small town life

3 Houston-area suburbs rank among Texas' best for house renters

West University Place is the fourth best suburb for house renters in Texas.

City of West University Place, TX - City Government / Facebook

For single-family home renters, finding the right suburb to live in around Houston can be a complicated process. But three very different Houston neighbors have come out among the top 10 best suburbs for house renters in Texas: Iowa Colony, West University Place, and Manvel.

This crowning achievement was awarded in online real estate marketplace Point2Homes' new study, "Top Texas Suburbs for House Renters." The report compared suburbs within a 20-mile radius (or 30-mile driving distance) from Texas' five largest cities — San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth — based on 12 metrics, including a suburb's cost of living, share of single-family rental listings, five-year renter income growth, and more.

Iowa Colony ranked as the No. 2 best suburb for house renters in Texas, while West University Place and Manvel ranked No. 4 and No. 10, respectively.

Bulverde, a small town 22 miles outside San Antonio, was declared the No. 1 best suburb for house renters statewide. Two Austin suburbs — Hutto (No. 3) and Lakeway (No. 5) — round out the top five.

The report touted Iowa Colony, located 22 miles south of Houston, as a suburban paradise with a "relaxed atmosphere and convenient access to city amenities and job opportunities." Point2Homes calculated the city has a population of about 9,500 residents, and the median age of a resident is 33 years old.

Out of the suburb's entire renter population, the report found 91 percent of renters are residing in single-family homes, and there are 523 single-family home listings available to rent per 1,000 renter households. Iowa Colony has the second highest number of available renter home listings in Texas, just one spot behind Katy.

The median household income for single-family home renters in Iowa Colony is $111,824, the report said, which has grown nearly 98 percent over the last five years, while the population simultaneously skyrocketed. Higher household incomes combined with the vast number of spacious rental homes also contributed to the city's booming popularity.

"Known for its homey neighborhoods and recreational options, the suburb is also one of the select two with rentals boasting more than 7 rooms overall," the report said. "All this might have contributed to the whopping 813 percent boost in population between 2017 and 2022 — not bad for a town that used to have only 27 people well into the 1960s."

Other factors that helped Iowa Colony earn its second place ranking were its residents' average commute time (37.2 minutes) and the share of the population aged 25 and older who have "higher education" degrees (37 percent).

Other top Houston suburbs for house renters in 2024
Situated less than ten miles southwest of downtown Houston, the suburb of West University Place boasts a reputation as the third wealthiest suburb in America. Of course, the late Ken Hoffman vigorously disrupted attempts to classify West U. as a suburb, since it's so centrally located.

The city has an estimated population of nearly 15,000 residents, a figure that has surprisingly declined 3.3 percent over the last five years. An overwhelming majority of the city's population aged 25 and older (90.6 percent) have higher education degrees.

The median household income of single-family renters in West U. is $169,135, and the city's income level has grown 83.5 percent in the last five years. Almost all renters in the city (95.3 percent) are single-family home renters.

There are about 65 single-family rental listings on the market per 1,000 renter households in West U., and the study said the median number of rooms in a rental home comes out to 7.7.

Here's how Point2Homes broke down West U.'s ranking in the remaining metrics in the study:

+179.8 percent – Cost of living compared to state median
7.4 percent – Share of renters out of the entire population
7,467 – Population density
20.3 minutes – Average commute time
5.7 percent – Unemployment rate

West University Place, Houston West University Place is the third most affluent suburb in America. City of West University Place, TX - City Government / Facebook

West U. residents also benefit from living in a quiet, close-knit community that has many outdoor recreational activities for families, such as the Colonial Park Pool, the West University Place Recreation Center, and 10 more beautiful parks and playgrounds.

"With a philosophy that combines rich traditions and responsible innovation, West University Place has shed its orphan municipality roots to become a stable, yet progressive model city," the city website says.

The third Houston suburb to earn a top 10 rank was Manvel, which is 24 miles south of downtown Houston. A single-family renter household in the city has a median income of $67,655, which has grown only nine percent over five years.

Manvel is a far more affordable place to live than West U., and the cost of living is 30.4 percent higher than the state median, the report said. The city also has a low unemployment rate, at only 2.6 percent.

This is how Manvel stacked up in the report's remaining metrics:

67 percent – Share of single-family renters
36 – Single-family rental listings per 1,000 renter households
5.4 – Median number of rooms in a rental home
17.6 percent – Share of renters out of the entire population
37 percent – Five-year population change
412 – Population density
36.1 minutes – Average commute time
34.4 percent – Share of the population 25 years and older with higher education degrees

Surprisingly, major Houston suburbs like Katy (No. 24), The Woodlands (No. 37), and Sugar Land (No. 40) all appeared farther down the list of top markets for single-family home renters in Texas. In July 2024, Conroe was ranked one of the best cities for renters in a separate report by SmartAsset. Cinco Ranch, which ranked No. 55 in this study, was dubbed one of America's best suburbs earlier this year.

