The Partnership sends updates for the most important economic indicators each month. If you would like to opt-in to receive these updates, please click here. 

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

SALES AND USE TAX COLLECTIONS

Sales and use taxes collected by the 122 Houston-area cities that collect them totaled $581.5 million during the first four months of ’25, up 9.1 percent from the $533.0 million collected over the comparable period in ’24. Adjusted for inflation, collections are up 7.9 percent.

These collections, which cover the purchases of both consumers and businesses, are a proxy for broad economic activity in the region. The increase suggests strength in the local economy even after adjusting for inflation. The strong increase in collections between ’24 and ’25 may still reflect some of the impact of tariff discussions. The first four months of ‘25 saw trade policy uncertainty that could have encouraged businesses and consumers to frontload their purchases before anticipated price increases or supply chain disruptions.  

Among the 21 cities in the metro area that collected $4 million or more in taxes through April of this year, activity is up five percent or more in 11 cities, marginally up in six, and down in four, before adjusting for inflation. These 21 cities accounted for 88.8 percent of all sales tax collections during that time. 

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts releases allocated payments from the sales and use tax monthly. There is a two-month delay between when the tax is collected and when it is allocated. Data for January through May will be released in July. 

Prepared by The Greater Houston Partnership Research Division

Clara Richardson
Analyst, Research
crichardson@houston.org

Colin Baker
Manager of Economic Research
bakerc@houston.org