March as individuals began staying at home and governments began to issue lockdowns in an effort to flatten the negative health curve. As the economy slowed, workers were laid off and production levels were cut. From the individual worker to entire industries, almost everyone was financially affected, though some more than others. 

Job losses

In January and February 2020, unemployment rates in each of Greater Houston’s three counties and Texas was below four percent. Of course, unemployment peaked in April and May, 2020 — soaring to 13.0% in Fort Bend, 14.6% in Harris, and 13.2% in Montgomery counties — the highest on record. As of November 2021, unemployment rates are closer than what they were before the pandemic — 4.8% in Fort Bend, 5.1% in Harris, and 4.7% in Montgomery. November 2021 unemployment rates in the three-county region are slightly higher than they are for Texas (4.5%) and the U.S. overall (3.9%).

Unemployment insurance claims filed by individuals for the first time in the three-county region spiked late-March and early-April 2020, reaching a peak of 67,221 across the region during the week of April 4 alone. More than 1,217,400 people have filed for unemployment insurance at least once in the region between March 7, 2020 and December 18, 2021 — 136,592 in Fort Bend, 988,718 in Harris, and 92,102 in Montgomery counties.

In Year 1 of the pandemic, more than half of households in the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) have experienced income loss since March 13, according to March 2021 Household Pulse Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That rate climbs to 64% for Hispanic, 53% for Black, and 50% for Asian Houstonians. While white Houstonians have experienced the lowest rates of job loss, about two out of five have still been affected since the beginning of the pandemic.

In Year 2 of the pandemic, about one-quarter of Houstonians report lost employment income in the last four weeks as of September 2021. Hispanic and Black Houstonians continue to report higher levels of employment income than the regional average.

In Year 1 of the pandemic, adults in lower-income households in the Houston metro area have experienced the highest rates of income loss since March 13, 2020 while those in households within the highest income group have experienced the lowest rates of income loss. In March 2021, 70% of households with annual incomes less than $25,000 have lost income compared to 21% of households that earn more than $200,000 per year. An increasingly larger share of adults in households that earn between $35,000 and $49,999 per year have reported income loss since the beginning of the survey in mid-April 2020.

Lower-income workers overwhelmingly work on the front lines of the service industry such as in retail, restaurants and bars, accommodation — the sectors with the most job losses as a result of business closures due to the virus.

In Year 2 of the pandemic, Houstonians report lower levels of lost income in the last four weeks, though the trend of the lowest-paid workers experiencing the highest rates of income loss continues. 

Economic stimulus payments

The economic stimulus payments that eligible Americans received around mid-April seemed to provide a much needed boost for Houstonians. The vast majority used the money to pay for important expenses rather than add it to savings, indicating the urgency with which people need an infusion of cash.

About one out of five respondents did not receive or expect to receive the payment. Of those that did receive a stimulus payment, two-thirds of adults in the Houston metro area used stimulus checks to pay for basic needs such as food, clothing, rent, etc. A smaller proportion of the population used it to pay down debt or add to savings. 

Nearly three out of 10 Hispanic Houstonians reported they did not receive or expect to receive the stimulus benefit — the highest rate among racial/ethnic groups. One possible reason for this could be that most of Houston’s undocumented population is Hispanic, and households with even one unauthorized member were ineligible for this aid — including those in mixed-status families (i.e., where some family members are U.S. citizens and others are undocumented).

In general, lower-income households were more likely to spend the stimulus check on everyday expenses. For example, 84% of adults living in households with incomes between $35,000 and $49,999 spent their stimulus checks to pay for needs such as food, shelter, and clothing. While higher-income households were the least likely to receive a check, about a quarter who did put it toward savings rather than spend it.

Difficulty paying for expenses

The unprecedented number of job losses in the region, particularly among the working poor, has further constrained families who already lived paycheck to paycheck. The result is that more and more families are having trouble paying for basic necessities.

The proportion of families struggling to make ends meet gradually increased between August 2020 and the end of the year, but has tapered down since then as we head into Year 2 of the pandemic. However, over three out of 10 Houstonians still had a “very” or “somewhat” difficult time paying for the usual household expenses in mid-December 2021.  

