// CITY_ASSESSMENT

How smart is Houston?

Houston scores 64.1% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #72 of 386 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.

Smart score

64.1%

Rank

#72 / 386

Criteria present

50 / 86

Evidence coverage

70.9%

Houston's smart city score by area

Data, Digital & Smart Foundation73%

9 present · 4 partial · 2 absent

Mobility & Transport72%

6 present · 1 partial · 2 absent · 3 not assessed

Environment, Energy & Climate73%

8 present · 0 partial · 3 absent · 2 not assessed

Infrastructure, Water & Waste65%

6 present · 1 partial · 3 absent · 1 not assessed

Health, Education, Safety & Inclusion82%

8 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 2 not assessed

Economy, Innovation & Employment75%

5 present · 2 partial · 1 absent

Governance, Resilience & Operating Model71%

8 present · 1 partial · 3 absent · 2 not assessed

Where Houston is strong

  • Green Space & Biodiversity
  • Housing & Urban Planning
  • Health & Digital Health
  • Culture, Tourism & Recreation
  • Climate Adaptation & Heat

Where the gaps are

  • Active & Shared Mobility
  • Solid Waste & Circular Economy
  • Climate Action & Emissions
  • Critical Infrastructure Resilience
  • Governance & Smart-City Operating Model

Evidence highlights

Digital Government Services · Online payments for taxes & fees

Residents can pay traffic tickets online through the City of Houston website and property taxes online through the Harris County Tax Office.

https://www.houstontx.gov/

Digital Government Services · Citizen reporting / 311 channel

The City of Houston operates a 311 service, indicated by a redirect from houstontx.gov/311/ to my311.houstontx.gov.

https://www.houstontx.gov/311/

Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · Public Wi-Fi network

Wi-Fi is available at Hobby Airport in Houston, allowing users to connect to the internet.

https://www.fly2houston.com/hou/wifi

Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · City IoT / sensor network

The Things Network Community in Houston is actively working to provide Internet of Things data connectivity to the Greater Houston area by crowdsourcing the network and adding LoRa gateways, with 4 gateways and 36 contributors reported.

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/community/houston/

About this assessment

Houston was assessed against the 86 criteria of the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework on 2026-07-10 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, and every finding links to where it was found. Scores refresh continuously as cities publish new evidence.