Where (not?) to live
Houston deemed one of America's worst places to rent right now
Houston may not be "home sweet home" for renters, according to a new study. WalletHub recently revealed America's best and worst places to rent, ranking Houston all the way down at No. 135, one of the worst in the country.
The personal finance website measured 182 U.S. cities based on 23 factors before boiling them down to two major metrics: rental market and affordability and quality of life. Houston ranks 98th in the former and a poor 121st in the latter.
A closer look, though, shows Houston’s performance in the study is spottier than just saying it’s one of the best or worst places to rent.
WalletHub breaks down Houston’s rental market and affordability by gauging the city’s rental vacancy rate (No. 26), average home size (No. 33), cost of living (No. 57), affordability (No. 90), rent-to-price ratio (No. 147), and other factors. The median gross rent in Houston, WalletHub says, is $940 a month.
The quality of life ranking takes into account the local job market (No. 59), driver friendliness (No. 77), quality of public schools (No. 79), weather (No. 157), and more.
Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio (No. 92) and Dallas (No. 106) are in Houston' neck of the woods, whereas Austin lands on the opposite end of the spectrum, at No. 33.
El Paso is the highest ranking Texas city on the list at No. 9, not far behind Scottsdale, Arizona, the best place in the country to rent. New Haven (No. 181) and Bridgeport (No. 182), Connecticut, though, take the two worst spots on the list.