Cypress is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Harris County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, located completely inside the

extraterritorial jurisdiction Extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is the legal ability of a government to exercise authority beyond its normal boundaries. Any authority can claim ETJ over any external territory they wish. However, for the claim to be effective in the external ...

of the City of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Route 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-four miles (35 km) northwest of

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45 ...

. The Cypress urban cluster ranks 50th in the top 100 highest-income urban areas in the United States. Large scale residential and commercial development beginning in the 1980s transformed the once rural area into one of the Houston area's largest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an communities. If it were to be incorporated as a city, it would be the second largest city in

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

, the 18th largest city in

, and the 125th largest city in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

The recent find of a San Patrice

projectile point In archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have been kept in the ...

at the Dimond Knoll site nearby on Cypress Creek attests to a human presence in the area by 7500 BC. By the early historic era, the area around present-day Cypress was populated by

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct b ...

and

Akokisa The Akokisa (also known as the Accokesaws, Arkokisa, or Orcoquiza) were an Indigenous tribe who lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and Sabine rivers in Texas, primarily in the present-day Greater Houston area. They were a band of the At ...

Indian tribes, but they soon disappeared after the appearance of German settlers in the 1840s. The German heritage is most notably reflected in the names of some of the major thoroughfares of the area, such as Huffmeister and Telge Roads. General

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

and his

Texas Army The Texas Army, officially the Army of the Republic of Texas, was the land force branch of the Texas Military Forces during the Republic of Texas. It descended from the Texian Army, which was established in October 1835 to fight for independence ...

camped in the area on March 22, 1836 on the way to

Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...

, which is now in East Houston, just days before the

Battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General A ...

. The area remained mostly rural until the early 1990s when developers began construction of several master-planned communities. The area is often referred to as Cy-Fair or Cypress-Fairbanks, which comes from when the Big Cypress School and Fairbanks High School combined in the 1930s to form Cy-Fair Senior High School and the

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District The Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD, often referred to as Cy-Fair) is an independent school district with its headquarters in Cypress, Texas, United States. Cy-Fair ISD is the largest Recognized school district in the st ...

. In March 2008, the Cypress Historical Society (CHS) was formed as a non-profit corporation with its primary mission being "...to discover, educate, promote, collect, preserve and make available to the public, historical documents and artifacts of the Cypress area". The CHS organization holds regular events aimed at exposing Cypress' residents to the historical and cultural foundation upon which the area was built.

Geography

Cypress is located near the intersection of US Highway 290 and Spring-Cypress Road. Cypress is located within the Cypress Creek and Little Cypress Creek watershed. There are no official boundary lines for the exact area, but roads commonly mentioned to bound the area include FM 529 road as the southern border, HWY 6 and FM 1960 as the eastern border, and HWY 249 as the northern border. Cypress has two distinct geographic profiles separated by Highway 290. The area northeast of US 290 is forested and thickly wooded, while the area southwest of 290 is predominately ranch land and grassy prairie dotted with scrub brush,

Live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to o ...

s and

Post oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistant ...

s. Cypress falls under the jurisdiction of Harris County Precincts 4 and 5 (separated by Cypress Creek). Several of the subdivisions are built around man made lakes. Major arteries include Highway 290 to the South and State Highway 249 to the east.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Cypress has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. Due to its close proximity to the

gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

, Cypress is occasionally hit by landfalling

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

s and

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s; the most significant storms to impact the area in recent history have been

Hurricane Alicia Hurricane Alicia was a small but powerful tropical cyclone that caused significant destruction in the Greater Houston area of Southeast Texas in August 1983. Although Alicia was a relatively small hurricane, its track over the rapidly grow ...

in 1983,

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

in 2008, and

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating tropical cyclone that made landfall in Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cy ...

in 2017. According to Risk Factor, for the next 30 years, Cypress has a minor risk of flooding, meaning that it is probable that flooding may impact the everyday life in the area. 20% of all the properties in Cypress have a greater than 26% chance of being severely flooded over the next three decades.

Demographics

As of the 2020

US Census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 under Secretar ...

, there were approximately 200,839 people living in the two zip codes labeled as Cypress (77429 population 94,176 and 77433 population 106,663). There were 66,150 housing units. Average Household Income for Cypress, Texas, was $138,261; Median Household Income was $116,054.

