Houston is bursting with entertainment options for everyone. Whether it’s grabbing a drink at a local bar, watching a live sporting event, or enjoying the beauty of a local performance by the Houston Symphony, you will never be without something to do in this town. Because of this multitude of entertainment options, it may come as little surprise that Houston ranks No. 1 among U.S. metros in spending on entertainment. The study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measured “entertainment” in the following fields: Fees and admissions – everything from fees for participant sports to admissions to sporting events, movies, concerts, and plays. Also includes health and country club memberships and recreation expenses on trips. Television, radio and sound equipment  Pets, toys, hobbies and playground equipment  Other entertainment equipment and services – everything from athletic equipment and recreational vehicles to photographic equipment and supplies. While other categories like audiovisual equipment, pets, toys, and hobbies saw flat or slightly increased spending from 2019 to 2020, typical annual household spending on fees and admissions dropped from $880 to $425. During the COVID-19 pandemic and its preceding shutdowns in the spring of 2020, the national spending on entertainment decreased by an estimated 5.7%, driven by a 51.7% reduction in fees and admissions. As a whole, revenue in the entertainment sector dropped from $61 billion in the last quarter of 2019 to $23 billion in the second quarter of 2020. Revenues eventually rebounded to roughly $49.5 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Despite the setback during the two-year period, Houston progressively recovered bringing an average annual entertainment spending to $6,040, outranking other U.S. metros by almost 2%.   As stated in the Partnership’s 2022 Employment Forecast, the full benefits from reopening after COVID-19 restrictions and mandates have yet to accrue for arts and recreation. The traditional drivers such as local population growth, income, leisure time, out-of-town visitors, corporate donations, fitness resolutions, and pent-up consumer demand will spur continued growth in Houston’s entertainment sector during 2022.   Learn what it’s like to live and work in the nation’s 4th largest city.

Despite the economic downturn during the early stages of the pandemic, Houston entrepreneurs saw a window of opportunity to launch something new.  A report from LendingTree ranks the Houston metro area No. 1 in new-business applications in Texas during 2020. With a 37.4% increase in new-business applications from 2019 to 2020, Houston not only outranks Austin and Dallas but takes 20th place among the nation’s 100 largest metros. The Greater Houston area racked up 118,183 new-business applications in 2020, up from just 85,998 new-business applications in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “The pandemic has created so much financial chaos for so many people, and that uncertainty surely spurred many Americans to take the plunge,” said Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Analyst at LendingTree. “Some folks did it out of necessity because of income or job losses. Some folks did it to feel more secure, as the idea of relying on one source of income just didn’t make sense anymore for a lot of people. Others likely did it because they’d wanted to for years but never felt the time was right.” While not everyone who filed an application would move forward to form a business, the increase indicates that a growing number of Houstonians were looking to start one in 2020.  Nationally, despite COVID-19 directives and stay-at-home restrictions, the retail trade sector  experienced the biggest growth among major industries at 59.7%. “So many companies have made it so easy to sell online that people feel good about taking the plunge,” Schulz explained. “Setting up an online store is generally simpler, quicker and less expensive than ever, so the barriers to entry that once scared potential entrepreneurs away from opening a new store aren’t the obstacles that they once were.” Two other sectors did not fare as well. Mining and real estate were the only industries to experience a decline in new applications between 2019 and 2020. Both sectors had trouble adjusting to the restrictions that came with the pandemic.  Though metro data isn’t yet available for 2021, the Census Bureau says business applications continued to climb nationwide last year, up by 600,000 compared with 2020 totals. The Bureau also forecasts a 0.3% increase in business formations, or roughly 30,000 new businesses in 2022.    View the full list below:   Learn more about Houston’s Economy and what makes the region a great place for business.