Houston, TX (population: 2,307,883) has five corrections schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Prairie View A & M University, the highest ranked school in this group with a corrections program, has a total student population of 8,608. It is the 628th highest ranked school in the USA and the 31st highest in the state of Texas (#1 is Rice University).
Corrections students from Houston schools who go on to become correctional counselors, corrections officers, jailers, probation officers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 455,350 people working as correctional officers and jailers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $42,610. Also, Mental health and substance abuse social workers make on average $41,350 per year and there are about 127,140 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area alone, there are 980 employed mental health and substance abuse social workers earning an average salary of $34,930. Correctional officers and jailers in this area earn $33,570/yr and there are 7,210 employed.
Houston lies in Harris county, which is one of the 154 counties in Texas. Overall, the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area has 2,563,840 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.7% unemployment rate, $21.58/hr average worker wage, and a $44,880 average annual salary. Thus, about 2.810 out of every 1000 jobs in Houston are held by correctional officers and jailers, and 0.382/1000 are held by mental health and substance abuse social workers.
Of the 5 corrections schools with a 100-mile radius of Houston, only 3 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Prairie View A & M University comes out as the most expensive ($12,343/yr) for corrections students, with Lone Star College System as the lowest, reported at only $4,793/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Houston |
| South Houston | TX | - | 1 | 23.7623 | 5 | 11.9 miles |
| Pearland | TX | 94,215 | 0 | - | 0 | 16.0 miles |
| Pasadena | TX | 148,101 | 8 | 24.6579 | 264 | 16.3 miles |
| Missouri City | TX | 77,622 | 0 | - | 0 | 16.5 miles |
| Baytown | TX | 71,405 | 1 | 12.8813 | 98 | 25.3 miles |
| League City | TX | 78,312 | 0 | - | 0 | 25.7 miles |
| The Woodlands | TX | 101,065 | 1 | 14.626 | 77 | 27.6 miles |
| Texas City | TX | 44,907 | 1 | 8.31197 | 63 | 35.9 miles |
| Conroe | TX | 61,600 | 0 | - | 0 | 38.3 miles |
| Prairie View | TX | - | 1 | 50.8259 | 82 | 42.2 miles |
| Galveston | TX | 57,154 | 3 | 22.3727 | 45 | 47.7 miles |
| Beaumont | TX | 110,900 | 4 | 27.5152 | 152 | 78.1 miles |
| College Station | TX | 90,406 | 1 | 0.218495 | 0 | 79.5 miles |
| Bryan | TX | 73,832 | 2 | 27.1681 | 5 | 85.5 miles |