Black and Latino households have had the most difficulty paying for expenses during the pandemic, though that figure has declined in Year 2. As of mid-December 2021, 53% of Black Houstonians and 41% of Hispanic Houstonians report “very” or “somewhat” difficulty in paying for regular household expenses, although a quarter and nearly two in five white and Asian-American households, respectively, have also experienced some difficulty.

Food insecurity

Food insecurity is most common amongst people living below the poverty line, minorities, single adults and single-parent households. Although it is closely linked to poverty, people living above the poverty line also experience food insecurity. This is particularly true during the pandemic when many more households face economic hardship due to employment and income losses and have difficulty accessing food due to fear of catching the virus and limited transportation options.

Since April 2020, about 15% of households in the region have “often” or “sometimes” not had enough to eat. Among households with children, that rate climbs to an average of 20%. Since the Census Bureau began tracking in mid-April 2020, food insufficiency for families peaked around the end of October/early November and then again in late February, likely a result of the severe winter storm that knocked out power and water for about a week for millions of Houstonians.

At mid-December 2021 in the Houston Metro Area, 15% of all households reported “often” or “sometimes” not having enough food to eat. The Houston Metro Area has had the highest rate of reported food insecurity among metros 15 times out of the 40 surveys conducted by the Census Bureau, including the one which occurred during and immediately after Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.

For households with children, food insecurity by mid-December was 15%. Almost one-quarter of Hispanic households with children were food insecure mid-December 2021 compared to 4% of white families with children.

Housing impacts

Housing costs typically comprise the biggest expense for households. When large numbers of people lose their jobs and incomes, housing vulnerability increases. Families are at a risk of falling into homelessness, among other challenges.

Rent/Mortgage Payment

The majority of Houstonians report being able to pay their rent or mortgage on time. However, homeowners are more likely to be current with housing payments than renters. Between December 1-13, 2021, about 21% of renters were behind on payments compared to 10% of homeowners. While a larger proportion of homeowners have been able to make housing payments since the beginning of the pandemic, renters appear to continue to struggle to do so. Earlier in 2020, homeowners were more likely than renters to have payments deferred, affording them extra time to pay.

Renters are more likely to be Black and Hispanic, which means these communities are disproportionately impacted by rent — and the consequences of not paying — during the pandemic. 

A large proportion of Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans in Houston report not being able to pay their mortgage or rent on time. In mid-December 2021, a staggering 41% of Black renters reported not being able to pay last month’s rent compared to 3% of white renters.

Looking into the future, renters are consistently about twice as likely to have lower confidence in being able to pay the next month’s rent than homeowners. Over the last several months, an average of 40% of renters are worried about future housing payments compared to 21% of homeowners.

During the survey conducted between December 1 and December 13 2021, 41% of renters reported “no” or “slight” confidence in making next month’s payment compared to 17% of homeowners. Owners were over three times as likely as renters to expect payments to be deferred. About 45% of Hispanic, 51% of Black and 70% of Asian renters reported low confidence compared to 19% of white renters during the same time period. About 33% of Hispanic homeowners reported low confidence in making next month’s payment compared to 5% of white homeowners.

Evictions and Foreclosures

A number of local and federal efforts have been made to protect families from evictions during the pandemic. Government and private rental and direct financial assistance funds have been established and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a moratorium on evictions. Despite these efforts, evictions have still been happening at an unprecedented rate.

Houston is among the top three cities for the most evictions during the pandemic, according to Eviction Lab. Over 57,000 evictions have been filed in Harris County alone between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, according to the Evictions Dashboard created by January Advisors. Most evictions have occurred in the Greenspoint, Spring Southwest, Eldridge/West Oaks, Westchase, and Alief areas. This official figure is likely an undercount as many evictions in our region happen without a paper trail. 

Families who are evicted face significant challenges. Many are forced to find subpar housing, move in with others, live in cars or go to shelters, while some end up homeless.¹ This is particularly dangerous during a pandemic as overcrowding can facilitate the spread of disease. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to follow CDC guidelines regarding social distancing, staying home, and regular hand hygiene without a permanent residence.

Houston metro renters are consistently much more concerned about being evicted than homeowners are about foreclosure. In August 2021, 58% of renters who are behind on housing payments reported a high likelihood of losing their home within the next two months compared to 27% of homeowners.

