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Where am ILOCATED

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area

The Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area is made up of 10 counties in Texas; the largest are Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Montgomery County. About 7,904,627 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 10.6% more than in April 2020.

Austin County, outlyingBrazoria County, centralChambers County, outlyingFort Bend County, centralGalveston County, outlyingHarris County, centralLiberty County, outlyingMontgomery County, outlyingSan Jacinto County, outlyingWaller County, centralHoustonPasadenaThe Woodlands
Central Outlying 10 counties in Texas
Population, July 2025
7,904,627 10.6% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
10: 4 central, 6 outlying
Land area
8,839 sq mi (22,893 km²)
Time zone
Central TimeUTC-06:00 in January; UTC-05:00 in July
State
Texas
Combined statistical area
Houston-Pasadena, TX
CBSA code
26420
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Harris CountyCentral5,045,02663.8%
Fort Bend CountyCentral975,19112.3%
Montgomery CountyOutlying781,1949.9%
Brazoria CountyCentral419,0805.3%
Galveston CountyOutlying372,2074.7%
Liberty CountyOutlying121,3641.5%
Waller CountyCentral69,8580.9%
Chambers CountyOutlying57,5940.7%
Austin CountyOutlying33,6250.4%
San Jacinto CountyOutlying29,4880.4%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal cities, largest first

  1. Houston2,328,253 people
  2. Pasadena149,433 people
  3. The Woodlands121,002 people
  4. Sugar Land110,016 people
  5. Conroe102,360 people
  6. Baytown85,205 people
  7. Texas City55,364 people
  8. Galveston53,424 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Houston-Pasadena, TX combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 4 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Huntsville, TX Micro Area83,842 people
  2. El Campo, TX Micro Area42,060 people
  3. Brenham, TX Micro Area38,288 people
  4. Bay City, TX Micro Area36,463 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Huntsville, TX Micro Area64 mi north
  2. Bay City, TX Micro Area65 mi southwest
  3. Brenham, TX Micro Area66 mi northwest
  4. El Campo, TX Micro Area67 mi southwest
  5. Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metro Area77 mi east

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