The Greater Houston area continues to grow in population but some surrounding suburbs are seeing a slight loss in the number of residents over the past few years.

Like many other large suburbs just outside of Houston, Sugar Land, located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Houston, has grown into a city of more than 100,000 people over the past few decades. Since 2019 though, the population has dropped by nearly 10,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Other large suburbs like Pasadena and Pearland have lost residents in the last five years too, even though the Greater Houston area seems to get bigger and bigger every month.

Texas-based real estate expert Cliff Freeman says there are multiple factors that play into the populations of some of these major suburbs holding steady or dropping slightly in recent years.

"If you look at the age of the residents there, just demographically, it's an older crowd," said Freeman. "Kids have graduated from high school and there's a lot of empty nesters."

On top of the aging population, the available land in Sugar Land is slim and prices for homes have shot up.

"People don't have the budget in the growth segments right now to move out there and Sugar Land is almost built out," Freeman said.

According to Redfin, the median value of a home in Sugar Land was $437,000 in December 2024. The median home price across the entire Houston housing market is about $350,000.

Freeman, who lived in Sugar Land during the 90's when it first began to grow, said the wants and needs of younger people are much different than those of the older generations, meaning it's not a desirable place to live for everyone, especially those who can't quite afford to live there.

"They've got to go find cheaper housing and be in a place that's going to be conducive to the type of lifestyle that that will bring and afford," Freeman explained.

Freeman also added that Katy is doing well and seeing a large demand for housing, especially among first-time homebuyers. According to Freeman, in December 2024, there were 429 homes sold in Katy, while only 79 were taken off the market in Sugar Land.

"They're building less house on smaller lots, trying to make it affordable for people in that price range," Freeman said of Katy.

What initially drew people to Sugar Land in the 1980's and 90's was the heavier zoning, HOA's and limited number of restaurants and bars. Now, Sugar Land is trying to take after Katy by adopting zoning that attracts the younger generation and build up new things that are more popular.

Jimmy Barrett