NAICS 52

Finance and Insurance in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX

Metro Market Score 75.3 (Difficult), ranked #318 of 331 metros. 9,861 establishments, 99,116 jobs.

Metro Market Score 75.3

Favorable 0-35

Moderate 35-48

Challenging 48-60

Difficult 60+

Difficult

ⓘ Lower is better. Relative to national finance and insurance average.

💰High-Cost Market

Market conditions for finance and insurance in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands are tougher than average. The 75.3 market score reflects a combination of high labor costs, slowing employment, and an already crowded field. Rank: #318 of 331 metros.

Industry Concentration

70.7

LQ: 0.75

Rank #234 of 331 metros

Wage Competitiveness

94.6

$146,796 avg wage

Growth Trend

↓ 20.2

Employment growth index

Rank #265 of 331 metros

Wage Pressure

50.4

YoY wage change index

9,861 Finance and Insurance Firms in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands

9,861

Establishments

-2.3% YoY

99,116

Total Employment

-4.0% YoY

$146,796

Average Annual Wage

+7.9% YoY

0.75

Location Quotient

Below national avg

Within Texas

#20 of 20

finance and insurance metros in state

Texas state rank

#25 of 51

for finance and insurance entry risk

vs State Median

+36.1

worse than median (39.2)

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands vs Texas Statewide

How this metro's finance and insurance market compares to Texas overall. The state ranks #25/51 for entry risk.

Measure	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands	TX Statewide
Overall Score	75.3 Difficult	50.4 Elevated
Score Type	Metro Market Score	Entry Risk Score
Rank	#318 of 331 metros	#25 of 51 states

Metro and state scores use different methodologies (metro has 4 QCEW-based metrics; state adds BDS survival and momentum data). Direct score comparisons are approximate.

Other Industries in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands

Retail Trade 48.7 Construction 69.4 Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 76.2

Finance and Insurance in Other Texas Metros

Odessa 22.9 #11/331 Brownsville-Harlingen 23.3 #13/331 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 26.8 #26/331 Eagle Pass 28.1 #34/331 Laredo 28.6 #35/331 Longview 29.9 #49/331 Victoria 30.9 #54/331 Beaumont-Port Arthur 36.1 #78/331 College Station-Bryan 37.7 #86/331 Corpus Christi 38.5 #93/331

+ 9 more metros. View all in Texas →

Finance and Insurance Metros With Similar Conditions

Metros within 5 points of Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands's 75.3 score. Useful when comparing markets with comparable entry profiles.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 75.3 #317/331 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 74.8 #316/331 Cedar Rapids, IA 75.8 #319/331 New Haven, CT 74.6 #315/331 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY 74.4 #313/331 Trenton-Princeton, NJ 74.4 #314/331 Raleigh-Cary, NC 76.3 #320/331 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI 74.4 #312/331 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 76.3 #321/331 St. Louis, MO 74.2 #311/331

Finance and Insurance in States Bordering Texas

State-level entry risk for finance and insurance in adjacent states. Use this to weigh cross-border options.

Louisiana 42.0 #6/51 Arkansas 44.7 #7/51 New Mexico 53.1 #31/51 Oklahoma 64.9 #48/51

Browse Finance and Insurance in Other States

State-level entry risk reports for finance and insurance across all 51 markets, sorted by rank.

About Metro Market Score: A weighted composite of industry concentration (25%), wage competitiveness (25%), wage pressure (20%), and employment growth trend (30%). Lower scores indicate more favorable conditions. For Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands's finance and insurance sector, the employment growth component (79.8) has the strongest pull on the composite. Metro scores use QCEW data only (no BDS survival data at metro level). Read full methodology →

Data Sources

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), Bureau of Labor Statistics. MSA-level establishment counts, employment, wages, and location quotients for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX MSA area.

Data period: 2024. Last updated: April 2026.

Metro Market Assessment