Houston / Houston
Houston has 2,328,253 residents (give or take 196) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19), about 3,634 people per square mile.
Houston is the city this door is named for; it covers 640.752 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Houston that is 77002, 77003, 77004, 77005, 77006, 77007, 77008, 77009 and 84 more (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
Median household income in Houston is $64,813 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
3,634 people per square mile puts Houston in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
43% of Houston homes are single-family detached, 7% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 44% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19).
With 44% of Houston homes in buildings of five or more units and 43% detached, the condo association usually decides where outdoor units can go, so that approval comes before the quote. With 58% of Houston homes rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19), the landlord signs the quote in many of them.
Houston has 14 points fewer detached houses than Harris County overall (57%) and 12 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 32% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US48201, checked 2026-10-19).
58% of Houston homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
Of the 930,404 occupied homes in Houston, 34% heat with natural gas, 0% with heating oil, 64% with electricity and 1% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19).
Electricity already heats 64% of Houston homes, ahead of gas at 34%, and a home on electric baseboard sees the biggest bill change from a heat pump because it replaces resistance heat one for one.
Houston has about the Harris County oil share of 0% and 9 points more electric heat than the county's 55% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US48201, checked 2026-10-19).
No electric utility is on file for Houston on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Houston has 1,040,576 housing units, 4% built before 1940 and 47% before 1980, with 30% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19).
Houston has 6 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 36% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US48201, checked 2026-10-19).
The median Houston home was built in 1982 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 4.4 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4835000, checked 2026-10-19).
Heating design temperature: 29F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Harris County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 115 to 125 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 29F figure is the Harris County cold-day number a Houston heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 29F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; the median Houston home has 4.4 rooms and was built around 1982, and the count of heads and the tonnage follow the rooms and the insulation, not the square footage.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Houston. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Houston yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.