// CITY_ASSESSMENT
How smart is Houston?
Houston scores 71% against the UN ISO-aligned smart city framework in 2026 — ranked #68 of 388 cities assessed, with every finding traceable to a public source.
Smart score
71%
Rank
#68 / 388
Criteria present
55 / 86
Evidence coverage
79.1%
Houston's smart city score by area
9 present · 4 partial · 2 absent
8 present · 2 partial · 1 absent · 1 not assessed
8 present · 1 partial · 2 absent · 2 not assessed
6 present · 1 partial · 4 absent
10 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 2 not assessed
6 present · 2 partial · 0 absent
8 present · 2 partial · 2 absent · 2 not assessed
Where Houston is strong
- ▸Green Space & Biodiversity
- ▸Housing & Urban Planning
- ▸Health & Digital Health
- ▸Education & Digital Skills
- ▸Culture, Tourism & Recreation
Where the gaps are
- ▸Solid Waste & Circular Economy
- ▸Climate Action & Emissions
- ▸Critical Infrastructure Resilience
- ▸Governance & Smart-City Operating Model
- ▸Digital Government Services
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
Houston operates a 311 service, allowing citizens to submit service requests and check their status, as indicated by a redirect to 311.houstontx.gov and mentions of '311 Submit a Service Request'.
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/wifiConnectivity & 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 2026-09-03 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.