Parts of Houston and Harris County have eviction filing rates 3 times county average, data shows

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A renter's zip code may say more about their eviction risk than one might think.

A new Kinder Institute report found some Harris County neighborhoods saw eviction filings up to three times the county average.

The report shares that more than 75,000 eviction filings were made across the county in 2025 alone.

Some of the parts with high eviction filing rates were north Harris County, Houston's south side and sections of Katy, according to the report.

"It's a really widespread issue. It's not just happening in one specific type of neighborhood. You find inner city, suburban, middle suburb neighborhoods," said Dr. Stephen Sherman, Kinder Institute Research Scientist.

Dr. Sherman said the highest rate was in the FM 1960/Cypress Creek North area of Spring, where 30% of renters have gotten an eviction notice, which is roughly three times the county average.

"We do know that an eviction filing is a really easy legal means for a landlord to collect back rent," Sherman said.

But what's driving those numbers isn't so clear.

Researchers said they looked at income levels, rent trends and neighborhood demographics.

Lower and middle-income communities generally saw more eviction filings, but researchers said that doesn't tell the whole story.

Several predominantly lower-income Black and Latino neighborhoods had relatively low filing rates, according to the data.

Researchers said one possible explanation is who owns the property.

Neighborhoods with more large corporate landlords may see more eviction filings. Researchers said corporate owners are often quicker to file in court, while smaller landlords may be more likely to work with tenants before taking legal action.

"If it's a larger landlord and they have some kind of automatic trigger for filing a notice to vacate, that might disregard some very unique circumstances that are very good reason why their rent hasn't been paid," Sherman said.

But the impact of the filing can far outlast a tenant's time in that home.

"We found cases where people might have an eviction filing overturned, but it'll still linger on their credit score," Sherman said. "If someone's background check has an eviction filing on it, the landlord may choose to raise the rent. The manager may choose not to rent to that person."

According to the report, Texas consistently ranks among the states with the highest volume of eviction filings, in part because cases move through the court system relatively quickly.