Economy at a Glance - March 2025
A DEEPER DIVE INTO HOUSTON’S GDP
As noted in the January issue of Glance, Houston’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the measure that captures the value of all final goods and services produced in the metro area, experienced solid growth in ’23. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates that Houston’s GDP grew by 7.9 percent from $645.8 billion in ’22 to a record high of $697.0 billion in ’23.
Growth has been especially strong since the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside in ’21. In the two years from ’21 to ’23, Houston’s GDP grew by 25.1 percent. That is significantly faster than the U.S. overall, where GDP grew by 16.0 percent during the same period. In fact, among the 20 most populous U.S. metro areas, Houston has had the fastest-growing economy since ’21, as measured by GDP.
Even though it’s smaller in absolute terms, Houston’s GDP has grown more than twice as quickly as San Francisco and at nearly double the pace of the largest metro areas of New York and Los Angeles.
GDP by Industry
Five industries – manufacturing, professional/business services, real estate, government, and healthcare/ education – are the leading drivers of this growth. Together, they made up more than 50 percent of Houston’s GDP in ’23. Though the BEA withheld Houston-specific data for wholesale trade in ‘23, historic data suggest it also likely played a significant role.
Compared to the U.S. overall, manufacturing and professional/business services make up larger shares of Houston’s GDP, while real estate, government, and healthcare/education play a comparatively smaller role.
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Note: The geographic area referred to in this publication as “Houston,” "Houston Area” and “Metro Houston” is the ten-county Census designated metropolitan statistical area of Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX. The ten counties are: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Waller.