Mental health impacts

COVID-19’s rapid spread and significant death count are enough to negatively impact our collective mental health. Adverse mental health crises — fear of ourselves and loved ones catching the virus, perpetual anticipatory grief — add to the invisible health toll communities are facing. The simultaneous economic crisis has caused hundreds of thousands to lose their jobs, increased the risk of homelessness, and resulted in business and individuals bearing the brunt of massive financial losses. 

While public health strategies like social distancing reduce the risk of spreading the disease, they may also limit access to our social network and support system, causing feelings of loneliness.² As a result, most Americans have experienced increased levels of anxiety and depression since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.³ And it’s not just adults that are affected. Children’s lives have also been disrupted. Children often lack the ability to process and the tools to adapt to changes which negatively impacts their mental health. 

The proportion of adults in the Houston Metropolitan Area that have felt nervous, anxious, or on edge for at least more than half the days of a week has remained elevated in Year 1 of the pandemic, though it has ebbed and flowed as eviction moratoriums were instated and expired, the holidays came and went, and the winter storm in February 2021 exacerbated challenges.

Heading into Year 2 of the pandemic, a slightly larger proportion of adults report not experiencing anxiety symptoms. In the most recent Census Bureau survey, 22% of adults report anxiety symptoms for at least half the days of the week – similar to rates from the beginning the survey was conducted one year ago.

As previous data show, the pandemic-induced recession has hit lower-income Houstonians the hardest. This, in part, could explain elevated feelings of anxiety among those who earn between $25,000 – $75,000 per year, compared to those who earn more than six figures. 

Education impacts

The way children “went to school” was transformed in the pandemic’s early months as districts and campuses moved to online learning. While the lasting impacts of the pandemic on learning and academic outcomes is still unclear,  research suggests the pandemic has and will continue to severely exacerbate pre-existing opportunity gaps that put low-income students at a disadvantage relative to their better-off peers.⁴

According to survey data between March 17 -29, 2021 from the U.S. Census Bureau, about 37% of students in Houston MSA have spent less time on learning activities relative to before the pandemic. In this most recent survey, Hispanic and white students were most likely to report spending less time on learning. This question was discontinued by the Census Bureau after March 2021.

Higher education plans have also changed. Among adults who were planning to pursue education beyond high school, about 17% have canceled their plans and 5% will take fewer classes.

Among adults who canceled their higher education plans, 59% cite financial constraints as a reason.

Digital Divide

Even before the pandemic, consistent and reliable access to a computer and the internet was considered a modern necessity to learning. The pandemic has made it even more critical as families decide whether to send their kids back to school in-person or remain virtual. Recent preliminary research suggests online learning and teaching are effective only if students have consistent access to the internet and computers.⁵ Texas has made substantial efforts to reduce the digital divide among its students, and we can see that progress over time.

The most recent data from the Household Pulse Survey shows the majority of Houston children always have a computer or other digital device available for educational purposes. Hispanic and Black children typically have the lowest rates of reliable access, making virtual learning impossible and limiting their resources and technical ability. Students were more likely to report never having a device available early in the pandemic, particularly between mid-April and mid-July 2020 and in late February, possibly due to the widespread power outages resulting from Winter Storm Uri.

As of the most recent data available from the Household Pulse Survey, over 80% of students in Houston reported always having access to the internet in early July. Similar to their access to computers, children from Black households had less consistent access than their white counterparts. 

COVID-19 confirmed cases

As of December 30, 2021, there have been over 814,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Houston’s three-county region. There have been 98,501 cases in Fort Bend, 641,760 in Harris, and 74,038 in Montgomery counties.

From the beginning of March to mid-June, the daily case count in Harris County stayed below 400 per day. However, at the end of June cases began to rise. This increase coincides with what many reports have called the “Memorial Day spike” (a sharp increase in cases associated with holiday-weekend activities). It also coincides with the State of Texas’s order to allow restaurants to open at 75% capacity — previously, restaurants were open at half capacity. The next major increase occurred from September 20-22 was a result of a delay in counting backlogged cases, according to the New York Times. Cases in Harris County were on a steady rise from October 3, 2020 to January 14, 2021 and have been declining since. 

