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Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment
Neighborhood conditions for safety, opportunity, and justice
HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub
July 27, 2026
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Overview
Houston is a city of strength and resilience, yet some neighborhoods experience higher levels of violence, economic hardship, and justice system involvement than others. The Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment, led by the Center for Justice Research and the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub at Texas Southern University with support from the Walmart Foundation, examines how neighborhood conditions relate to public safety and community well‑being across the city. This page summarizes key patterns observed in the data and highlights perspectives from residents and community partners.
Neighborhoods Matter
A growing body of research finds that the neighborhoods where people grow up and live are closely associated with later outcomes in areas such as income, education, health, and involvement with public systems. In Houston, this assessment suggests that patterns in crime, court involvement, and economic stress are more concentrated in some neighborhoods than in others, and that these patterns overlap with long-standing concerns about segregation, disinvestment, and unequal access to resources. Harris County court data bear this out directly. Certain ZIP codes account for a disproportionate share of court involvement citywide, reflecting concentrated disadvantage rather than isolated incidents. The geographic distribution of that court involvement is presented in the figure that follows.
Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment
HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub — July 27, 2026
Download PDFDefendants by Zip Code
Source: Harris County Clerk’s Office, 2019–2022
These patterns do not mean that any neighborhood is defined by crime or risk alone. Across the city, residents, community organizations, faith institutions, and public agencies are working every day to support youth, stabilize families, and strengthen local conditions. The findings presented here are intended to support those efforts by providing additional context and data for local discussions, not to assign blame to any neighborhood or institution. That geographic concentration becomes even more pronounced when the focus shifts to incarceration specifically. A relatively small number of ZIP codes produce a large portion of Houston residents who are incarcerated, underscoring how the consequences of the justice system fall unevenly across neighborhoods. The following visualization shows where that burden is most heavily concentrated across Harris County.
Incarcerated Defendants by Zip Code
“Safety is about opportunity, stability, and trust, as well as traditional public safety responses.”
Key Patterns We See
When we examined data from multiple sources together with community input, several patterns emerged. These results are descriptive and should be interpreted as patterns that merit attention and further discussion, not as definitive proof of cause and effect:
From 2019 to 2022, a small group of ZIP codes, including 77088, 77036, 77016, 77093, and 77033, accounted for a notable share of cases that resulted in incarceration. In 2023, Gulfton and Sharpstown, represented by ZIP code 77036, recorded the highest number of reported violent crimes, while several downtown‑area ZIP codes, including 77001, 77002, and 77026, had higher rates of reported violent crime when adjusted for population. These patterns indicate that a relatively small number of areas experience a disproportionate share of recorded incidents and court outcomes.
Black residents and residents of many majority‑Latino neighborhoods appear more frequently in local incarceration statistics than white residents. These same communities are often located in neighborhoods with higher reported levels of violent crime and other stressors. These observations are consistent with long‑standing concerns about racial and ethnic inequities in exposure to violence and involvement with the justice system.
The assessment indicates that neighborhoods with higher levels of unemployment, lower wages, and other signs of economic insecurity are often the same neighborhoods where residents report more safety concerns and higher levels of court involvement. Many community members described strong connections between employment, housing stability, food security, and their sense of safety for themselves and their families.
Houston Police Department data reflect these patterns clearly. Rather than being distributed uniformly across the city, violent crime rates are substantially higher in some ZIP codes than others, and those areas overlap considerably with neighborhoods experiencing greater economic hardship and justice system involvement. Those concentrations are mapped across Houston’s ZIP codes in the figure that follows.
Violent Crime Rate by Zip Code
Community members identified a broad set of potential solutions
Residents frequently highlighted the importance of youth programming, reentry support for people returning from incarceration, mental health and substance use services, stable housing, and neighborhood‑based initiatives. Many participants also emphasized the value of long‑term investment in community organizations that are already active in affected neighborhoods, and called for more structured spaces where community members and institutions can plan together.
How We Did This Work
The Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment combines quantitative data and qualitative input. Quantitative sources include census data, Harris County court records, and Houston Police Department reports that cover trends in crime and case outcomes over time. Qualitative input comes from open-ended questionnaires and public meetings where residents shared their experiences, concerns, and ideas for improving safety and community conditions.
The Center for Justice Research and the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub convened researchers, community advocates, and subject matter experts to review the approach and to interpret the findings. Community members helped identify priority questions at the outset and provided feedback as results were developed. This process was designed to ensure that the assessment reflects both statistical patterns and lived experience.