Healthcare

There are two major hospitals in the Cypress area: HCA Houston Healthcare North Cypress (formerly North Cypress Medical Center), and Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital. Construction of Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital is currently under way on the former Texas Instruments/Compaq/Hewlett-Packard, Sysco campus, scheduled to open first quarter of 2025.

Government and infrastructure

The area of Cypress is served by two professional fire departments, Cy-Fair Fire Department and Cypress Creek FD. It is also assisted by the city of Jersey Village in its fire suppression activities. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Cypress Post Office at 16635 Spring Cypress Road. Law enforcement for the Cypress area is provided by the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 and 5 and the

Harris County Sheriff's Office The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over four million citizens of Harris County, Texas, United States. It is headquartered on the first and second floors in the 1200 Baker Street Jail in Downt ...

Economy

In 2023, OpenDoor.com named Cypress (77433) as the #1 hottest Zip Code for home buyers in the United States. In 2010,

Sysco Sysco is an American multinational corporation that sells, markets, and distributes food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, sports stadiums, and other venues that serve food. It also sells foodservice supplies and ...

announced that it purchased the former

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

call center along U.S. Highway 290 in Cypress and that it would establish a shared services facility for its distribution centers in North America.Stauffer, Kimberly.
Sysco Corporation plans to open new facility in Cypress
." ''Community Impact Newspaper'' (JG Media, Inc.) Friday March 5, 2010. Retrieved on April 23, 2010. "Sysco Corporation has purchased the former Hewlett-Packard call center at 24500 Hwy. 290 in Cypress to create a shared services facility for its North American distribution centers."

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Cypress is served by

and Tomball ISD. Cy-Fair ISD is the third largest school district in the State of Texas and one of the fastest growing in the United States. CFISD serves over 118,000 students as of 2024. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD high school students attend Cy-Fair Senior High School, Cypress Lakes High School,

Jersey Village High School Jersey Village High School is located in Jersey Village, Texas, United States, in the Houston metropolitan area. The school, which serves grades nine through twelve, is a part of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD. Maggie Wiley serves as its principal, ...

, Cypress Creek High School,

Cypress Falls High School Cypress Falls High School is a secondary school in an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States. The current principal is Becky Denton. Cypress Falls is part of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School Dist ...

Cypress Woods High School Cypress Woods High School, commonly known as Cy Woods, is a secondary school located in Cypress, Texas, Cypress, which is an unincorporated area of Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States, near Houston, Texas, Houston. Since t ...

Cypress Springs High School Cypress Springs High School, CSHS, or more commonly as Cy-Springs is located at 7909 Fry Road, in Cypress, Texas, Cypress, an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas. Cypress Springs High School was ...

Langham Creek High School Langham Creek High School is a high school located in an unincorporated area in Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States, near Houston. Langham Creek, which was established in 1984, is part of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent S ...

Cypress Ridge High School Cypress Ridge High School is a public secondary school located in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, near Houston. It was established in 2002 as Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District High School #7. Cypress Ridge provides the deaf ed ...

Cypress Ranch High School Cypress Ranch High School is a secondary school located in Cypress, Texas, Cypress, which is an unincorporated area in Harris County, Texas, near Houston, Texas, Houston. It is a part of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. His ...

, Cypress Park High School and

Bridgeland High School Bridgeland High School is a high school in the Bridgeland community in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in the Houston metropolitan area. It is part of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD). History Michael Smith was t ...

. Windfern High School offers an alternative path toward graduation for accepted students from the above high school attendance zones.

Private schools

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School, a K-8

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

school operated by the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, is in close proximity to Cypress. Cypress Christian School, a K–12 private school, is located in the area. Covenant Academy operates as a K-12 Classical Christian School. The Oaks Adventist Christian School is in Cypress. The closest Catholic high schools are Frassati Catholic High School in north Harris County, in the

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

area; - Specifies Cypress as being in the school's service area. and Saint John XXIII High School (formerly Pope John XXIII High School) in western Harris County, within

Greater Katy Greater Katy Area is the term often used to refer to a suburban region on the west side of the Greater Houston metropolitan area roughly corresponding to the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District. Many people and businesses in this ar ...

. In addition St. Thomas High School, an all boys' high school in central Houston, has a bus service from and to Christ the Redeemer Catholic School. Silverline Montessori School is a private Montessori school in Cypress.

Colleges and universities

Lone Star College Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017, it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woo ...