Other Houston-area suburbs that earned spots among the top 100 best Texas suburbs for single-family home renters include:

No. 13 – Spring
No. 19 – Pecan Grove
No. 27 – Fresno
No. 29 – Atascocita
No. 50 – Missouri City
No. 53 – Friendswood
No. 61 – Tomball
No. 62 – Rosenberg
No. 71 – Stafford
No. 73 – Dickinson
No. 79 — Humble
No. 80 – League City
No. 83 – Pearland
No. 93 – Mission Bend
No. 96 – La Porte
No. 97 – Baytown
No. 100 – Jersey Village

The full report and its methodology can be found on point2homes.com.

suburbs quality of life nature renting houston

housing news

Houston ranks among top 10 U.S. cities for mobile home living

Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

Manufactured homes have come a long way from the "trailers" of the past, according to StorageCafe.

As Houston residents navigate the city's fluctuating real estate market, manufactured homes – also known as mobile homes – are gaining traction among potential buyers seeking an affordable path to homeownership.

A recent housing study found Houston ranks among the top 10 U.S. cities with the largest mobile home inventory. Texas, as a whole, has the second-highest share of manufactured housing in the nation.

StorageCafe's housing insights report analyzed the supply of manufactured housing inventory, average sales prices of new manufactured homes, and compared pricing trends against the median value of all housing units (regardless of construction date) across all 50 states and 100 U.S. cities.

The report's author hails manufactured housing as "a cornerstone of affordability" in the country, with just under 8 million mobile homes representing about 5.4 percent of the U.S. housing supply.

There are 776,232 manufactured homes in Texas, the report found, which is 6.2 percent of the state's entire housing stock. Houston is home to the 8th highest number of mobile homes in the nation, at 10,953 units.

Here's how the rest of the top 10 shakes out:

No. 1 – Mesa, Arizona (29,335 units)
No. 2 – Phoenix, Arizona (20,564 units)
No. 3 – Jacksonville, Florida (15,393 units)
No. 4 – Largo, Florida (14,131 units)
No. 5 – Tuscon, Arizona (14,128 units)
No. 6 – San Jose, California (11,668 units)
No. 7 – San Antonio, Texas (11,208 units)
No. 8 – Houston, Texas (10,953 units)
No. 9 – Los Angeles, California (10,622 units)
No. 10 – Sunrise Manor, Nevada (9,952 units)

Why manufactured home living is gaining popularity
Affordability is of the main reasons Texas residents are turning to manufactured home living. The average sale price for a mobile home in Texas was $112,500 in 2024, or less than half of the median sale price for all Texas homes ($313,200).

The report specifies that the cost for a manufactured home does not include the cost of land in the same way that a conventional home does. Depending on zoning and local laws, residents who own a mobile home either lease the lot their home sits on, or they have to purchase a lot outright.

"Most manufactured homes sit either in parks (land rent, higher exposure to rent hikes or park closures) or subdivisions (you own the land)," the report said. "In some communities, resident-owned cooperatives (co-ops) allow homeowners to collectively purchase the land beneath their homes. This setup provides stability and protection against rising lot rents, which can otherwise affect those living in privately owned parks."

Nevertheless, StorageCafe maintains that the generally lower cost of a manufactured home still makes it a viable path to homeownership. Affordability is especially crucial for younger adults like Gen Zers and Millennials who also don't want to "compromise on quality or independence."

"Today’s younger buyers value flexibility, efficiency, and minimal maintenance, and many are drawn to simpler lifestyles that align with financial freedom and mobility," the report said. "With the rise of remote work, more Millennials and Gen Zers are exploring the idea of living affordably in smaller, well-designed spaces, often in communities with shared amenities or scenic settings that were once thought to appeal only to retirees."

Manufactured homes have also experienced a "glow up" in recent years, the report added. Most manufactured homes have open floor plans, "stylish interiors," and come equipped with modern amenities like smart-home technology and energy efficient features.

"As a result, they’re no longer viewed as a fallback option, but rather as a savvy, forward-thinking path to homeownership for cost-conscious Americans of all ages," the report said.

Mobile home living elsewhere in Texas
Other than San Antonio in Houston in the top 10, there were 12 more Texas cities that ranked among the top 100. El Paso came in at No. 16 with 7,089 mobile homes in the city, and Laredo ranked two spots behind with 6,785 units.

Here's how other Texas cities fared in the report:

No. 20 – Dallas (6,195 units)
No. 21 – Austin (6,184 units)
No. 22 – Fort Worth (6,069 units)
No. 29 – Corpus Christi (4,823 units)
No. 34 – Pharr (4,409 units)
No. 48 – Arlington (3,818 units)
No. 60 – Mission (3,207 units)
No. 65 – Bryan (3,063 units)
No. 67 – Edinburg (3,407 units)
No. 98 – Denton (2,441 units)

housing market housing report storagecafe texas manufactured housing houston