These public safety patterns do not exist in isolation. Economic conditions follow a strikingly similar geographic distribution, with ZIP codes reporting lower per capita income tending to align closely with those showing higher rates of crime and court involvement. The accompanying figure presents per capita income across Houston ZIP codes as a point of comparison.
Per Capita Income for Comparison
Implications for Policy and Practice
The assessment suggests that public safety and community well-being in Houston may be strengthened by strategies that focus on neighborhoods experiencing higher levels of economic hardship and exposure to violence. The findings also point to the importance of addressing root causes such as limited access to stable employment, housing, and services, alongside traditional enforcement responses.
The results do not identify a single solution or prescribe specific policies. Instead, they highlight areas where collaborative efforts among residents, community organizations, policymakers, and public safety partners may be especially important. The assessment can serve as a starting point for local discussions about where to focus resources, how to coordinate existing efforts, and how to evaluate future initiatives. Unemployment data reinforce this same pattern of concentrated disadvantage.
Neighborhoods with higher unemployment rates correspond closely with those experiencing elevated levels of violent crime and justice system contact, making the case for targeted investment in job training and employment opportunities in the areas most affected. The unemployment landscape across Houston ZIP codes is captured in the figure that follows, offered as a further point of comparison.
Unemployment for Comparison
Areas for Further Focus
Expand access to job training and employment opportunities in neighborhoods that show higher levels of crime and court involvement.
Support youth and reentry initiatives that residents identified as helpful for reducing future contact with the justice system.
Strengthen the capacity of community organizations that are already providing critical services in affected neighborhoods.
Create regular opportunities for residents, service providers, and public agencies to review data together, share perspectives, and identify next steps.
About the Center for Justice Research and the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub
The Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University focuses on understanding how social and economic conditions relate to crime, public safety, and justice system outcomes. Many of the factors that appear in this assessment, such as housing stability, access to education, employment, and health care, are often described as social determinants of health and safety.
With support from the Walmart Foundation, the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub was established to study these issues in partnership with communities. The Hub aims to support efforts to reduce violent crime and incarceration by working with residents, local organizations, and researchers at historically Black colleges and universities to identify promising strategies and inform policy discussions.
Examine local data on public safety and related social conditions
Conduct research together with communities and local partners
Provide learning opportunities for students and early‑career researchers, including those from HBCUs
Data and Resources
The Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment is intended to inform local conversations and future analysis. Along with the written report, key tables, figures, and documentation can be shared so that others can explore the data and build on this work in their own research, advocacy, and planning.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the residents and community partners who shared their time, experiences, and expertise. Their perspectives were essential to understanding how public safety and community conditions are experienced across Houston and will continue to guide future work.
How We Did This Work
The Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment combines quantitative data and qualitative input. Quantitative sources include census data, Harris County court records, and Houston Police Department reports that cover trends in crime and case outcomes over time. Qualitative input comes from open‑ended questionnaires and public meetings where residents shared their experiences, concerns, and ideas for improving safety and community conditions.
The Center for Justice Research and the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub convened researchers, community advocates, and subject matter experts to review the approach and to interpret the findings. Community members helped identify priority questions at the outset and provided feedback as results were developed. This process was designed to ensure that the assessment reflects both statistical patterns and lived experience.
Per Capita Income for Comparison
About the Center for Justice Research and the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub
The Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University focuses on understanding how social and economic conditions relate to crime, public safety, and justice system outcomes. Many of the factors that appear in this assessment, such as housing stability, access to education, employment, and health care, are often described as social determinants of health and safety.
With support from the Walmart Foundation, the HBCU Criminal Justice Research Hub was established to study these issues in partnership with communities. The Hub aims to support efforts to reduce violent crime and incarceration by working with residents, local organizations, and researchers at historically Black colleges and universities to identify promising strategies and inform policy discussions.
Examine local data on public safety and related social conditions
Conduct research together with communities and local partners
Provide learning opportunities for students and early‑career researchers, including those from HBCUs
Data and Resources
The Houston Public Safety Needs Assessment is intended to inform local conversations and future analysis. Along with the written report, key tables, figures, and documentation can be shared so that others can explore the data and build on this work in their own research, advocacy, and planning.
Acknowledgments
This assessment was supported by the Walmart Foundation. We are grateful to the residents and community partners who shared their time, experiences, and expertise. Their perspectives were essential to understanding how public safety and community conditions are experienced across Houston and will continue to guide future work.