Rent Report

Houston rent prices reflect Harvey landfall, says new report

Photo by © Debora Smail/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Texas had a challenging 2017, largely fueled by the swath of damage left by Hurricane Harvey. Plagued by natural disasters from wildfires to floods, 2017 was the costliest year of natural catastrophes. Harvey proved to be the most expensive of the year, causing $125 billion in damages, and its impact was felt everywhere, including the rental market.

Earlier this year, we saw a report from apartment listing service Abodo that found Houston’s rent prices were rising at the third-fastest rate in the country. As of July, one-bedroom apartments in Houston cost a median of $1,053, and the prices rose an average of 3.8 percent a month.

In August, when Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Houston was the hardest hit city in Texas. Abodo’s newest report, which tracks rental trends throughout 2017, found that the city’s rental landscape was also greatly impacted. Despite the consistently high monthly rent increases through July, August ushered in four straight months of declines, which started strong in September and diminished toward the end of the year.

In August, rents dipped a slight 0.6 percent, but in September, they plummeted 6.5 percent — the second-largest drop in the country that month. In October, the decline wasn’t quite as steep, but was still a significant 5.1 percent, which was the country’s third-largest drop. November saw another decrease of 2.9 percent, but in December, as the market started to find its footing again, rents were up 1.2 percent.

Houston hit its year-high for rent in July, with the median one-bedroom rent at $1,191, up from $951 in January, and tumbled to $1,034 by December. Despite the midyear disruption, rent for Houston apartments went up an average of 0.8 percent each month — four times faster than the national average of 0.2 percent.

Corpus Christi had Texas’ fastest rising rents, up an average of 1.9 percent each month. Rents fell the fastest in El Paso, where rents dropped about 1.9 percent a month, while Lubbock apartments were down 1.4 percent a month. Combining all of Texas’ cities, the state is just one of 28 to see an overall rent increase in 2017, rising an average of 0.5 percent a month throughout the year.

Although Houston is Texas’ largest city, apartments in Austin and Dallas both had higher median rents in 2017, at $1,142 and $1,190, respectively.

Going into 2018, it seems Houston’s rental housing market is prepared to resume its streak of rises, with the 10th-highest increase in the country: One-bedroom rents are up 2.2 percent, to $1.057. Two other Texas cities beat out Houston, however, for high monthly increases: Fort Worth one-bedroom apartments are up 3 percent, and Richardson’s are up 3.2 percent.

For more on where rents are rising and falling the fastest, visit Abodo’s 2017 Annual Rent Report.

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rent affordability news

Houstonians need to make nearly $68,000 to afford rent in 2025

Photo courtesy of Dolce Midtown Apartments

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A new rental report from Zillow has revealed Houston renters need to make about 23 percent more money than they did five years ago in order to afford rent in 2025.

Zillow analysts examined the income needed to afford rent in 50 major U.S. metros, and determined rent prices in each city as of April 2025.

The average Houston renter needs to make $67,731 a year to afford living in the city, the report found. To afford rent for a single-family home, the income needed increases even further to $85,017.

Despite Houston's rising rent cost of living, it's still more affordable than many other cities. Nationally, the average income needed for someone to comfortably afford rent comes out to nearly $81,000. The study says that figure has increased nearly 35 percent since 2020.

"Housing costs have surged since pre-pandemic, with rents growing quite a bit faster than wages," said senior Zillow economist Orphe Divounguy. "This often leaves little room for other expenses, making it particularly difficult for those hoping to save for a down payment on a future home. High upfront costs are often overlooked, which can keep renters in their current homes."

Rent prices in Houston averaged $1,693 last month, which is less costly than the national average rent price of $2,024. Additionally, Houstonians are spending about 24 percent of their income on rent, while the typical American spends almost 30 percent of their income on rent.

Renters are also saving hundreds of dollars in comparison to those that own their homes, as a recent SmartAsset study discovered the median monthly housing costs for a Houston homeowner came out to $2,219.

At least we're not living on the East or West Coast, where eight U.S. metros require six-figure incomes to afford rent. Residents in San Jose, California need to make $136,532 a year to afford rent, the highest out of all 50 U.S. cities. Rent prices in San Jose came out to $3,413 in April.

Here's how much money renters need to afford living in other Texas metros, according to Zillow:

Dallas – $71,413
Austin – $68,840
San Antonio – $58,590

zillow housing report rent prices affordability houston