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 and Akokisa 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 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 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. 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 oaks and Post oaks. 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, 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 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 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, 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.

Economy

In 2023, OpenDoor.com named Cypress (77433) as the #1 hottest Zip Code for home buyers in the United States. In 2010, Sysco 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 Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District 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, Cypress Creek High School, Cypress Falls High School, Cypress Woods High School, Cypress Springs High School, Langham Creek High School, Cypress Ridge High School, Cypress Ranch High School, Cypress Park High School and Bridgeland High School. 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 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 (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 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, is located at 9191 Barker-Cypress Road on the Lone Star College–CyFair 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, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics; born in Hot Wells, which is now part of Cypress * Shane Baz, American baseball player for the Tampa Bay Rays, born in Cypress, Texas * James Bonamy, singer * Bradley Bourgeois, soccer player * Danielle Bradbery, winner of NBC's '' The Voice''; attended Cypress Ranch High School * Bryce Callahan, Professional football player on the Denver Broncos * De'Aaron Fox, professional basketball player; attended Cypress Lakes High School * Nneka Ogwumike, professional basketball player; attended Cy-Fair Senior High School * Robbie Grossman, professional baseball player * Jonathan Horton, Olympic gymnast; grew up and lives in Cypress * Ryan Kaji, child YouTube star; born in Cypress * Iris Kyle, ten-time overall Ms. Olympia professional bodybuilder * Jared Lakind, 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, 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, American softball player; 2-time medal winning Olympian; attended Cypress Springs High School, in Cypress, Texas. * Didi Richards, basketball player for the New York Liberty; attended Cypress Ranch High School * Molly Searcy, American anime voice actress and stage actress * Fred Whitfield, rodeo cowboy

References

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