Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Texas

Cities in Texas by unemployed people

Houston, TX had the highest unemployed people of 134 cities in 2020, at 100,582. Fulshear, TX had the lowest, at 284. The median was 2,185. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest100,582Houston, TX
Lowest284Fulshear, TX
Median2,185134 cities

Top 40 cities, 2020

Houston, TX: 100,582 personsHouston, TX100,582Dallas, TX: 53,699 personsDallas, TX53,699San Antonio, TX: 53,180 personsSan Antonio, TX53,180Austin, TX: 36,534 personsAustin, TX36,534Fort Worth, TX: 33,985 personsFort Worth, TX33,985El Paso, TX: 23,933 personsEl Paso, TX23,933Arlington, TX: 16,400 personsArlington, TX16,400Corpus Christi, TX: 13,165 personsCorpus Christi, TX13,165Irving, TX: 10,148 personsIrving, TX10,148Plano, TX: 10,105 personsPlano, TX10,105Laredo, TX: 9,336 personsLaredo, TX9,336Garland, TX: 9,152 personsGarland, TX9,152Brownsville, TX: 8,233 personsBrownsville, TX8,233Grand Prairie, TX: 7,953 personsGrand Prairie, TX7,953Lubbock, TX: 7,733 personsLubbock, TX7,733Pasadena, TX: 7,143 personsPasadena, TX7,143McKinney, TX: 6,872 personsMcKinney, TX6,872Midland, TX: 6,154 personsMidland, TX6,154Frisco, TX: 6,117 personsFrisco, TX6,117McAllen, TX: 6,099 personsMcAllen, TX6,099Odessa, TX: 6,072 personsOdessa, TX6,072Mesquite, TX: 5,837 personsMesquite, TX5,837Baytown, TX: 5,720 personsBaytown, TX5,720Beaumont, TX: 5,535 personsBeaumont, TX5,535Carrollton, TX: 5,275 personsCarrollton, TX5,275Denton, TX: 5,264 personsDenton, TX5,264Lewisville, TX: 5,053 personsLewisville, TX5,053Amarillo, TX: 5,011 personsAmarillo, TX5,011Killeen, TX: 4,836 personsKilleen, TX4,836Waco, TX: 4,208 personsWaco, TX4,208Richardson, TX: 4,087 personsRichardson, TX4,087Mission, TX: 4,084 personsMission, TX4,084Pharr, TX: 4,069 personsPharr, TX4,069Pearland, TX: 4,056 personsPearland, TX4,056Edinburg, TX: 4,044 personsEdinburg, TX4,044League City, TX: 3,888 personsLeague City, TX3,888Sugar Land, TX: 3,825 personsSugar Land, TX3,825Round Rock, TX: 3,763 personsRound Rock, TX3,763Allen, TX: 3,551 personsAllen, TX3,551Port Arthur, TX: 3,474 personsPort Arthur, TX3,474Houston, TX: 100,582 personsHouston, TX100,582Dallas, TX: 53,699 personsDallas, TX53,699San Antonio, TX: 53,180 personsSan Antonio, TX53,180Austin, TX: 36,534 personsAustin, TX36,534Fort Worth, TX: 33,985 personsFort Worth, TX33,985El Paso, TX: 23,933 personsEl Paso, TX23,933Arlington, TX: 16,400 personsArlington, TX16,400Corpus Christi, TX: 13,165 personsCorpus Christi, TX13,165Irving, TX: 10,148 personsIrving, TX10,148Plano, TX: 10,105 personsPlano, TX10,105Laredo, TX: 9,336 personsLaredo, TX9,336Garland, TX: 9,152 personsGarland, TX9,152Brownsville, TX: 8,233 personsBrownsville, TX8,233Grand Prairie, TX: 7,953 personsGrand Prairie, TX7,953Lubbock, TX: 7,733 personsLubbock, TX7,733Pasadena, TX: 7,143 personsPasadena, TX7,143McKinney, TX: 6,872 personsMcKinney, TX6,872Midland, TX: 6,154 personsMidland, TX6,154Frisco, TX: 6,117 personsFrisco, TX6,117McAllen, TX: 6,099 personsMcAllen, TX6,099Odessa, TX: 6,072 personsOdessa, TX6,072Mesquite, TX: 5,837 personsMesquite, TX5,837Baytown, TX: 5,720 personsBaytown, TX5,720Beaumont, TX: 5,535 personsBeaumont, TX5,535Carrollton, TX: 5,275 personsCarrollton, TX5,275Denton, TX: 5,264 personsDenton, TX5,264Lewisville, TX: 5,053 personsLewisville, TX5,053Amarillo, TX: 5,011 personsAmarillo, TX5,011Killeen, TX: 4,836 personsKilleen, TX4,836Waco, TX: 4,208 personsWaco, TX4,208Richardson, TX: 4,087 personsRichardson, TX4,087Mission, TX: 4,084 personsMission, TX4,084Pharr, TX: 4,069 personsPharr, TX4,069Pearland, TX: 4,056 personsPearland, TX4,056Edinburg, TX: 4,044 personsEdinburg, TX4,044League City, TX: 3,888 personsLeague City, TX3,888Sugar Land, TX: 3,825 personsSugar Land, TX3,825Round Rock, TX: 3,763 personsRound Rock, TX3,763Allen, TX: 3,551 personsAllen, TX3,551Port Arthur, TX: 3,474 personsPort Arthur, TX3,474
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Houston, TX100,582+135.3%
2Dallas, TX53,699+130.7%
3San Antonio, TX53,180+150.6%
4Austin, TX36,534+151.4%
5Fort Worth, TX33,985+127.6%
