County brief: Harris County
Texas Bond Review BoardData Center
Debt explorer, Data Center. Showing total principal outstanding for all local governments, fiscal year 2025.
Harris County's 453 local governments owed $61.5 billion in principal outstanding at the end of fiscal year 2025, 1st of 252 counties and 1st of 12. Of that, $2.1 billion is owed by 11 issuers that also serve other counties.
- Total principal outstanding
- $61,507,889,748
- Rank
- 1st of 252
- Rank in its size band
- 1st of 12(500,000 and over)
- Total principal outstanding
- $61,507,889,748
- Population (county government's row)
- 5,009,302
- Of which multi-county issuers
- $2,073,430,572
Debt by government type
| Type | Issuers | Principal outstanding | Share | Share, as a bar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cities | 24 | $16,396,219,488 | 26.7% | |
| Counties | 1 | $5,055,749,736 | 8.2% | |
| Water Districts | 397 | $15,994,934,383 | 26.0% | |
| Independent School Districts | 19 | $19,877,621,739 | 32.3% | |
| Community & Junior College Districts | 4 | $1,581,299,308 | 2.6% | |
| Health & Hospital Districts | 2 | $1,089,685,000 | 1.8% | |
| Other Special Districts | 6 | $1,512,380,094 | 2.5% | |
| Total | 453 | $61,507,889,748 | 100.0% |
Over the years
Largest of the 453 governments
| Issuer | Type | Principal outstanding | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Cities | $15,359,469,488 | $6,426 |
| Harris County | Counties | $5,055,749,736 | $1,009 |
| Cypress-Fairbanks ISD | Independent School Districts | $3,484,020,000 | $6,046 |
| Katy ISD | Independent School Districts | $2,666,755,000 | $7,289 |
| North Harris County Regional WA | Water Districts | $2,193,990,000 | $3,021 |
| Houston ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,841,915,000 | $1,216 |
| Klein ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,464,255,000 | $4,826 |
| West Harris County Regional WA | Water Districts | $1,331,120,000 | $3,176 |
| Spring ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,300,200,000 | $7,019 |
| Spring Branch ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,296,155,000 | $6,992 |
| Humble ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,295,795,000 | $6,083 |
| Aldine ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,234,105,000 | $4,592 |
| Harris County FCD | Water Districts | $1,211,870,000 | $248 |
| Tomball ISD | Independent School Districts | $1,119,345,000 | $13,733 |
| Port of Houston Authority | Water Districts | $1,100,019,397 | $230 |
| Harris County Hospital District | Health & Hospital Districts | $1,064,940,000 | $213 |
| Pasadena ISD | Independent School Districts | $871,510,000 | $3,242 |
| Harris County-Houston Sports Authority | Other Special Districts | $754,570,094 | $159 |
435 more issuers: see https://txbrb.munipro.com/data/explore/county/harris/#issuers
How these figures are made. BRB lists every county an issuer serves and gives no shares, so an issuer's debt counts in its home county, the first county listed for it, and each dollar counts once statewide. Of Harris County's $61,507,889,748, $2,073,430,572 is owed by 11 issuers that list other counties too; 5 issuers that list Harris County count in another. Total principal outstanding: principal outstanding at the fiscal year end, summed over the local governments attributed to the county. "Not reported" is never shown as zero.
Source: Texas Bond Review Board open data on data.texas.gov: Local Issuance Fee By Year (updated by the publisher 10/6/2026); Debt Outstanding By Issuance Local By Year (updated by the publisher 9/9/2026). Loaded here 10/9/2026. Computed here from BRB's tables. Texas fiscal years run September 1 to August 31. Issuer names are shown as published, without source footnote letters. Figures are as reported to the agency and have not been independently verified.