Harris County · Texas
Houston, TX demographics
Population, income and the local tax burden that sits on top of them — sourced from the Census Bureau and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Quick answer
Houston, TX has a population of 2,314,157 and a median household income of $62,894 — about $5,241 a month before tax. That ranks 61 of 94 covered metros by income and 4 of 94 by population.
Population
2,314,157
City limits, ACS 5-year
Median household income
$62,894
ACS 5-year estimate
Combined sales tax
8.25%
Texas + local
Income rank
#61
of 94 covered metros
Estimated annual sales tax on a median household
A Houston household at the median income of $62,894 spending roughly a quarter of pre-tax income on taxable retail goods would pay about $1,297 a year in sales tax at 8.25%. This is an illustration, not a filing figure: the taxable share of spending varies with household composition, and Texas exempts or discounts several categories. Texas caps combined local rates at 2%, and Houston uses all of it — 1% city plus 1% METRO — so no additional district can be layered on.
Method: median household income × 25% taxable share × combined rate. The 25% share is a rough national benchmark from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, not a Houston-specific measurement.
Sources
What each figure on this page comes from.
- Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
- Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts rate tables · rates as published for 2026