Fort Bend County also experienced a spike around June 15, as cases started rising at a higher rate, although the increase wasn’t as rapid as it was for Harris County. Fort Bend saw a sharp increase around August 3, due to the addition of backlogged cases to the tally. As with Harris County, cases in Fort Bend County were also climbing steadily in September, 2020 peaking in December and have been declining since mid-January 2021.

Montgomery County witnessed its steepest increase in COVID-19 cases between early June and mid-July. Positive cases have been fluctuating since. Montgomery County also saw a steady rise in COVID-19 cases in mid-November which started declining the beginning of February 2021.

Cases per 100,000 Residents

Between March 4, 2020 and December 30, 2021, Texas recorded 13,032 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Within the three-county region, Harris County leads with 13,616 cases per 100,000 residents. Fort Bend and Montgomery counties recorded 12,135 and 12,190 cases per 100,000 residents, respectively.

COVID-19 deaths

COVID-19 deaths have also been on the rise in Houston’s three-county region, where 11,919 people have died from COVID-19 as of December 30, 2021, including 1,006 deaths in Fort Bend, 9,772 in Harris, and 1,141 in Montgomery counties. 

Deaths per 100,000 Residents

Texas has recorded 258 deaths per 100,000 residents due to COVID-19 between March 4, 2020 and December 30, 2021. In the greater Houston area, Harris County has recorded 207 deaths per 100,000 residents. Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties have recorded 124 and 188 deaths per 100,000 residents, respectively.

COVID-19 Deaths by Race/Ethnicity

Overwhelming evidence supports the fact that Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people are contracting — and dying from — COVID-19 at a much higher rate than whites. While the virus seemingly doesn’t discriminate, underlying socio-economic factors and existing patterns of inequality contribute to the virus disproportionately impacting these racial and ethnic groups.

Black and Hispanic populations are more susceptible to dying from COVID-19 because they disproportionately work on the front lines, have lower access to health care, historically live in poor-quality environments, and tend to have a higher prevalence of preexisting conditions.

In simple terms, if the virus were to affect everyone in relatively similar ways we would expect each group’s proportion of cases and deaths to be comparable to their share of the overall population. However, that’s not what is happening — we see significant disparities in who is succumbing to the virus. 

For example, while Hispanics make up 25% of Fort Bend County’s population, they comprise over 32% of the county’s COVID-19 deaths.

A similar pattern exists in Montgomery County. While Black residents make up about 5% of the county’s population, they comprise over 10% of all COVID-19 deaths. 

In Fort Bend County, Hispanic Houstonians are dying from COVID-19 at the highest rates. COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 Hispanic residents in Fort Bend County is 107 per 100,000 Hispanic residents. COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 Black residents in Montgomery County is 403 per 100,000 Black residents — over twice the rate among whites in the county.

Vaccines

Vaccines started rolling out in mid-December 2020. Official vaccination figures tracked by Texas Department of State Health Services data are below.

As of January 3, 2022, 83% of Fort Bend County’s eligible population (5 years of age and older) has received at least one vaccine, with 73% being fully vaccinated. Vaccination rates in Harris and Montgomery counties are lower in comparison, with 64% and 57% of the eligible population fully vaccinated, respectively. However, not all residents have equal access to vaccines.

As of January 3, 2022, Asian Americans have the highest vaccination rates across all three counties and the state of Texas. Black residents are vaccinated at the lowest rates in Harris County as well as the state of Texas while white residents are vaccinated at the lowest rates in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

While income data on who has been vaccinated is not publicly available, we can use survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to understand general trends. It is important to note these are not official vaccination rates.

Vaccination rates tend to correlate with income level as well. The higher a household’s income, the more likely they are to have been vaccinated. According to estimates from the most recent Household Pulse Survey, about 72% of adults in households that earn less than $25,000 per year have received a vaccination compared to 85% of households that earn more than $200,000 annually. Vaccination rates for all groups appear to have increased since the beginning of 2021.

Houston-area residents give a number of reasons for not receiving or planning to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. According to surveys conducted in December the top three reasons for this are concerns over potential side effects (45%), residents don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccines (42%), and wanting to wait and see if it is safe (37%).

Transportation Access in Houston

Our ability to easily access safe, affordable, and reliable transportation shapes how we interact with our larger community

Houstonians tend to love their cars and love driving them. But they also have few other options to meet their transportation needs, forcing thousands of residents to bear the costs of a personal car or forgo accessible transportation altogether.

The data

Houstonians overwhelmingly depend on private vehicle ownership to meet transportation needs

Even in the famously car-centric United States (where 92% of households own a car), Greater Houston is a relative outlier for its reliance on private vehicles (and robust car culture). Over nine out of 10 Harris County residents own at least one car, and more than half own two or more. Vehicle ownership rates are even higher in the suburbs than in the city. 

While this system ensures that drivers can take their car anywhere, it offers few options to Houstonians without a private vehicle. Additionally, relying on a system of freeways and private cars makes accessing transportation difficult for residents without a driver’s license. These Houstonians often struggle to meet their transportation needs for the same reason why Houstonians rely on private vehicles to get around: driving is incentivized by inadequate public transportation and poor walkability in most of the city.

In 2021, 7.1% (122,775) of households in Harris County reported having no vehicle. Similarly, the proportion of households with no vehicles in Fort Bend county increased from 2.2% (5,514 households) in 2019 to 3.5% (9,789 households) in 2021. Montgomery County had the lowest proportion of households 2.4% (5,514) with no vehicle.

The increase in the share of households with no vehicles in 2021 suggests an increased reliance on public or alternative methods of transportation particularly in Harris County. Limited public transportation choices mean many households are forced to purchase an additional vehicle, adding burdensome car payments to a household’s annual budget.

Less than 5% of Houston-area workers use public transportation

One of the most dreaded aspects of life in Houston’s three-county region is “rush hour.” As a result of the pandemic, the Census Bureau began tracking whether workers worked from home, in addition to the typical methods: driving alone, carpooling, using public transit, walking, and cycling.

Nearly all workers in Houston’s three-county region either drive alone to work or work from home, leaving a small minority to navigate the region on foot, by bike, or using public transportation. In Fort Bend County, known for its large workforce in professional and technical services, 20.6% of workers do so from home, and an additional 69.4% drive alone. A similar proportion of workers in Harris County drive in alone to work. In Houston’s three-county region, Residents of Montgomery County are the most likely to drive alone to work (73.6%).

Access to public transportation is inadequate

A lack of public transportation contributes to the primacy of private vehicle ownership in Houston. Public transportation in Greater Houston is administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, commonly known as METRO. METRO offers commuters bus routes, light rail lines, and a host of other services designed to serve Houston’s sprawling suburbs. While upcoming travel improvements as a part of the METRONext program aim to expand METRO’s services, most Houstonians currently struggle to access public transportation.

Improving METRO’s services would increase access to transportation for those without private vehicles and offer residents more ways to traverse the city. It would also reduce the car dependency that creates traffic and increases commuting times for everyone on the road. Houstonians may always love our cars, but we should have other accessible ways to effectively travel around Houston.

Only 4.4% of Harris County residents and 3% of Fort Bend and Montgomery County residents live within a quarter mile of any public transit station. The result of this is that for over 95% of Houstonians, accessible public transportation is unavailable.

Harris County has the most households within one-fourth mile of a public transit stop. Access is lower in Fort Bend County and Montgomery County — both areas with longer-than-average commute times. The Fort Bend and Montgomery transit lines also provide little in the way of neighborhood connectivity, serving almost exclusively commuters to job centers and no local bus service beyond the METRO service area.

Poor walkability necessitates driving

Poor walkability is also a major contributor to Houston’s overreliance on cars for transportation. The National Walkability Index — the EPA’s assessment of the pedestrian-friendliness of an urban area, ranging from a low of one to a high of 20.

The National Walkability Index rates Harris County as slightly more walkable than the average American neighborhood with 11.43. Fort Bend and Montgomery County are less pedestrian friendly; they receive a 7.97 and a 6.65, respectively.

