TX · Harris County · 2,304,580 (2020) · 4th-largest US city · Central time
Houston, Texas
Houston is on the Gulf Coastal Plain of southeast Texas, about 50 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. It is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States.
- State
- Texas
- County
- Harris County (parts in Fort Bend and Montgomery)
- Population (2020)
- 2,304,580
- Rank
- 4th in the US
- Coordinates
- 29.76°N, 95.37°W
- Time zone
- Central
- Metro area
- about 7.1 million
- State capital
- No – Austin
Where Houston is
Houston is at 29.76°N, 95.37°W, mostly in Harris County with outlying parts in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. The city covers about 640 square miles, one of the largest land areas of any US city, and sits on flat coastal prairie only about 80 feet above sea level. Galveston Bay is 25 miles east of downtown and the open Gulf about 50 miles southeast. Houston is roughly equidistant from Dallas to the north and San Antonio to the west, and 165 miles east of Austin, the state capital. Louisiana is 100 miles east along Interstate 10.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 2,304,580 people, ranking Houston 4th in the US after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It is the largest city in Texas and the largest in the South. The Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, spanning nine counties, has about 7.1 million residents, the fifth-largest metro in the country and slightly smaller than Dallas–Fort Worth. Harris County alone has about 4.7 million people, third among US counties. Houston has no zoning ordinance, which partly explains its low density for a city of its size.
Geography
- Bayous — Buffalo Bayou flows through downtown and becomes the Houston Ship Channel, a 50-mile dredged waterway to Galveston Bay and one of the busiest ports in the US; Brays, White Oak and Greens bayous drain the rest of the city.
- Terrain — flat, clay-rich coastal prairie with very little relief; the city is prone to flooding, most severely during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
- Gulf of Mexico — Galveston Island and the open coast lie about 50 miles southeast. See the Gulf of Mexico map.
- Forest edge — the East Texas Piney Woods begin just north of the city around The Woodlands.
Nearest large cities
The three other large Texas cities form a triangle with Houston at its southeast corner. Distances are approximate road miles from downtown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | TX | 200 | W |
| Austin | TX | 165 | W |
| Dallas | TX | 240 | N |
| New Orleans | LA | 350 | E |
| Fort Worth | TX | 265 | NW |
Is Houston the state capital?
No. Houston was the capital of the Republic of Texas from 1837 to 1839, but the seat of government moved to Austin, which has been the capital of Texas ever since. Houston is the seat of Harris County. It is the largest city in the state, ahead of San Antonio by about 870,000 people.
Related maps
- Texas map — the state with its 254 counties.
- Austin — the state capital, 165 miles west.
- US cities map.
- Gulf of Mexico map and Gulf Coast region.
- Other Texas cities: San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso.
- West South Central division · Central Time Zone.