(originally the North Harris Montgomery Community College District) serves the community. The territory in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD joined the community college district in 2000. Cypress is home of the

Lone Star College–CyFair Lone Star College–CyFair, formerly Cy-Fair College, is one of six colleges in the Lone Star College System located in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. Vision As more and more of Texas' natural environment is developed by ...

campus.

Public libraries

Harris County Public Library (HCPL) operates public libraries in the Cypress area. LSC-Cyfair Library, a partner effort between HCPL and

Lone Star College System Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017, it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Woo ...

, is located at 9191 Barker-Cypress Road on the

campus. The Northwest Branch Library is located at 11355 Regency Green Drive.

Notable people

* Cammile Adams, Olympic swimmer; grew up in Cypress *

Mary Kay Ash Mary Kay Ash (born Mary Kathlyn Wagner; May 12, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American businesswoman and founder of multi-level marketing company Mary Kay, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. At the time of her death, she had a fortune of $98 milli ...

, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics; born in Hot Wells, which is now part of Cypress *

Shane Baz Shane Austin Baz (born June 17, 1999) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2021. Early life Baz was born to Lebanese father Raja and American mother Tammy. ...

, American baseball player for the Tampa Bay Rays, born in Cypress, Texas * James Bonamy, singer * Bradley Bourgeois, soccer player *

Danielle Bradbery Danielle Simone Bradbery (born July 23, 1996) is an American country pop singer. She won season 4 of NBC's '' The Voice'' in 2013, becoming the youngest artist to win the competition at age 16.Bradbery's record has since been eclipsed by Sawye ...

, winner of NBC's '' The Voice''; attended

Bryce Callahan Bryce Jordan Callahan (born October 23, 1991) is an American former professional football cornerback. He played college football for the Rice Owls and signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2015. Early life Callahan attende ...

, Professional football player on the Denver Broncos *

De'Aaron Fox De'Aaron Martez Fox (born December 20, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected fift ...

, professional basketball player; attended Cypress Lakes High School *

Nneka Ogwumike Nnemkadi Chinwe Victoria "Nneka" Ogwumike (; born July 2, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks first overall in ...

, professional basketball player; attended Cy-Fair Senior High School *

Robbie Grossman Robert Edward Grossman (born September 16, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tig ...

, professional baseball player *

Jonathan Horton Jonathan Alan Horton (born December 31, 1985) is a former American artistic gymnast. He was a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team and is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist on horizontal bar, the 2010 World all-ar ...

, Olympic gymnast; grew up and lives in Cypress * Ryan Kaji, child YouTube star; born in Cypress *

Iris Kyle Iris Floyd Kyle (born Mildred Carter; August 22, 1974) is an American professional female bodybuilder. She is currently the most successful, female or male, professional bodybuilder ever. She has a total of twenty professional bodybuilding t ...

, ten-time overall Ms. Olympia professional bodybuilder *

Jared Lakind Jared Talor Lakind (; born March 9, 1992) is an American-Israeli professional baseball pitcher for the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. He also plays for Israel national baseball team, Team Israel. In high school, Lakind played first ...

, American-Israeli professional baseball pitcher *

Chiney Ogwumike Chinenye Joy "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2020, she became the first black woman and th ...

, American basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks; went to Cy-Fair Senior High School in Cypress, Texas *

Tony Oller Anthony Michael Oller (born February 25, 1991) is an American actor and singer. He had roles as Walt Moore on the TeenNick TV show '' Gigantic'', and as Danny on Disney Channel's '' As the Bell Rings''. He appeared in the films '' Beneath the Da ...

, actor and singer-songwriter; former

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

star; reared in Cypress *

Cat Osterman Catherine Leigh Osterman (born April 16, 1983) is a retired American softball player and currently the general manager of the Volts for the inaugural 2025 season of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL). Osterman pitched on the United Stat ...

, American softball player; 2-time medal winning Olympian; attended

, in Cypress, Texas. * Didi Richards, basketball player for the New York Liberty; attended

Molly Searcy Molly Searcy is an American voice actress. Her notable roles were as Isuzu Sento in ''Amagi Brilliant Park'', Rin Ōtomo in '' Psycho-Pass: Sinners of the System'', Akame in ''Akame ga Kill!'', Mako Reizei in ''Girls und Panzer'', Ayaka Shindo ...

, American anime voice actress and stage actress * Fred Whitfield, rodeo cowboy

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Harris County, Texas