Houston Metro Community Survey

The Houston Metro Community Survey is a one-time, region-wide survey conducted from March 7 to May 7, 2025, which gathered detailed responses from over 9,600 adults across the nine counties of the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (Houston MSA). The Houston Metro Community Survey helped recruit more than 5,000 diverse participants representing the full geographic and demographic breadth of the Houston metropolitan region.

With a broad and diverse panel now in place, the SPACE City Panel will enter its next phase: regular, quarterly surveys that track shifting public attitudes, each covering two of four rotating topics—politics, resiliency, economics and sustainability. This rotation ensures that each topic is surveyed twice annually, allowing researchers to monitor patterns and shifts in public attitudes over time. By regularly capturing insights into these core areas, the SPACE City Panel provides a consistent, localized lens into how residents are experiencing key challenges across the Houston MSA region.

Report 1: Introducing the SPACE City Panel: Voices from Across Greater Houston

This first report provides a detailed profile of the 5,015 individuals who enrolled in the SPACE City Panel. These panelists represent the geographic, racial and socioeconomic diversity of the nine-county Houston MSA. This baseline report offers a comprehensive look at the makeup of the panel and establishes a foundation for future longitudinal research on community conditions across the Greater Houston area.

Key Findings

Broad Geographic Representation:

Participants came from all nine counties in the Houston MSA and more than 350 ZIP Codes.

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Demographic Diversity:

The panel mirrors regional differences across racial and ethnic composition, gender and age:

35.9% Hispanic, 17.3% non-Hispanic Black, 8.8% non-Hispanic AAPI and 38% non-Hispanic other (including white).
Gender at birth: 51.2% respondents are women and 48.8% are men.
Generations: Strong representation across all age groups, especially Millennials (aged 29-44) and Gen X (aged 45-60).

Educational Background:

A third (33.5%) hold a bachelor’s degree or higher; an additional 27.9% have some college or an associate degree.

Household Income:

36% of respondents report incomes under $50,000; 27.9% earn between $50,000–$99,999; and 36% report $100,000 or more.

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The Panel’s 4 Focus Areas: Politics, Resiliency, Economics and Sustainability

Below is a snapshot of questions reflecting the rotating modules we’ll track over time:

Politics and Civic Engagement

A political thermometer was created by scoring responses about whether things in the country, state and city are going in the right or wrong direction (+1 for right, 0 for no opinion, –1 for wrong), then converting the average to a 0–100 scale (lower scores indicate more negative views). The U.S. scored 36, Texas 40 and cities 51.

Figure 4.3

Over half of respondents said the U.S. (56%) and Texas (50%) were heading in the wrong direction, while only 33.4% indicated the same for their city. Perceptions were more positive locally, with 36.5% saying their city is headed in the right direction.
Nearly 47% of respondents do not identify with either major party, with 19.5% calling themselves independent and 27.1% choosing no party label.
Concerns about political corruption are widespread. 56% of respondents said they believe corruption is a major problem in Houston-area politics, while 13.2% said it's a minor problem. Only 4.3% believe it's not a problem.

Resiliency and Sustainability

42.5% of respondents said they are very worried about not having enough savings to withstand a natural disaster, while 31.5% reported being somewhat worried.
Nearly half of respondents (46.2%) say climate change and environmental concerns are a major problem for the Houston area, while 25.7% consider it a problem but not major. Just 11.8% say it's not a problem at all.

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Household Economics

Over one-third of panelists (37.1%) reported struggling financially—either just meeting basic needs or falling short.

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Nearly a quarter (24.9%) experienced a decline in income over the past year, while others reported modest or major gains.

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Report 2: Insights from the Houston Metro Community Survey

Public safety concerns, climate risks and financial strain are pressing issues across the Greater Houston area. This report explores how residents perceive these local challenges using data from the Houston Metro Community Survey, which gathered responses from 9,684 residents across the nine-county region.

Key Findings

Economic Concerns:

Inflation and cost of living are top concerns across income groups.
58.3% of Hispanic and 56.5% of Black respondents are very concerned about inflation.
Even among those living comfortably, 70.1% report being concerned about the rising cost of living.

Crime Perception:

57.1% of all respondents rate crime in Houston as a major problem.
62.3% of women view crime as a major issue, compared to 51% of men.
Only 38.1% of city residents feel safe walking in their neighborhood during the day.
Perceptions of neighborhood crime and safety vary by geography: Residents in more urban, inner-city areas reported feeling less safe, while those in outer suburban communities expressed higher levels of safety and lower concern about crime.

Disaster Preparedness:

40.2% of Gen X and 41.5% of Millennials said they were very worried about their ability to withstand a natural disaster, compared to 31.8% of Baby Boomers and 27.1% of Silent Generation respondents.

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Among Black respondents, this number rises to 48.4%, and 44.9% for Hispanic respondents.

Climate Change Perceptions:

44.6% of Gen Z and 45.1% of Millennials view climate change as a major problem.

figure 3.10
63.9% of Democrats rate climate change as a major problem; only 19.9% of Republicans do.

Political Engagement and Identity:

58.9% of respondents reported voting in the 2024 general election; 27.6% said they did not vote.
Among voters, 51.7% voted for Kamala Harris, while 35.4% voted for Donald Trump.
No single political party dominates: 25.6% identify as Democrats and 25.3% as Republicans, while 17.3% say they are Independents and 29.2% did not identify with any.
Confidence in government declines with distance from the local level: While only 18.7% of respondents expressed no confidence at all in city government, distrust increases for higher levels of government—29.4% had no confidence at all in state government, and a notable 35.1% had no confidence at all in the federal government.