46 percent of kids at risk

Why does Houston, the land of millionaires, have so many kids in poverty? Citycriticized for contrast

Houston has received accolades for its quick economic recovery.
But that doesn't mean we're all weathy. In 2010, nearly 23 percent of thepopulation lived in poverty — and 46 percent of Houstonian children lived at ornear the poverty level.
Impact Lab.net

In Houston, big money rolls in as quickly as the oil can be pumped and the natural gas fracked.

Contentious though it is, that industry has greatly contributed to the remarkable recovery of the city's economy, and thickened the pockets of a growing number of High Net Worth Individuals.

Last July, citing data from a Capgemini study, Forbes named Houston the No. 1 fastest-growing millionaire city. In 2011 alone, the rate of millionaires escalated by 9.6 percent to a staggering 96,700 individuals (each with $1 million or more in investable assets).

Houston is a working city, but many of those jobs don't pay well enough to support a family.

The year before that, in 2010, the millionaires' ranks grew by 29 percent, fueled by a surge in oil prices.

Despite this uptick in earnings, a great number of Houstonians still suffer when it comes to finances: Census data from 2010 indicates that 22.8 percent of the city's estimated 2.1 million inhabitants live below the poverty level.

Dr. Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of Houston nonprofit organization Children At Risk, reminds us that "below poverty" does not necessarily translate to "unemployed." Houston is a working city, but many of those jobs don't pay well enough to comfortably support a family.

According to the 2010 Census, 46 percent of Houston children live at or near the federal poverty level, then defined as a family of four living on $22,050 per year. (This high level of poverty earned Houston a C grade in Workforce Solutions' 2011 Workforce Report Card.)

Sanborn acknowledges that Houston's rate is lower than Texas as a whole, which stands at 51 percent of children at or near the federal poverty level, but that the level of poverty is especially notable in Houston and in Dallas, where "super zip codes" of concentrated wealth stand in contrast to areas of concentrated poverty.

"There is this juxtaposition of high child poverty, low social indicators and immense wealth," Sanborn tells CultureMap. "It would take political will and moral courage for a politician to say, 'Let's take care of our children.' "

Historically, that hasn't been the case. Sanborn laments, "Public education is the biggest thing that can drive up these social indicators, but legislators consistently cut it."

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family

46 percent of kids at risk

Why does Houston, the land of millionaires, have so many kids in poverty? Citycriticized for contrast

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home