Houston’s Hispanic population grew 40 percent since 2010 and continues to grow, according to research by Los Angeles-based marketing agency Sensis, which also has offices in Austin, D.C., and Latin America.
About 880,000 Hispanic residents moved to Houston in the past 14 years, the most of any city in Texas. More than 3 million Houston residents now identify as Hispanic, and this number is expected to grow to 3.4 million in the next five years.
These new Houstonians are likely drawn by the affordable cost of living and strong economy, including the oil and gas industry and blue-collar jobs, Sensis President Jose Villa said at a presentation of the report organized by American Marketing Association Houston. Others work in the gig economy, Villa observed anecdotally by coming across Cuban and Venezuelan Uber drivers.
“There’s a lot of job growth in Texas, and Hispanics are the biggest source of labor for that job growth,” Villa said.
Villa points to the Hispanic community being very entrepreneurial, which leads to job creation.
Houston’s growing Hispanic population is part of a statewide trend, and Texas is seeing larger growth in its Hispanic population than California, New York or Arizona.
“Texas is becoming a Hispanic state,” Villa said. “If you haven’t already accepted that reality, it’s time to get on board.”
(Note: The term Hispanic describes a person from a Spanish speaking country.)
Houston’s growth includes Hispanic residents from other states, as well as newly arrived immigrants. Recently arrived Hispanics in Texas have grown 60 percent since 2021, from 412,000 people to 656,000.
According to the research, Mexicans still make up the largest new immigrant population coming to Texas at 26 percent. But Cubans and Venezuelans are now close behind, at 25 and 20 percent of new immigrants respectively.
A similar trend has been playing out in Houston, and the city’s foreign population has been diversifying, Villa said. This is a shift from the predominantly Mexican migration into the city.
Hispanics are “not a monolith,” Villa stressed.
In Houston, more than 50 percent of Hispanic residents maintain strong cultural ties to their countries and the Spanish language. Others consider themselves “bicultural,” straddling two languages and cultures. Some whose families have lived in Texas for generations may not speak Spanish.
Hispanics in Texas also have varying politics, with 35 percent identifying as conservative, 45 percent as middle of the road, and 20 as liberal.
In Texas, the Hispanic population is also getting younger, according to Villa. Gen Z now makes up 24 percent of the Hispanic population, compared to 17 percent in 2021. Boomers on the other hand, decreased from 17 to 13 percent.
“It's actually getting younger and getting younger very fast,” Villa said. “I've never seen data like this, to see that kind of rapid change.”
Despite president-elect Donald Trump’s promises to restrict immigration, Villa still predicted a 10 percent growth of the Hispanic population in Texas over the next four years. Hispanic residents could increase by 1.25 million residents, including about 400,000 in Houston.
Overall, Villa saw this trend as a positive one for the state.
“They [Hispanics] are really going to be the key to the growth and success of Texas,” Villa said.
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