Welcome to Houston ...
The city of Houston is located on the Gulf Coast.
Houston is primarily located in Harris County<1> and is the County Seat for Harris County. A portion of Houston extends into Fort Bend County and Montgomery County.
The community of Houston was established in 1836.
When the people of Houston refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Houstonian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Houston has a population of 2,315,720 people<3> (see below for details).
Houston is 40 feet [12 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Houston lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Houston is served by one (or more) of the following area codes: (281)<5>, (713) & (832).
The ZIP codes for Houston: 77001-77096, 77098-77099, 77201-77210, 77212-77213, 77215-77231, 77233-77238, 77240-77245, 77248-77249, 77251-77259, 77261-77263, 77265-77275, 77277, 77279-77280, 77282, 77284, 77287-77293, 77297, 77299<6>
Websites for Houston ...
Official Website: www.cityofhouston.gov/
Junior League: www.juniorleaguehouston.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Houston had an population of 2,315,720 people. This is an increase of 10.3% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 18.53% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Houston had a population of 2,099,451 people (or 51.3% of the total population of Harris County). This makes Houston the county's most populous community.
The population of Houston represents 8.35% of the population of Texas (which has 25,145,561 people), making it the state's most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 2,099,451 people, the population of Houston increased 7.46% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,953,631 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Houston.
Communities Also Named Houston ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 28 communities that are also named Houston - they are located in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, British Columbia, California (2), Colorado, Delaware (2), Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi (2), Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Houston.
Communities near Houston ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Houston.
- Pasadena
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasadena
- Pasadena is located in Harris County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 149,440 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pasadena <7>
- Pearland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearland
- Pearland is located in Brazoria County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123,562 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pearland <7>
- Sugar Land
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Land
- Sugar Land is located in Fort Bend County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117,875 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar Land <7>
- Missouri City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Missouri City have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missouri City
- Missouri City is located in Fort Bend County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 76,643 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Missouri City <7>
- Friendswood
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendswood have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendswood
- Friendswood is located in Galveston County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 40,011 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friendswood <7>
- Deer Park
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deer Park have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deer Park
- Deer Park is located in Harris County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 32,913 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deer Park <7>
- Bellaire
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellaire have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellaire
- Bellaire is located in Harris County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 18,906 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellaire <7>
- South Houston
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Houston have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Houston
- South Houston is located in Harris County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,446 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Houston <7>
- Stafford
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stafford have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stafford
- Stafford is located in Fort Bend County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,052 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Stafford <7>
- Humble
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Humble
- Humble is located in Harris County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,539 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Humble <7>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Houston. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Houston.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Houston. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Houston.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Houston. Our list includes 248 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Houston.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Houston ...
Looking for more information about Houston? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Houston, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Houston.
Adding Houston to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Houston in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Houston was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
From that list, the Houston post office opened in 1837.
We also found Houston in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Houston.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Houston: www.cityofhouston.gov/
The official website for Harris County: www.co.harris.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Texas' counties, including Harris, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Houston refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Houston may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Houston. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Houston - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Of the area codes for Houston, area code (281, 832) is an overlay. |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Houston). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Houston or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Houston includes: 77001, 77002, 77003, 77004, 77005, 77006, 77007, 77008, 77009, 77010, 77011, 77012, 77013, 77014, 77015, 77016, 77017, 77018, 77019, 77020, 77021, 77022, 77023, 77024, 77025, 77026, 77027, 77028, 77029, 77030, 77031, 77032, 77033, 77034, 77035, 77036, 77037, 77038, 77039, 77040, 77041, 77042, 77043, 77044, 77045, 77046, 77047, 77048, 77049, 77050, 77051, 77052, 77053, 77054, 77055, 77056, 77057, 77058, 77059, 77060, 77061, 77062, 77063, 77064, 77065, 77066, 77067, 77068, 77069, 77070, 77071, 77072, 77073, 77074, 77075, 77076, 77077, 77078, 77079, 77080, 77081, 77082, 77083, 77084, 77085, 77086, 77087, 77088, 77089, 77090, 77091, 77092, 77093, 77094, 77095, 77098, 77201, 77202, 77203, 77204, 77205, 77206, 77207, 77208, 77209, 77212, 77215, 77216, 77217, 77218, 77219, 77220, 77221, 77222, 77223, 77224, 77225, 77226, 77227, 77228, 77229, 77230, 77233, 77234, 77235, 77236, 77237, 77240, 77241, 77242, 77243, 77244, 77248, 77251, 77252, 77253, 77254, 77255, 77256, 77257, 77258, 77261, 77262, 77265, 77266, 77267, 77268, 77269, 77270, 77271, 77272, 77273, 77274, 77277, 77279, 77282, 77284, 77287, 77288, 77289, 77290, 77291, 77292, 77297 & 77299. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |