Katy, Texas

Katy, Texas
Kingsland Boulevard
Kingsland Boulevard
Official seal of Katy, Texas
Motto: 
"Small Town Charm with Big City Convenience"
Location of Katy, Texas
Location of Katy, Texas
Coordinates: 29°47′8.83″N 95°49′27.82″W / 29.7857861°N 95.8243944°W / 29.7857861; -95.8243944
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountiesHarris, Fort Bend, Waller
Founded1896
Incorporated1945
Government
 • MayorWilliam H. Thiele
 • Mayor Pro TemChris Harris
 • CouncilmembersJanet Corte
Dan Smith
Rory A. Robertson
Gina Hicks
Area
 • Total
15.312 sq mi (39.658 km2)
 • Land15.294 sq mi (39.610 km2)
 • Water0.018 sq mi (0.047 km2)
Elevation138 ft (42 m)
Population
 • Total
21,894
 • Estimate 
(2023)[5]
26,360
 • Density1,755.75/sq mi (677.89/km2)
DemonymKatyite[6]
Time zoneUTC–6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC–5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes
77449, 77450, 77491, 77492, 77493, 77494
Area code(s)713, 281, 832, and 346
FIPS code48-38476
GNIS feature ID1338960[3]
Sales tax8.25%[7]
Websitecityofkaty.com

Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city of Katy is approximately centered at the tripoint of Harris, Fort Bend, and Waller counties. The population was 21,894 at the 2020 census.[4]

First formally settled in the mid-1890s,[8] Katy was a railroad town along the Missouri–Kansas–Texas (MKT) Railroad which ran parallel to U.S. Route 90 (today Interstate 10) into downtown Houston. Katy obtained its name when the MKT Railroad dropped its Missouri waypoint and the junction became known as the KT stop. The fertile floodplain of Buffalo Bayou, which has its source near Katy, and its tributaries made Katy and other communities in the surrounding prairie an attractive location for rice farming. Beginning in the 1960s, the rapid growth of Houston moved westward along the new Interstate 10 corridor, bringing Katy into its environs. Today, Katy lies at the center of a broader area known as Greater Katy, which has become heavily urbanized.[9]

While largely subsumed into Greater Houston, the town of Katy is still notable for Katy Mills Mall, Katy High School's football dominance (eight state-championships), and its historic town square along the former right-of-way of the MKT railroad.

  1. ^ "Mayor & City Council". City of Katy, Texas. September 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "2024 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  3. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Katy, Texas
  4. ^ a b "Explore Census Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference USCensusEst2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "The Big Apple: Katyite (inhabitant of Katy)". Barrypopik.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  7. ^ "Katy (TX) sales tax rate". Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  8. ^ "TSHA | Katy, TX". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Binkovitz, By Leah (September 19, 2015). "Katy area bigger than Pittsburgh". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 6, 2021.