Houston's Most Polluted Neighborhoods: How Industrial Facilities Affect Property Values

We analyzed 1.4 million residential properties across 138 Houston ZIP codes to understand the relationship between industrial pollution and home values. The results reveal a clear pattern: homes in heavily industrialized areas sell for significantly less than comparable properties in cleaner neighborhoods.

The Question We Wanted to Answer

Houston is America's energy capital. Refineries, chemical plants, and industrial facilities dot the landscape, particularly along the Ship Channel and in areas east of downtown. For decades, residents in these neighborhoods have lived alongside these facilities, but what does that proximity mean for their property values?

We set out to quantify something that many Houstonians intuitively understand: homes near industrial facilities tend to be worth less. But how much less? And which neighborhoods are most affected?

To answer these questions, we combined two comprehensive datasets:

• Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) data covering 1.4 million residential properties, including appraised values, locations, and property characteristics
• EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data identifying industrial facilities that release toxic chemicals into the environment

For each property, we calculated a pollution score based on the number of TRI facilities within a 2-mile radius and the quantity of chemicals they release. We then aggregated this data by ZIP code to identify patterns across Houston's diverse neighborhoods.

The Clear Correlation: More Pollution, Lower Home Values

Our first visualization tells the story clearly. Each dot represents a Houston ZIP code, with the horizontal position showing pollution levels and the vertical position showing median home value. The pattern is unmistakable.

The trend line reveals a strong positive correlation between pollution scores and home values. ZIP codes with the cleanest air—like West University (77005), Galleria (77027), and Montrose (77098)—have median home values exceeding $800,000 to over $1.6 million. Meanwhile, the most polluted ZIP codes rarely see median values above $300,000.

West University: $1.6 million, pollution score 68.6. Galena Park: $155,000, pollution score 7.1.

This isn't simply a matter of wealthy neighborhoods choosing cleaner locations. The industrial facilities in Houston's east side and Ship Channel area have been there for generations. Over time, property values in these areas have failed to keep pace with cleaner parts of the city, creating a persistent value gap tied directly to industrial proximity.

What's particularly notable is how consistent this pattern is across the entire dataset. It's not just a few outliers skewing the numbers—the correlation holds across 138 different ZIP codes representing the full spectrum of Houston neighborhoods. Whether you're looking at established inner-loop communities or newer suburban developments, the relationship between industrial proximity and home values remains strong.

The size of each dot in the chart also tells an important story. Larger dots represent ZIP codes with more homes, and these tend to cluster in the middle of the chart—moderate pollution scores, moderate home values. This is where most Houstonians actually live: not in the pristine western enclaves or the heavily industrialized east side, but somewhere in between.

Mapping Houston's Pollution Divide

The geographic distribution of pollution in Houston isn't random. It follows a clear pattern shaped by decades of industrial development and zoning decisions. Our map reveals which neighborhoods bear the heaviest burden.

The map tells a story of geographic divide. The eastern portions of Houston—including Galena Park, Magnolia Park, the East End, and Fifth Ward—show consistently high pollution levels. These neighborhoods sit adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel, one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the world.

In contrast, the western and southwestern portions of Houston enjoy significantly cleaner air. Neighborhoods like West University, Bellaire, and the Galleria area benefit from their distance from heavy industry and prevailing wind patterns that carry pollutants away from them.

But the map also reveals something that surprises many Houstonians: the pollution divide isn't strictly an east-west split. Notice the red and orange areas in northwest Houston along the 290 corridor. This industrial zone has expanded significantly over the past few decades, bringing warehouses, manufacturing plants, and distribution centers to areas that were once farmland. Homebuyers focused solely on avoiding the Ship Channel might overlook this secondary industrial corridor.

The yellow and orange zones throughout the map represent the middle ground—neighborhoods with moderate pollution exposure and moderate home prices. Areas like Spring Branch, Alief, and parts of north Houston fall into this category. For buyers priced out of the greenest areas but wanting to avoid the most industrialized zones, these middle-tier neighborhoods often represent the best balance of affordability and environmental quality. (You can check the pollution score for any Houston address using our free tool.)

Which ZIP Codes Have the Most Industrial Facilities?

