City · Harris County, Texas

La Porte, Texas

La Porte is a city in Harris County, Texas, part of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area. It has 36,730 residents. La Porte, Texas has a quality-of-life score of 16 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,188 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Texas it ranks #598 of 1,016 cities and towns. It ranks best on average weekly wage (high), new business applications (high) and distance to an emergency room (low). It ranks worst on public libraries (low), property crime rate (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high).

16Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,188 of 15,651 cities and towns
Texas: #598 of 1,016 in TX
Population: 36,730 (2020-2024)
Land area: 19 mi²
Density: 1,974.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4841440

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety9#14,264/15,637
Economy52#7,499/15,631
Housing23#11,472/14,977
Health61#6,080/15,609
Healthcare40#9,399/15,650
Environment1#15,300/15,453
Education13#13,564/15,649
Infrastructure55#7,115/15,650
Community8#14,316/15,651
Leisure & amenities30#10,881/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where La Porte, Texas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Harris County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Average weekly wage · high$1,759
95/100Texas $1,499United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHarris County value
New business applications · high19.8 /1k
89/100Texas 17.2 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHarris County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.8 mi
83/100Texas 5.5 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesHarris County value
Comfortable days · high31.0%
83/100Texas 30.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationHarris County value
Distance to an airport · low13 mi
80/100Texas 33 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHarris County value
Suicide rate · low11.8 /100k
76/100Texas 14.4 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHarris County value

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
2/100Texas 0.3 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHarris County value
Property crime rate · high2,910 /100k
2/100Texas 1,786 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHarris County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high10.1 µg/m³
3/100Texas 8.9 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value
Violent crime rate · high630 /100k
4/100Texas 345 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHarris County value
Days with unhealthy air · high10.4%
4/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value
Median Air Quality Index · high62
5/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHarris County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
44.0% (2015-2019) → 62.7% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
9.0 /1k (2021) → 2.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−70%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
27.9% (2015-2019) → 38.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.0× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+48%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.400 (2015-2019) → 0.521 (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
87.4% (2015-2019) → 91.7% (2020-2024)
+4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, La Porte, Texas improved on 0 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 4. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined4

Inequality+0.1210.400 → 0.521
Rent / income+11 points27.9% → 38.4%
Rent burden+19 points44.0% → 62.7%
Price / income+0.9×2.0× → 2.9×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of La Porte, Texas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.5 min2015-2019	24.4 min2020-2024	−3.1 min	Within the margin of error	80%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.9%2015-2019	17.6%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Broadband subscriptions	87.4%2015-2019	91.7%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Child poverty rate	15.2%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Effective property tax rate	1.82%2015-2019	1.46%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	81%
High school diploma or higher	87.7%2015-2019	88.5%2020-2024	+0.8 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Home price to income ratio	2.0×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	25%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.5212020-2024	+0.121	Declined	3%
Median household income	$75,2622015-2019	$80,7532020-2024	+7.3%	Within the margin of error	14%
Poverty rate	9.9%2015-2019	12.2%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Rent as share of income	27.9%2015-2019	38.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Declined	9%
Rent-burdened households	44.0%2015-2019	62.7%2020-2024	+19 points	Declined	10%
Unemployment rate	6.6%2015-2019	5.4%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	15.7%2015-2019	17.2%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	30%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like La Porte, Texas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of La Porte, Texas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, La Porte, Texas itself moved −18.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

36,730 residents (±37)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

13,329 households (±466)

La Porte, Texas
Texas share

Under $25k14%1,870
$25k–50k20%2,724
$50k–75k10%1,372

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

13,329 households (±466)

La Porte, Texas
Texas share

Own71%9,473
Rent29%3,856

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

16,968 workers (±910)

La Porte, Texas
Texas share

Drive alone81%13,699
Carpool10%1,700
Public transit0.1%†12

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Harris County, the county holding most of La Porte's residents.

Harris County has 111,215 employer establishments, 227 for every 10,000 residents (0.91× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Texas's), with 2,182,164 paid employees at an average annual pay of $80,572. The Census Bureau also counts 605,074 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 111,215; 605,074 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 227; US 248 · Texas 218
Paid employees: 2,182,164
Average annual pay: $80,572; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Harris County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	10,905	22.3	1.07×About typical	129,335	$64,823	25,136
Restaurants and other eating places	8,852	18.1	0.98×About typical	195,911	$23,182	4,368
Lessors of real estate	5,455	11.1	0.90×About typical	31,717	$83,945	41,015
Specialty trade contractors	4,728	9.7	0.62×Fewer than typical	93,890	$72,159	48,336
Offices of physicians	4,110	8.4	1.30×More than typical	41,464	$112,403	4,277
Limited-service restaurants	3,958	8.1	1.01×About typical	87,661	$19,853	1,311
Management, scientific and technical consulting	3,649	7.5	1.11×About typical	30,505	$125,328	18,617
Full-service restaurants	3,574	7.3	0.95×About typical	92,715	$26,713	2,033
Legal services	3,363	6.9	1.28×More than typical	26,255	$142,429	5,608
Construction of buildings	2,395	4.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	27,129	$95,725	22,613
Architectural, engineering and related services	2,369	4.8	1.39×More than typical	65,882	$123,074	4,792
Offices of dentists	2,302	4.7	1.17×About typical	14,168	$53,907	1,426

Rank places for an industry Open Harris County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 4,896,507 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $32.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in La Porte, Texas: $886 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $32.5M; +269% vs FY2025
Per resident: $886; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.6%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$31.4M97%
Federal Acquisition Service$859.5K2.6%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$241.3K0.7%
Department of the Navy$11.8K0.0%
Defense Logistics Agency$5670.0%

Top recipients

WEEKS MARINE, INC.$30.7M94%
FEDERAL CONTRACTS LLC$859.5K2.6%
MCCARTHY BUILDING COMPANIES, INC.$681.2K2.1%
CLEAN HARBORS ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES INC$241.3K0.7%
S.C.A. - SHIPPING CONSULTANTS ASSOCIATED LTD.$11.8K0.0%

Spending by fiscal year

-2.4KFY2017
28KFY2018
4.9MFY2019
194.1KFY2020
7.9MFY2021
1.2MFY2022
5.2MFY2023
114.2MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$31.4M97%
Motor vehicle manufacturing · 3361$859.5K2.6%
Waste treatment and disposal · 5622$241.3K0.7%
Support activities for water transportation · 4883$11.8K0.0%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$4340.0%
Paint, coating, and adhesive manufacturing · 3255$98.430.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in La Porte, Texas, so they do not add up across cities.

La Porte, Texas's figures are part of those of Harris County, TX ($4.6B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.7% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: La Porte is mostly in Harris County.

See federal money in Harris County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

La Porte, Texas is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Harris County33100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX34

Other cities and towns in Harris County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4841440

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends