Harris County · Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land · population 2,390,125
Where Houston stands
Steady, no major recent move.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 14.3 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Houston on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 14.3 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →Houston has held up across the cycle: home values at $265,062 with +3.5% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
Houston's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.
About Houston
Houston is a city in Harris County, Texas, with an estimated population of 2,390,125. It anchors the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area. The population grew 0.9% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in Houston is $265,062 as of 2026-04, down 2.7% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.5% annual growth (-4.6% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Houston average $1,549 per month, down 1.2% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 52 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About Houston (Wikipedia)
Houston is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.3 million at the 2020 census. The Greater Houston metropolitan area, at 7.8 million residents, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan area in the nation and second-most populous in Texas. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is the county seat of Harris County. Covering a total area of 640.4 square miles (1,659 km2), it is the ninth largest city in the country and the largest whose municipal government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Although primarily located within Harris County, portions of the city extend into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Houston also functions as the southeastern anchor of the Texas Triangle megaregion.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Things to see in Houston(Tourism and recreation)
- Theater District
- Bayou Place
- Sundance Cinema
- Bayou Music Center
- Space Center Houston
- Moon rocks
- Space Shuttle
- Galleria
- Downtown Aquarium
- Sam Houston Race Park
- Mahatma Gandhi District
- Hermann Park
+13 more on Wikipedia.
Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.
Playbook
Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.
Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.
Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Harris County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Harris County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Houston
101 tracked · ranked by median home valueSee the full neighborhood ranking →
Cities like Houston
Run the numbers for Houston
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Houston listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news
- Houston’s forecast turns stormy Tuesday with hail, heavy rain and floodingHouston Chronicle · 1d ago
- Weather Impact Alert: Flooding concerns as heavy rain moves through area this morningKHOU · 2d ago
- Houston weather: No warnings currently in effect in the Houston areaFOX 26 Houston · 1d ago
- Thousands of CenterPoint customers without power as severe storms pummel Houston areaClick2Houston · 18h ago
- Homicide investigation underway after man found shot in east Houston parking lot off Fidelity Street and Delaware Street, HPD saysABC13 Houston · 1d ago
- The best and worst candidates in Texas' upcoming runoff election | EditorialHouston Chronicle · 13h ago
Local chatter (Reddit)
Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Cities similar to Houston
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.