To understand why certain areas have high pollution scores, we looked at the concentration of EPA-registered industrial facilities. The results highlight just how industrialized some Houston neighborhoods have become.

ZIP code 77041 in northwest Houston leads the list, with the average home having over 20 TRI facilities within a 2-mile radius. This area, along the Highway 290 corridor, has seen significant industrial development in recent decades.

The Ship Channel area dominates the rest of the top 20, with neighborhoods like Fifth Ward (77020), East End (77011), and Galena Park (77547) all showing extremely high facility densities. Residents in these areas live surrounded by refineries, chemical plants, and other industrial operations.

The types of facilities matter too. TRI-registered facilities include oil refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, plastics producers, and metal fabrication shops. Each reports different chemicals—some release volatile organic compounds into the air, others discharge chemicals into waterways or store hazardous waste on-site. The cumulative effect of having 15 or 20 such facilities within a 2-mile radius is significant, even if each individual facility operates within its permitted limits.

It's worth noting that facility count alone doesn't tell the whole story—that's why our pollution score also factors in the quantity of chemicals released. A neighborhood with three large refineries might have more total emissions than one with ten small manufacturing plants. But facility density does give buyers a quick way to understand how industrialized an area has become and what kind of neighbors they might have.

The Numbers: Houston's Cleanest and Most Polluted ZIP Codes

Cleanest Neighborhoods (Highest Pollution Scores)

Most Polluted Neighborhoods (Lowest Pollution Scores)

The contrast is stark. Homes in West University—Houston's cleanest ZIP code—have a median value more than 10 times higher than homes in Galena Park, the most polluted. While many factors contribute to property values, the pollution divide is clearly a significant one.

Look at the pollution scores in the "cleanest" table: they cluster tightly between 68.3 and 68.6. These neighborhoods have essentially reached the ceiling—there's almost no industrial activity anywhere nearby. The "most polluted" table shows much more variation, from Galena Park's 7.1 to Fifth Ward's 25.7. This spread reflects different degrees of industrial exposure even within the heavily industrialized east side.

The home values tell their own story. In the cleanest neighborhoods, you're paying a premium for that distance from industry—median values range from $796,000 to over $1.6 million. In the most polluted areas, median values stay remarkably consistent between $155,000 and $227,000. For buyers, this means the affordable housing stock in Houston is concentrated in areas with higher industrial exposure. It's not impossible to find affordable homes in cleaner areas, but you'll likely need to look at smaller properties, older construction, or neighborhoods further from the city center.

What This Means for Houston Homebuyers

If you're buying a home in Houston, our analysis suggests several things worth considering:

• Location matters beyond the obvious factors. Proximity to industrial facilities affects not just air quality but long-term property value appreciation.
• Lower prices come with trade-offs. If a neighborhood seems surprisingly affordable, it's worth investigating what's nearby.
• The east side is changing, but slowly. Some historically industrial areas are seeing redevelopment, but pollution impacts tend to persist.
• Check before you buy. Understanding the environmental conditions around a potential home purchase can help you make an informed decision.

For sellers and agents, this data matters too. Homes in lower-pollution areas can command premium prices, and that's a selling point worth highlighting. Conversely, sellers in more industrialized areas should price competitively and be prepared for buyers who've done their research.

Real estate investors should pay particular attention to the middle-tier neighborhoods—the yellow and orange zones on our map. These areas often offer the best combination of current affordability and future appreciation potential. As Houston continues to grow and some industrial areas redevelop, neighborhoods on the edge of the pollution divide may see significant value increases.

Whatever your role in Houston real estate, understanding the relationship between industrial proximity and property values gives you an edge. This isn't about avoiding certain areas—it's about making informed decisions based on data rather than assumptions.

Looking Ahead

Houston's relationship with industry is complicated. The energy sector has made the city prosperous, but that prosperity hasn't been evenly distributed. Residents in the most polluted neighborhoods bear the financial costs of living near industrial facilities while often seeing fewer of the benefits.

As Houston continues to grow and evolve, decisions about where to site new industrial facilities—and how to address legacy pollution—will shape the city for generations to come. Our hope is that data like this can inform those conversations and help Houstonians make better decisions about where to buy.