City assessment
How smart is Houston?
Houston scores 82% against the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework in 2026, ranked #17 of 386 by smart reach and #33 on the evidence alone, with every finding traceable to a public source.
Each criterion counts in full where the evidence shows it present, half where partial and nothing where absent, weighted by its category. 5 of 86 are not yet assessed and count as nothing until a finding is made either way. Last assessed 22 Oct 2026.
Smart reach rank
#17 / 386
Smart score
82%
Evidenced rank
#33 / 387
Criteria present
65 / 86
Evidence coverage
89.5%
Houston's smart city score by area
10 present · 5 partial · 0 absent
10 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 1 not yet assessed
8 present · 1 partial · 0 absent · 4 not yet assessed
8 present · 1 partial · 2 absent
10 present · 2 partial · 1 absent
7 present · 1 partial · 0 absent
12 present · 1 partial · 1 absent
Where Houston is strong
- ▸Public Transport & Real-Time Information
- ▸Smart Traffic & Electric Vehicles
- ▸Green Space & Biodiversity
- ▸Water & Sanitation
- ▸Housing & Urban Planning
Where the evidence shows gaps
- ▸Solid Waste & Circular Economy · 2 absent, 1 partial
- ▸Public Safety & Emergency · 1 absent, 1 partial
- ▸Governance & Smart-City Operating Model · 1 absent
- ▸Connectivity & ICT Infrastructure · 2 partial
- ▸Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin · 1 partial
Not yet assessed
5 of 86 criteria have no finding yet, either way. They count as nothing in the score until one is made, and they are not gaps.
- Climate Action & Emissions2 of 3
- Energy & Smart Grid2 of 4
- Active & Shared Mobility1 of 4
Evidence highlights
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/wifiUrban Data Platform & Digital Twin · Live city data dashboard
Houston has a public GIS portal, 'gis @ houstontx', which displays various city data such as 311 Service Request Density, Educational Attainment, and Houston Public Works Traffic Alerts from Waze.
https://mycity.houstontx.gov/Urban Data Platform & Digital Twin · Integrated urban data platform
The City of Houston provides an Open Data platform with datasets from various departments, including Building Code Enforcement, Payroll, Health and Human Services Food Service Facility Inspections, and Checkbook. Additionally, the 'gis @ houstontx' portal i…
https://data.houstontx.gov/Public Transport & Real-Time Information · Public transport network
Houston's METRO operates a public transit network including local bus, Park & Ride bus, and METRORail, which is described as Houston's light rail network with Red, Green, and Purple lines.
https://www.ridemetro.org/About this assessment
Houston was assessed against the 86 criteria of the ISO 37120-series aligned smart city framework on 22 Oct 2026 by AI agents gathering evidence from official public sources. Each criterion is marked present, partial or absent, or left not yet assessed, and every finding links to where it was found. Cities are re-assessed in runs, not continuously: the latest finished on 24 Oct 2026.