Bourn was raised in Houston, Texas, where he attended Nimitz High School and the University of Houston, playing baseball. He was named to the NL All-Star team in both 2010 and 2012 and won consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 2009 and 2010. Bourn also led the MLB in stolen bases in 2011, and led the National League in stolen bases from 2009–2011. He was as of 2018 in 119th place on the all-time Major League Baseball stolen base list, with 341.