Men & Boys Dashboard - Texas Focus

Overview

Health

Education

Employment

Justice

Family

Texas

Key Indicators at a Glance

Male suicide rate vs female

22.7 per 100k (men) vs ~6 per 100k (women)

5.3 yrs

Life expectancy gap

Men: 75.8 years | Women: 81.1 years (2023)

93%

Prison population is male

1.1 million men incarcerated

57%

Male college graduation rate

vs 63% for women (6-year rate)

25%

Children without fathers

~19 million children in father-absent homes

92%

Workplace fatalities are male

~5,000 men die at work annually

Gender Comparison: Key Metrics

Suicide Rate

80% Male

Homelessness

70% Male

Prison Population

93% Male

Workplace Deaths

92% Male

College Grads

58% Female

Health & Mortality

22.7

Male suicide rate per 100,000

Peaked at 22.8 in 2018, remained elevated

75.8

Male life expectancy (years)

Up from 74.8 in 2022

60.7%

Male suicides by firearm

Most common method, followed by suffocation (24%)

Life Expectancy Trend

Source: CDC NCHS National Vital Statistics

Suicide Rates by Gender

Source: CDC WONDER, NCHS Data Brief

Education

57%

Male 6-year graduation rate

vs 63% for females

42%

College students are male

Down from 50%+ in 1970s

34%

Black male graduation rate

Lowest of any demographic group

College Graduation Rates by Gender & Race

Source: NCES IPEDS, Condition of Education 2024

Employment & Economy

69.2%

Male labor force participation

Down from 86.6% in 1948

5,283

Workplace fatalities (2023)

92% were men

89.2M

Men in labor force (Dec 2023)

Recovered from 83M COVID low

Male Labor Force (Thousands)

Source: BLS Current Population Survey

Labor Force Participation Decline

Source: BLS Historical Data

Criminal Justice

1.12M

Men in state/federal prison

93% of total prison population

-21%

Decline since 2013

From 1.42M to 1.12M

Black male incarceration rate

Compared to white males

Male Prison Population Trend

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners 2022

Family Structure

19M

Children without fathers

25% of all children under 18

Increase since 1960

From 9% to 25% in single-parent homes

50%

Black children in father-absent homes

vs 20% White, 29% Hispanic

Father Absence by Race (2023)

Source: Census Bureau, Living Arrangements of Children

Single-Parent Households Over Time

Source: Census Bureau Historical Data

Texas Focus State Data

4.2%

Texas unemployment rate

As of December 2024

14.7M

Texas labor force

One of the largest in the nation

134K

TDCJ prison population

Second largest state prison system

27K+

Homeless individuals (2024)

Majority are men

Texas Unemployment Rate (2019-2024)

Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

Texas Male Population by Age

Source: Census ACS, Texas Population Data

Texas boys and men are in trouble. They need help.

By Charles Blain

November 19, 2025

As the old saying goes, Texas is heaven for men and dogs, but hell on women and horses. That's a clever line, but the reality is that Texas men and boys are in trouble — and they need help.

Texas political leaders have spent years creating programs specifically targeted at lifting up girls, women and other demographic groups, but they've failed to investigate outcomes for males despite persistent disparities in education, health, justice and the workforce.

"The problems start in preschool. Boys are four times as likely to be suspended from school as girls in pre-K through second grade."

Overall, boys account for 71% of in-school suspensions and 70% of out-of-school suspensions despite comprising roughly half of Texas school enrollment. This isn't just a reflection of bad behavior. Studies find that boys are suspended through discretionary enforcement and not in response to objectively severe offenses.

By the time boys reach the end of high school, their graduation rates lag behind girls, and they are more likely to drop out altogether.

While you won't see as many young men at graduation, you will see too many behind bars or on the street. Our state prison population is 92% male, and 78% of Houston's homeless are men.

Texas men also die earlier, with women having an overall life expectancy more than five years longer than men's. Texas men have a suicide rate that is roughly four times higher than that of women. Despite this gap, the Texas State Plan for Suicide Prevention includes no gender-specific programs for boys or men.

"There's clearly an issue in Texas, and we aren't addressing it."

I searched through state and local programs and grants and couldn't find any gender-specific programming supporting men and boys. This means our state is failing to report whether programs and investments target boys, girls or both. Nor is our state reporting on outcomes for boys despite the known disparities.

Texas has a Governor's Commission for Women, but there is no male equivalent. In 2021, Houston launched its women's commission to identity and address inequity, and Harris County followed in 2022 with the Harris County Women's Commission. But I cannot find one local-level commission for men and boys anywhere in Texas.

To his credit, state Rep. James Frank, a Republican from Wichita Falls, hopes to change that. Earlier this year he proposed a bill — HB 3784 — that would have created the Texas Commission for Boys and Men. This commission would be charged with conducting a systematic study of the conditions and issues affecting boys, male youth and men. It was passed out of committee but never received a floor vote in the House. The Senate never took up the issue.

This failure to move Frank's bill wasn't an oversight. It was a political choice.

Yes, men are often viewed as advantaged in life. Look at the ranks of politicians and CEOs, and you'll mostly see males. So when men fail to reach those heights, when we struggle, it is far too easy for policymakers to treat those challenges as individual failures rather than systemic programs. Democrats write us off because focusing on men doesn't align with their thoughts on gender equity. Republicans are reluctant to build any sort of social policy infrastructure because it could be considered just another big government program.

But Texans don't need to wait for our state or federal lawmakers to take action. Much like how Houston and Harris County created commissions to focus on women's issues, our local governments could start their own initiatives to address outcomes for our boys and men while collecting data to help inform state-level policy.

"The patterns are clear: Men and boys in Texas need support. The question is whether our policymakers have the will to take action."

Charles Blain, a frequent contributor to the Houston Chronicle, is president of the Urban Reform Institute, a think tank that promotes opportunity and social mobility. His book "The Brotherhood Effect" will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2026.

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The State of Men & Boys

Key Indicators at a Glance

Gender Comparison: Key Metrics

Health & Mortality

Education

Employment & Economy

Criminal Justice

Family Structure

Texas Focus State Data

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