6El Paso, TX23,933+117.2%
7Arlington, TX16,400+127.5%
8Corpus Christi, TX13,165+116.9%
9Irving, TX10,148+134.6%
10Plano, TX10,105+102.7%
11Laredo, TX9,336+129.5%
12Garland, TX9,152+116.8%
13Brownsville, TX8,233+88%
14Grand Prairie, TX7,953+120.6%
15Lubbock, TX7,733+108.3%
16Pasadena, TX7,143+115%
17McKinney, TX6,872+115%
18Midland, TX6,154+258.8%
19Frisco, TX6,117+101.7%
20McAllen, TX6,099+117.2%
21Odessa, TX6,072+284.1%
22Mesquite, TX5,837+111.6%
23Baytown, TX5,720+119.3%
24Beaumont, TX5,535+110.9%
25Carrollton, TX5,275+122.2%
26Denton, TX5,264+143.3%
27Lewisville, TX5,053+135.1%
28Amarillo, TX5,011+98.5%
29Killeen, TX4,836+93.5%
30Waco, TX4,208+93.4%
31Richardson, TX4,087+105.8%
32Mission, TX4,084+105.2%
33Pharr, TX4,069+97.7%
34Pearland, TX4,056+110.5%
35Edinburg, TX4,044+101.6%
36League City, TX3,888+107.6%
37Sugar Land, TX3,825+106.4%
38Round Rock, TX3,763+112.7%
39Allen, TX3,551+112.4%
40Port Arthur, TX3,474+90.9%
41Missouri City, TX3,458+119.7%
42Tyler, TX3,455+109.9%
43Conroe, TX3,453+143.5%
44Longview, TX3,186+119.6%
45Abilene, TX3,181+89.2%
46College Station, TX3,089+69.4%
47Wichita Falls, TX2,940+112.4%
48San Angelo, TX2,889+110%
49New Braunfels, TX2,868+129.6%
50Euless, TX2,850+165.4%
51Pflugerville, TX2,727+150.9%
52San Marcos, TX2,643+148.2%
53DeSoto, TX2,615+86.9%
54North Richland Hills, TX2,605+122.8%
55Texas City, TX2,593+114.3%
56Victoria, TX2,543+140.1%
57Bryan, TX2,516+117.6%
58Cedar Park, TX2,477+112.6%
59Mansfield, TX2,429+101.7%
60Harlingen, TX2,410+89.3%
61Galveston, TX2,399+142.6%
62Rowlett, TX2,362+103.1%
63Cedar Hill, TX2,297+101.7%
63Flower Mound, TX2,297+95%
65Temple, TX2,212+88.9%
66Bedford, TX2,206+135.7%
67Eagle Pass, TX2,205+105.5%
68San Juan, TX2,165+98.8%
69The Colony, TX2,084+139%
70Georgetown, TX2,046+116.1%
71Lancaster, TX1,996+90.5%
72Grapevine, TX1,953+126.6%
73Weslaco, TX1,869+77.7%
74Wylie, TX1,848+108.3%
75Leander, TX1,798+123.6%
76Little Elm, TX1,738+129.6%
77La Porte, TX1,722+112.6%
78Duncanville, TX1,709+106.9%
79Kyle, TX1,644+147.2%
80Burleson, TX1,612+119.3%
81Haltom City, TX1,571+125.1%
82Rosenberg, TX1,512+129.8%
83Hurst, TX1,506+124.8%
84Farmers Branch, TX1,500+143.1%
85Rockwall, TX1,493+102.3%
86Deer Park, TX1,483+105.7%
87Coppell, TX1,428+89.1%
88Del Rio, TX1,376+143.1%
89Waxahachie, TX1,331+107%
90Socorro, TX1,326+139.8%
91Lake Jackson, TX1,315+86.3%
92Friendswood, TX1,262+93.9%
93Keller, TX1,260+86.1%
94Sherman, TX1,245+99.5%
95Texarkana, TX1,235+74.9%
96Schertz, TX1,199+98.5%
97Converse, TX1,146+154.7%
98Alvin, TX1,133+113.8%
99Lufkin, TX1,107+100.2%
100San Benito, TX1,097+102.4%
101Forney, TX1,051+155.7%
102Huntsville, TX1,040+80.6%
103Midlothian, TX992+107.1%
104Cleburne, TX965+112.6%
105Hutto, TX944+136%
106Kingsville, TX942+99.2%
107Nacogdoches, TX941+69.5%
108Copperas Cove, TX940+86.5%
109Seguin, TX926+116.4%
110Weatherford, TX922+118.5%
111Prosper, TX916n/a
112Cibolo, TX902+98.2%
113Balch Springs, TX899+105.7%
114Sachse, TX890+89.8%
115Harker Heights, TX876+86.4%
116Greenville, TX863+90.1%
117Big Spring, TX843+154.7%
118Paris, TX815+95.9%
119Saginaw, TX805n/a
120Corsicana, TX767+91.8%
121Katy, TX732n/a
122Denison, TX729+96%
123Southlake, TX722+60.8%
124Colleyville, TX658+70.5%
125Princeton, TX621n/a
126Anna, TX600n/a
127Kerrville, TX583n/a
128Royse City, TX526n/a
129Belton, TX494n/a
130University Park, TX476+41.2%
131Fate, TX416n/a
132Celina, TX324n/a
132Melissa, TX324n/a
134Fulshear, TX284n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_texas_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Texas by unemployed people, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/texas-cities?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Cities in Texas by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"unemployed_persons","level":"municipality","within":"Texas","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=unemployed_persons&level=municipality&within=Texas&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Houston, TX, with 100,582 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Fulshear, TX, with 284 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Texas: more rankings