Five Years Later: Measure Galveston Report Shows Progress and Persistent Challenges

By David McClendon, PhD; January Advisors

December 2025

Five years ago, Vision Galveston released the first Measure Galveston report—a comprehensive look at community well-being across the island. The goal was simple: establish a baseline of where we stood so we could track progress, identify challenges, and make informed decisions about Galveston's future.

Today, we're releasing an updated report with data through 2023-2025, and the picture is mixed. Galveston has seen real progress in some areas—population is growing again, entrepreneurship is thriving, and we've made strides rebuilding public housing lost to Hurricane Ike. But the data also reveals deepening challenges, particularly around housing affordability, climate resilience, and education outcomes that threaten our island's future.

Here's what we found across Vision Galveston's three key initiatives:

Build Galveston: The Affordability Crisis Deepens

The Challenge: After a brief period of improvement in the late 2010s, housing costs are rising sharply again for both renters and homeowners. Median rents jumped 28% in just three years—from under $1,000 in 2020 to $1,278 in 2023. Home values, while down from their speculative 2022 peak, remain nearly 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels at $377,000.

The result? More than half of renters (55.6%) now spend more than 30% of their income on housing, up from 51% in 2019. Eviction rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels, with roughly 1 in 20 renter households facing eviction proceedings each year. And perhaps most telling: nearly three-quarters of Galveston's workforce (73.5%) now commutes from off-island—a new high. Many workers simply can't afford to live where they work.

The data paint a clear picture of who's being priced off the island. The number of families with children has stabilized at around 3,950 households after losing nearly 800 families between 2010 and 2019, but Galveston continues to struggle to attract new families. Meanwhile, the island has become significantly less diverse over the past five years. Black representation dropped from 20% to 14%—a loss of nearly a third—while the Non-Hispanic White share rose to 50%. These demographic shifts raise urgent questions about who can afford to live here.

The Progress: After years of legal disputes following Hurricane Ike, Galveston has finally made substantial progress rebuilding public housing. The number of units has grown from just 200 in 2020 to nearly 450 as of 2024. While this represents significant progress, the island still hasn't fully replaced the 569 units lost 16 years ago, and the years-long gap left many low-income families without affordable options.

What It Means: Vision Galveston has long believed that everyone who works on Galveston Island and serves this community should be able to live here if they choose. The data make clear that rising housing costs are threatening that vision. Addressing affordable housing isn't just about fairness—it's about maintaining the character and economic vitality of our community.

Green Galveston: Climate Risks Mount as Insurance Coverage Declines

The Challenge: The number of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies per 1,000 households in Galveston has declined 17% since 2010—from 638 policies to 529 in 2024. This concerning trend isn't unique to Galveston; nearby Gulf Coast cities have seen similar declines. But the decrease almost certainly reflects soaring insurance costs as FEMA works to make the program actuarially sound and as climate change increases risk assessments.

As a low-lying island community highly vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding, declining insurance coverage leaves more families exposed to potentially devastating financial losses. When combined with rising housing costs, the trend raises serious questions about long-term affordability and resilience.

The Progress:Galveston's tree canopy continues to recover from Hurricane Ike's devastation. By 2022, tree cover had expanded to 1,230 acres—recovering about one-third of what was lost when the storm reduced canopy from 3,413 acres down to just 373. While this represents meaningful progress, recovery faces practical barriers: many grant programs only fund projects on public land, but public rights-of-way present challenges with setback codes, conflicts with electrical and other infrastructure, and limited access to water for maintenance.

What It Means: Climate vulnerability and insurance costs are increasingly shaping who can afford to live on the island. As Vision Galveston works to expand green space and improve environmental resilience, the declining flood insurance trend underscores the urgent need for policies that help residents protect themselves against climate risks.

Incubate Galveston: Entrepreneurship Thrives While Education Outcomes Decline

The Good News: Self-employment and entrepreneurship have been on the rise in Galveston, with the entrepreneurship rate climbing steadily from around 9% in 2014 to 12% in 2023—outpacing both Texas and national averages in recent years. This consistent growth through various economic cycles indicates genuine momentum in Galveston's entrepreneurial ecosystem and may reflect both the island's tourism economy creating service business opportunities and workers seeking alternatives to traditional employment.

The island's population has also rebounded, climbing from 50,000 to more than 53,000 residents since 2020—the highest level since the early 2000s. And child poverty has declined significantly, dropping from 38% in 2015 to 26-27% in recent years.

The Challenge: Despite these economic bright spots, Galveston faces an education crisis that threatens the future workforce. Math proficiency has suffered a devastating decline during and after COVID-19. The share of eighth graders meeting state math standards plummeted from 65% in 2019 to just 24% in 2024—meaning three-quarters of eighth graders aren't meeting grade-level expectations.

Similarly, the share of high school seniors classified as college, career, or military ready crashed from 45% in 2019 to just 23.5% in 2024. While there has been some recovery from the depths of 2020-2021, rates remain far below pre-pandemic levels. Without urgent intervention, this generation of students will face significant challenges in higher education and skilled careers. The challenge is compounded by declining enrollment—Galveston ISD has lost more than 550 students since 2018, raising concerns about the district's ability to maintain program offerings.

Meanwhile, real wages for most workers have remained stagnant or declined when adjusted for inflation—particularly for those with high school and some college education. 

What It Means: Galveston's entrepreneurial momentum is encouraging and shows the island's economic potential. But the education data demand urgent attention. A thriving local economy requires a skilled workforce, and today's struggling eighth graders are tomorrow's workers and entrepreneurs. Addressing the pandemic's ongoing impact on student achievement must be a community priority.

Looking Ahead

The updated Measure Galveston report makes one thing clear: our island is at a crossroads. The population is growing, businesses are starting, and we're making progress on long-standing challenges like rebuilding public housing. But housing affordability, climate resilience, and education outcomes are moving in concerning directions.

While we've focused here on Vision Galveston's core work around housing, environment, and economic opportunity, the full report tracks dozens of additional metrics across demographics, civic engagement, transportation, health and healthcare, and community safety and justice. Each section tells an important story about where Galveston has made progress and where challenges persist.

These aren't abstract statistics—they're about real families making difficult decisions about whether they can afford to stay on the island, whether they can protect themselves against the next storm, and whether their children are getting the education they need to succeed.

Vision Galveston remains committed to using data to drive informed decision-making and community action. Over the coming months, we'll be digging deeper into these trends, convening stakeholders, and working toward solutions that ensure Galveston remains a place where families can afford to live, businesses can thrive, and everyone can participate in shaping our island's future.

Check out the latest report here.