Texas · 654 census tracts

Houston.

This Houston housing market report covers about 1,034,600 homes across 654 census tracts. It gives investors tract-level context on rent growth, home price growth, property tax and insurance cost assumptions, vacancy, and neighborhood variation. PriceDNA location scores range from 48 to 81, with a median of 59.9. Median household income is $63,202.

Approximate homes
1,034,600
across 654 assigned tracts
Vacant homes
10.5%
of all homes
Renter-occupied
56%
of occupied homes
01.

Location score distribution

How location scores vary across 654 census tracts in Houston.

median 59.9 48 81

Half of Houston's tracts score between 57 and 64. The full range spans 48 to 81, with a median of 59.9.

Distribution of tract scores
Median (59.9)
Mean (60.6)

What the location score shows

PriceDNA Location Score™ is a 0–100 signal designed to summarize local strength and risk context for rental-property analysis. Higher scores generally point to stronger location fundamentals.

The distribution matters because a city is rarely one market. The spread across Houston's census tracts shows why investors should look below the city average before deciding where a property fits.

To see the location score for your specific property, analyze a property

02.

Housing composition

Key housing statistics for approximately 1,034,600 homes in Houston, including occupancy, tenure, and structure type.

Tenure of occupied homes: owner 44%, renter 56%.
Tenure of occupied homes Owner 44% · Renter 56%
Housing occupancy: occupied 89.5%, vacant 10.5%.
Occupancy Occupied 89.5% · Vacant 10.5%

Of about 1,034,600 homes, 10.5% are vacant. Among occupied homes, 56% are renter-occupied, providing context on the size of the local rental base.

By structure type, about 49% of Houston’s housing units are in single-family structures, 7% in small multifamily buildings (2–4 units), and 43% in larger multifamily buildings (5+ units). Percentages are rounded; small residual structure categories are not shown.

03.

How Houston compares

City medians are useful, but investors need context. This table compares Houston's local range with Texas and U.S. medians so you can quickly see where the market looks stronger, weaker, or more expensive than broader benchmarks.

Metric Houston — lower · median · upper Houston Texas TX United States US
Census ACS B19013 · 2020–2024
$48,572 $63,202 $92,038 $73,717 $77,173
College educated
Census ACS B15003 · 2020–2024
20% 36% 64% 37% 41%
Renter-age share (21–44)
Census ACS B01001 · 2020–2024
32% 37% 44% 33% 32%
FHFA HPI · 2025
3.6% 3.6% 3.6% 3.9% 5.2%
Census ACS B25064 · 2020–2024
3.8% 4.3% 4.8% 4.4% 4.4%
Property tax rate
Census ACS B25103 · 2020–2024
2.00% 2.00% 2.00% 2.00% 1.52%
Property insurance rate
Census ACS B25141 · 2020–2024
0.85% 1.13% 1.34% 0.92% 0.56%
Census ACS B25064 + B19013 · 2020–2024
29.3% 33.0% 37.1% 31.4% 30.8%
04.

About this data

PriceDNA uses the most local reliable data available for each metric. Some signals are available at the census-tract level. Others are published or more reliable at broader geographies such as county, metro, state, or national level.

Housing-unit totals are approximate. PriceDNA sums Census ACS counts for the tracts assigned to the city by centroid, so the market total can differ from a municipal boundary count when a tract crosses the city line.

The property-tax assumption combines local residential tax data with a state-level apartment benchmark to provide more conservative context for rental-property underwriting. Insurance assumptions use available residential property insurance data and should be verified for the specific property and coverage.

These pages are designed for market screening and investor education. They do not replace property-level underwriting, inspections, appraisals, insurance quotes, lender review, or professional advice.

You've seen the city. Now run a real address.

Market context is useful. The real decision happens at the property level.