Texas Housers has officially launched our Harris County eviction mapping tool, with the most recent eviction data available from 2023. The interactive tool allows users to identify the neighborhoods, as well as individual properties, that received the most eviction filings in 2023. Intended to help elected officials, service providers, and housing advocates understand where the greatest need for anti-eviction resources exists in Harris County, the tool now includes map layers that summarize eviction filings by Super Neighborhoods, School Districts, City Council Districts, County Commissioner Districts and more.
With today’s release of the Harris County Eviction Case Dashboard, we share the following insights:
- 80,110 eviction cases were filed against Harris County residents in 2023, which equates to about 1 in 25 Harris County renter households.
- The only metropolitan areas in the United States with more eviction filings than Harris County in 2023 were New York City, and Maricopa County, Arizona.
- Eviction filings were not evenly dispersed across Harris County in 2023, but rather concentrated in certain areas. Notable concentrations of evictions appeared in Southwest Harris County between the Westpark Tollway and Westheimer road, South Central Harris County, and Northwest Harris County along FM 1960.
- Eviction filings were higher in areas with greater populations of renters of color.
- Eviction filings were higher in areas with older housing stock.
- The top 30 evicting properties accounted for nearly 1 in every 10 evictions filed in Harris County.
- The top 30 evicting properties also included two affordable housing properties– one that receives Low-Income Housing Tax-Credits (LIHTC) and another that benefits from a Chapter 392 tax break deal.
- Over one third of the owners of these top-evicting properties are based outside of Texas.
- The most prevalent case outcome for Harris County evictions was a dismissal (43%). Even a dismissed eviction case on a tenant’s record is harmful, as it negatively impacts their ability to locate future rental housing that is safe, decent and affordable. A dismissed case does not always indicate a favorable outcome for the tenant, nor does it indicate the tenant is able to stay on the property or not.
- The median eviction case length was 24 days from filing date to judgment, demonstrating that the current eviction timeline does not unreasonably burden landlords from reclaiming possession of their units.
Research has well established that evictions cause severe harm to the health of individuals, families, and communities. The Harris County Eviction Case Dashboard can now be used, first, to identify areas of the county where renters are most at risk of experiencing eviction and their lasting negative impacts and, second, to inform discussions about needed policy reforms to address a persistent eviction problem in Harris County.
In addition to this brand new mapping tool for Harris County, new for 2025, we have also compiled this data into eviction profiles that we have dubbed the Harris County Eviction Snapshot. Embedded below, we’ve documented simple profiles of each City Council district in Harris County. alongside data such as eviction filing rate per district, cost of renting, and case outcomes.
We invite you to explore the snapshots, dashboard, our findings, and recommendations here.