Most of Harris County’s walkable neighborhoods are clustered around downtown Houston. While some communities there receive high scores, the majority of land in Harris County has below average walkability. The same is true in Fort Bend and Montgomery County. Despite a few exceptions, most of the Houston suburbs are unwalkable and without public transportation. This leaves residents with no option but to drive, creating traffic and leaving those without a car unable to access adequate transportation.

Sidewalks remain a luxury in Houston

Contributing to Houston’s walkability issue is a lack of sidewalks. Houston scores poorly in terms of sidewalk distribution — the ratio of sidewalks to streets.

In all three counties, the sidewalks to streets ratio is below 1.0 (a 2.0 score represents an ideal score, with each mile of road flanked by a sidewalk on each side). Harris County scores the highest with a ratio of 0.95, followed by Fort Bend County at 0.75, and Montgomery County at 0.14. Ideally, every street would have an accompanying sidewalk, but only 47% of Harris County’s roads, 37% of Fort Bend County’s roads, and 7% of Montgomery County’s roads have sidewalks. 

Without sidewalks, we are more likely to drive which adds pressure on our aging infrastructure and contributes to poor air quality. Not only are there tangible costs, but research shows that communities with sidewalks are more likely to know one another which helps build social ties and gives us the feeling of belonging and community — critical ingredients for a thriving neighborhood.¹

Sidewalk density measures the average number of linear miles of connected sidewalk per square mile of land. Lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure can discourage people from walking even short distances.

Harris County has the most neighborhoods featuring more than 30 miles of sidewalk per square mile, followed by Fort Bend County. Virtually all neighborhoods in Montgomery County have less than five miles of sidewalk per square miles except The Woodlands. Montgomery County lags far behind the rest of the region at just over half a mile of connected sidewalk per square mile of land on average. 

Because of a lack of sidewalks, biking networks, and adequate public transportation, the neighborhoods east of I-45 are the least walkable. Poor walkability in this region has a disproportionate impact on the Black communities that historically live in the area. Despite 11.5% of Black residents of Harris County not having access to a private vehicle, Houston’s predominantly Black neighborhoods remain unwalkable and without sufficient public transportation. Thus, the result is significant disparities in transportation access by race. To ensure that all Houstonians are able to traverse the Houston area, these racial disparities must be confronted and eliminated.

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

• Examining Houston’s Reputation as a Car City
• Exploring the Legacy of Redlining in Houston
• Houston is Big
• Is Houston really that affordable?
• Houston is Changing

Public Safety & Criminal Justice in Houston

Public safety is foundational to building a healthy environment that allows a community to thrive.

Gun death rates in the Houston region are at their highest level in two decades, while traffic-related deaths have fallen. The number of reported hate crimes in the region has increased while reported human trafficking cases have declined. And while adult incarceration rates have not fallen, the rate at which juveniles are referred to probation has dropped significantly.

The data

Gun deaths rise in last two decades

For two consecutive years, 2020 and 2021, the top cause of death for American children was related to firearms. Nearly 1 out of every 5 children ages 1 to 17 dies as a result of a gunshot wound. The number of people, especially children, who die as a result of a firearm is a public health threat — in 2021, that totaled nearly 2,600 children.

Firearms are involved in most killings in the United States, including 79% of all homicides and 53% of all suicides in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Across all of Texas, the firearm death rate is at 14 deaths per 100,000 people in 2020 — 34% higher than in 2010.

In 2020, the firearm fatality rate in Harris County was the highest in the Houston region at 16.1 deaths from firearms per 100,000 people. The firearm fatality rate in Fort Bend County was the lowest in the region at 10.8 per 100,000. Fort Bend County has boasted the lowest gun death rate since 2000.

Gun violence is rising in Texas and Houston as well. In the last decade, the firearm fatality rate increased 30.8% statewide and 31.3% within Houston’s three-county region. Among the three counties, Harris County has the highest rate of firearm mortalities, but Montgomery and Fort Bend counties are driving the last decade’s increase. In Montgomery and Fort Bend counties, the firearm fatality rate increased 37% and 40% from 2010 to 2020, respectively. These figures were far above both the national and state rates. In Harris County, the firearm fatality rate increased 32% in the past decade, slightly slower than the national pace.

