How much do households in the Houston, TX area spend on rent?
Data updated September 16, 2024
About 30.9% of income was spent on rent and utilities in 2018–2022 for a typical household in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area. This was measured by comparing median gross rent, which includes rent and utilities, and median monthly income for renting households. A median represents a typical value in a set of numbers.
Showing data for
In 2018–2022, median rent was
30.9%
of median income
In 2018–2022,
$1.3K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Houston, TX area median rent was about $1.3K per month in 2018–2022. Typical monthly income among renting households was approximately $4.21K per month during that same period.
A typical household spent about $1.3K on rent in the Houston, TX area.
Median rent and median renter household income, 2018–2022
Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates greater affordability.
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
Houston, TX area's rent-to-income ratio ranked 10 out of 25 Texas metros.
Ratio of median rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
Compared to other metro areas in Texas, the Houston, TX area has the fourth highest median rent and fourth highest median renter-household income. Out of the 25 metros in the state, its rent-to-income ratio ranks 15th lowest.
Renter income and rent, Texas metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Abilene, TX area | $3,589 |
| 2. | Amarillo, TX area | $3,432 |
| 3. | Austin, TX area | $5,193 |
| 4. | Beaumont, TX area | $3,236 |
| 5. | Brownsville, TX area | $2,612 |
| 6. | College Station, TX area | $2,918 |
| 7. | Corpus Christi, TX area | $3,755 |
| 8. | Dallas, TX area | $4,738 |
| 9. | El Paso, TX area | $3,097 |
| 10. | Houston, TX area | $4,214 |
