Leisure and hospitality industry employment in metro Houston stood at 364,300 jobs at the end of Q1 2025, a 0.6% increase over the same period a year ago and an 10% increase from pre-pandemic sector totals.
The industry accounts for 10.5% of the region’s 3.5 million nonfarm jobs. Total nonfarm employment is up 1% over the same period a year ago and 10% compared with 2019.
Leisure and hospitality—which includes accommodation and food services as well as arts, entertainment, and recreation—has increased by about 33,000 jobs in Houston since 2019. The sector finished 2024 with about 362,000 jobs in the region.
About 5% or 18,700 of the total jobs in the sector locally are currently open, a bit higher than the 4.2% of all nonfarm job openings in the region.
Among leisure and hospitality subsectors:
- Accommodation and food services employment has increased 9.4% since 2019
- Arts, entertainment and recreation employment has grown by 15%
In its year-end jobs forecast, the Greater Houston Partnership said it expects to see growth across multiple industry sectors, including leisure and hospitality. The economic development group's forecast calls for 5,200 new jobs in restaurants and bars, 600 new hotel jobs and another 1,800 in the arts, entertainment and recreation category of the industry.
Written by A.J. Mistretta