Traffic deaths fall by nearly half in Montgomery and Fort Bend counties

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 54. According to estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 42,800 Americans lost their lives in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022. The human toll is devastating, but the economic impact is also staggering.The NHTSA estimates that the total social cost of these crashes — which accounts for the economic costs of fatalities, injuries, and vehicle damage — was a staggering $340 billion in 2019 alone.¹

Compared to statewide and national averages, Houston’s three-county area has a below-average rate of traffic fatalities. However, the overall number of lives lost on the road is still a cause for concern. 

In 2020, Harris County recorded 585 traffic deaths, equivalent to around 1.6 deaths every day. This translates to a traffic death rate of 12.3 per 100,000 population in Harris County. In the United States and Texas, the figures are 13.7 and 14.7, respectively, meaning that Harris County has relatively less traffic fatalities than the nation despite being less walkable and more car dependent. The traffic death rate In Fort Bend County (6.7 deaths per 100,000) was half that of Montgomery County (13.6 deaths per 100,000).

Examining the historical trend, we observe a decline in traffic death rates across the Houston region, Texas, and the United States over the past two decades. From 2000 to 2020, Montgomery County cut its vehicle death rate in half, while Texas, Fort Bend County, and the United States saw declines of 25%. This decrease is part of a trend dating back to the mid-20th century attributable to advancements in car safety, increased seatbelt usage, and a successful campaign against drunk driving.² However, it is crucial to note that the decline in traffic fatalities has slowed down or, in some cases, even reversed in the 2010-2020 period. Scholars point to increased distracted driving and the prevalence of cell phone usage while driving as contributors to this concerning trend.

More hate crimes are being reported to authorities

A hate crime is a committed criminal offense that is motivated entirely or partly by the offender’s bias against a race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender or gender identity.

It is universally known that hate crimes are vastly underreported. A study comparing survey results from official hate crimes reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that federal data captures about 1 in 31 hate crimes.³ However, the number of hate crimes reported to authorities has risen in recent years, and experts have varying explanations for the increase in reported hate crimes. Historically, hate crimes have been chronically underreported because victims may not trust the authorities, language barriers, and a difficult reporting process.⁴ More recently, researchers have noted that the increased public profile of white supremacist groups since 2016 has brought attention to hate crimes and encouraged reporting to law enforcement.⁵ Irrespective of external influences on the likelihood of reporting hate crimes, studies have demonstrated that different targeted groups have varying levels of willingness to report the incident.⁶

Since 2016, the number of hate crimes reported to Houston Police Department (HPD) has steadily increased. The number of reported hate crimes in 2020 exceeded the decade’s previous peak in 2015. The majority of reported hate crimes in 2020 were motivated by the victim’s race, ancestry, or ethnicity (72%). Since the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple studies confirm an increase in harassment towards Asian Americans broadly.⁷

This mirrors trends in the rest of Texas and the United States. The number of reported hate crimes in the Lone Star State jumped from 179 in 2016 to 406 in 2020 — with crimes motivated by race, ancestry, and ethnicity climbing from 104 to 285. The pattern holds nationally as reported hate crimes across the U.S increased from 6,276 to 8,263 in the same period, with the increase concentrated in racially motivated crimes.

The pandemic slowed human trafficking rates after years of increases

Often described as modern-day slavery, human trafficking involves the use of force, intimidation, coercion, fraud or threats to exploit vulnerable individuals, including men, women, and children. While human trafficking takes various forms, sex trafficking and forced labor are the most common. Sex trafficking occurs when individuals use forms of coercion and intimidation to sexually exploit others and labor trafficking occurs when contractors, employers and others use forms of coercion to force people to work against their will. Because of its proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and its central position relative to major cities on the East and West Coasts, Houston is known as a hub for human trafficking. 

Human trafficking data, from the National Human Trafficking Hotline statistics, paint a picture of statewide and national trends. Note that these statistics only reflect calls to the hotline, and not criminal charges.

In Texas, 987 cases of human trafficking were reported to the hotline in 2020. This represents a significant increase from just five years earlier when 455 cases were reported. This surge in reported trafficking cases was observed for both trafficked children and adults, although the overall number of adult cases reported to the hotline was higher. Specifically, from 2015 to 2020, adult cases witnessed a staggering 123% increase — rising from 295 to 659 — while child cases increased 39% from 155 to 216.

