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Far-flung Houston suburb among best U.S. cities for renters in 2024

The cost of living in Conroe is nearly eight percent lower than the national average, RentCafe said.

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Houstonians looking for their next apartment or house to rent should consider living in the far north suburb of Conroe, which was just ranked the No. 31 best city in the nation for renters, and No. 5 in Texas.

Apartment rental marketplace RentCafe's report, "Best Cities for Renters to Live in 2024," annually compares 150 U.S. cities based on their quality of life, local economy, and cost of living and housing opportunities. Previously, Conroe has ranked No. 9 in the 2023 edition, and was No. 3 in 2022.

Charleston, South Carolina maintained its position as the No. 1 best city for renters for the second consecutive year. Rounding out the top five top rental markets are Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2), Sarasota, Florida (No. 3), McKinney, Texas (No. 4), and Scottsdale Arizona (No. 5).

Conroe performed the best in the study's ranking of housing and cost of living, earning No. 10 out of all 150 cities in the report. RentCafe found the suburb's overall cost of living is 7.9 percent lower than the national average, and 23.7 percent of all apartments in the city have been built within the last five years. The average size of an apartment in Conroe spans 924 square feet.

Despite Conroe's great housing opportunities and low cost of living, the city unfortunately fell behind in the "quality of life" category (No. 54) and "local economy" rank (No. 73).

Houston proper ranked as the No. 71 best city for renters in 2024, tumbling from its former rank as the No. 53 in 2023.

Here's how Houston performed in the study's three main categories out of all 150 cities:

No. 38 – Housing and cost of living rank
No. 78 – Quality of life rank
No. 96 – Local economy rank

Houston's cost of living has dropped 5.7 percent below the national average, RentCafe said, but only 10.1 percent of the city's apartments have been built within the last five years. The average size of an apartment in Houston is 883 square feet, which is 41 square feet smaller than Conroe's average apartment size.

Other top cities for renters in Texas
The northern Dallas suburb of McKinney made its first appearance in RentCafe's study, claiming the No. 4 best rental market in the nation. Austin (No. 7) and its northern suburb Round Rock (No. 6) both held on to their positions among the top 10 best U.S. cities for renters for the second year in a row.

"When looking for the best place to rent in 2024, factors such as the size of apartments, employment or the quality of schools can really make a difference in the vetting process," the report said. "And while no city has everything, there are quite a few that come close and rank high for renters searching for options that better fit their wallets and lifestyle."

Here's how other Texas cities stacked up among the top 100 in RentCafe's report:

No. 17 – Plano (down from No. 2 in 2023)
No. 38 – Denton (down from No. 19 in 2023)
No. 52 – Midland
No. 53 – Fort Worth (down from No. 37 in 2023)
No. 55 – San Marcos
No. 57 – Dallas (down from No. 32 in 2023)
No. 58 – Lubbock (down from No. 43 in 2023)
No. 65 – San Antonio (down from No. 55 in 2023)
No. 85 – Amarillo
No. 91 – Waco (unchanged from 2023)

RentCafe used data from their sister site Yardi Matrix to determine each city's ranking based on 20 metrics, including average apartment size, the cost of living and housing, the share of renter-occupied households, renter household median income growth, and more. Cities were chosen if they had an "apartment stock" of a minimum of 10,000 units, and any cities with lower apartment stocks were excluded.

The full report can be found on rentcafe.com.

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Prep to Protest

Texans have one month to lower their property taxes by protesting

10106 Meadow Lake Lane, Houston luxury home for sale

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Texans who are unhappy with their home appraisal this tax season have a chance to do something about it if they get the process going in the next month. The deadline for most people to protest their property valuation — thus lowering their property tax — in Harris County is May 15.

If you haven't done it before, don't worry: there are steps to follow online and companies that do it for you at no cost unless you save money.

Why protest?
Texans pay the 7th highest property taxes in the country, according to personal finance website WalletHub. If your county has overappraised your home, you are paying more than you need to in property taxes.

Protests are especially important and easy for people who closed on their homes in the past year, because the value of the property upon sale is accepted as the true value of the property. This assumes that if the property were worth more, it would have sold for more. The more recently the home sold, the more likely it is that homeowners haven't meaningfully altered the property since the purchase.

Submitting a protest is free, and there is almost no risk in doing so. The Appraisal Review Board is prohibited from raising the property value in a hearing. Homeowners may decide it's not worth their time if their appraisal barely changes and they don't save a significant amount of money.

When to submit
Most homeowners whose home has increased in value according to the county should have received a Notice of Appraisal in the mail by now. It tells them how much the county believes their home is worth this year. To check online, homeowners can search for their property at HCAD.org.

The deadline to submit a protest is May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed — whichever comes later. However, the notice may have been lost or delivered to the wrong place, so it is important to check before May 15 just in case. Notices are also sent later for property owners whose primary residence is somewhere else.

Homeowners have lots of way to prove their home value has not increased, or even that it has decreased due to damage on the property. Whether the evidence is photos of damage or "comps" around the neighborhood — comparing the home's value to others of a similar quality in the same area — homeowners submitting their claim themselves should be prepared to meet with an appraiser or even a review board.

Set it and forget it
Homeowners who don't want to deal with the paperwork, phone call, or hearing can hire service to protest on their behalf. For them, savings are essentially passive income; the service uses data from past years and the surrounding neighborhood to argue the client's case. It is easy to find a service that works on a contingency fee, so the cost is only a portion of the successful savings. Ownwell is a popular choice, but many local firms also specialize in this service.

Finally, homeowners should also make sure they're not leaving money on the table by applying for a homestead exemption. This is available to people who own the homes they live in, as opposed to people who own homes and rent them out to others. It subtracts $140,000 from the total valuation of the home before applying the tax rate.

Ask questions
Now is a good time to get any questions out of the way, as demands on the system are ramping up. The Harris County Central Appraisal District offers contact information, including a phone number and email address, here. Fort Bend County, Montgomery County, and others each have their own online resources.

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