In 2020, the rate of human trafficking cases in Texas reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (3.37 cases per 100,000 population) was only slightly higher than in the U.S. (3.21). In both Texas and the U.S., the rate of trafficking decreased between 2019 and 2020.

Regional incarceration rates remain steady

The incarceration rate measures the rate of people in federal/state prisons and/or local jails per 100,000 residents. The Vera Institute of Justice compiles data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to calculate the “total incarceration rate,” which accounts for both the state prison population and the county jail population, the latter of which is less typically included in measurements of incarceration.

In 2019, Harris County’s incarceration rate was about 940 individuals per 100,000 people aged 15 to 64, which is lower than the statewide rate. That same year, Texas imprisoned about 1,140 per 100,000 people in the same age group and the United States imprisoned 980 individuals per 100,000 people. Montgomery County’s incarceration rate before the pandemic (890 people per 100,000 aged 15 to 64) matched Harris County’s. However, Fort Bend County has consistently had the lowest incarceration rate in the three-county region with 340 people in jails and prisons per 100,000 working-age people.

Across Houston’s three county region, there are pronounced disparities in the incarceration rates of different racial/ethnic groups.⁸ In the past decade, Black people are incarcerated at consistently the highest rates, reflecting — according to scholarly consensus — years of War on Drugs discriminatory policing and a legacy of economic exploitation and abandonment. In Harris County, the incarceration rate of Black adults is nearly triple that of white adults. In Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, Black people are 3.29 and 3.1 times more likely to be imprisoned, respectively.

Harris County’s juvenile probation referral rate falls 80% over last decade

The juvenile detention system in Texas is a dedicated system focused on the “treatment and rehabilitation” of youth at least 10 years old but not yet 17. In lieu of being charged for a crime like adults, juveniles are “referred” to the court, which can then decide whether or not to place the minor on probation, pursue incarceration by charging the minor as an adult, or some other repercussion.

Not only have the number of juvenile probation referrals in Harris County fallen, but so has the referral rate, which adjusts for population changes over time. In 2021, just over 600 per 100,000 young people received referrals, an 83% decline from 3,600 in 2010. Even prior to pandemic-related school closures in 2021, the referral rate was trending downward to below 1,000 referrals per 100,000 people aged 10-17.

This general decline in referrals applies to all examined racial/ethnic groups, although there was a slight uptick for Black juveniles between 2020 and 2021.In 2021, Black juveniles in Harris County were referred to probation at rates nearly four times higher than Hispanic youth and nearly seven times higher than white youth.

Local policy experts attribute the overall decline in referrals to the successful implementation of innovative programs within the county.⁹ These programs, which include mental health services and drug diversion initiatives, are designed to redirect young individuals away from the juvenile justice system.

Understanding Disasters in Houston

How natural disasters and COVID-19 affect our region and residents

Greater Houston has experienced seven federally declared disasters since 2015, including the novel coronavirus pandemic. We Houstonians are accustomed to natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding and the occasional spin-off tornado. In addition to a record-breaking hurricane season, the year 2020 has brought a public health disaster and resulting economic crisis to our doorstep.

The more we understand how disasters have affected our region, the more we can do to minimize our risk, mitigate negative impacts, and improve our response so that everyone in our community — especially the most vulnerable — can bounce back quickly.

A note about the data:

^{Data on the impact of hurricanes and flooding on residents in Greater Houston has historically been thin. However, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, more is being done to capture the various ways in which Greater Houston residents are affected by natural disasters and flooding beyond the usual metrics. If the following subtopic pages tend to overemphasize Hurricane Harvey, it is for that reason  — though Understanding Houston makes attempts to provide data on other disasters in the region when possible.}

^{We also acknowledge that building our disaster resiliency and measuring the region’s progress requires a more expansive set of data than what you’ll find here. Our ability to bounce back from disasters is tied to economic, social, environmental infrastructure attributes and assets, as well as capacities that include social capital, community functions, connectivity and planning. Data limitations prevent us from addressing all these areas, but the data presented here speaks to the human, social and economic toll disasters take on our region — with an emphasis on our region’s most vulnerable populations.}