The Most Expensive Cities to Own a Home in Texas

Texas is home to over 7 million homeowners making it one of the biggest states for owning a home. Throughout Texas however there are numerous cities and towns where people struggle to afford a home. In this study we discover where in Texas are the most and least affordable places to own a home.

Key Takeaways

• The average Texan spends 27.9% of their income on housing
• The median cost of a home in Texas is $1,515 per month
• In cities where residents spend more than 30% of their income on housing the median income is $45,498

The Least Affordable Places to Own a Home in Texas

The least affordable places to own a home in Texas require residents to pay between 40% and 50% of their income toward housing. Astute Texans may notice that a few of the cities on the list are considered college towns such as College Station, Nacogdoches and San Marcos. For these cities it may be case where a majority of the population are students and thus have low incomes making these cities to appear to be less affordable than they may be for a working population. On the other hand, Dallas ranks #8 on the list of least affordable making it the least affordable “big” Texas city on the list. 

The Most Affordable Places to Own a Home in Texas

The most affordable cities to own a home in Texas are scattered throughout the state, with no one area being particularly more affordable than the other. One important commonality between all the most affordable cities however is the high level of wealth. The median income for the most affordable cities is $106,000 – about 1.6x the median income for all of Texas. In comparison, housing costs in these cities are only 1.2x greater than the Texas average.

How Every City Ranks in Texas

To see how every city with over 25,000 residents in Texas stacks up, explore the table below. In Texas there are over 120 cities with population size over 25,000 encompassing 60% of the total population of the state.

Rank (Least Affordable to Most)	NAME	Total Population	Median Household Income Last 12 Months	Monthly Home Costs	Home Value	Margin
1	College Station	107,445	$39,430	$1,655	$205,600	50.4%
2	Huntsville	40,727	$32,715	$1,360	$146,800	49.9%
3	San Marcos	59,935	$34,748	$1,414	$153,000	48.8%
4	Galveston	49,706	$42,486	$1,563	$163,300	44.1%
5	Nacogdoches	33,589	$34,327	$1,194	$137,300	41.7%
6	Port Arthur	55,177	$32,571	$1,104	$64,300	40.7%
7	Waco	131,996	$36,004	$1,218	$107,700	40.6%
8	Dallas	1,300,122	$47,285	$1,526	$154,000	38.7%
9	Socorro	33,587	$33,464	$1,058	$88,700	37.9%
10	Laredo	255,305	$41,302	$1,295	$118,500	37.6%
11	Brownsville	182,083	$35,636	$1,110	$85,900	37.4%
12	Houston	2,267,336	$49,399	$1,533	$149,000	37.2%
13	San Juan	36,469	$36,193	$1,115	$85,000	37.0%
14	Denton	131,097	$52,164	$1,595	$179,000	36.7%
15	Texarkana	37,222	$40,229	$1,222	$122,800	36.5%
16	Weslaco	39,420	$37,558	$1,139	$78,400	36.4%
17	Kingsville	25,875	$38,886	$1,155	$85,700	35.6%
18	Harlingen	65,444	$38,122	$1,124	$85,700	35.4%
19	Eagle Pass	28,469	$41,537	$1,224	$120,400	35.4%
20	Austin	916,906	$63,717	$1,860	$285,900	35.0%
21	Mission	83,042	$45,792	$1,328	$102,600	34.8%
22	Bryan	81,743	$43,310	$1,250	$129,200	34.6%
23	McAllen	139,838	$45,057	$1,300	$120,500	34.6%
24	Pharr	76,727	$39,445	$1,132	$74,800	34.4%
25	Edinburg	86,123	$45,038	$1,283	$106,500	34.2%
26	Del Rio	35,951	$42,500	$1,207	$97,000	34.1%
27	Alvin	25,811	$49,284	$1,388	$123,400	33.8%
28	Conroe	77,086	$54,258	$1,508	$167,400	33.4%
29	Rosenberg	35,867	$50,637	$1,399	$132,600	33.2%
30	Lubbock	247,323	$47,326	$1,304	$123,800	33.1%
31	Beaumont	118,424	$45,268	$1,238	$99,800	32.8%
32	Tyler	102,561	$46,463	$1,259	$145,400	32.5%
33	Longview	82,219	$45,692	$1,230	$134,100	32.3%
34	Texas City	47,262	$42,882	$1,154	$105,000	32.3%
35	Sherman	40,543	$44,884	$1,205	$106,100	32.2%
36	Irving	235,648	$58,196	$1,562	$155,200	32.2%
37	El Paso	678,266	$44,431	$1,192	$121,300	32.2%
38	Greenville	26,403	$41,978	$1,118	$90,400	32.0%
39	Lufkin	35,888	$42,948	$1,140	$103,800	31.9%
40	Balch Springs	25,236	$45,308	$1,198	$85,900	31.7%
41	Seguin	27,762	$41,250	$1,090	$110,700	31.7%
42	San Antonio	1,461,623	$49,711	$1,305	$127,700	31.5%
43	Corpus Christi	322,726	$53,626	$1,404	$125,000	31.4%
44	Wichita Falls	104,621	$44,285	$1,153	$96,700	31.2%
45	Lancaster	38,871	$51,628	$1,326	$109,800	30.8%
46	Lewisville	103,638	$59,964	$1,530	$172,100	30.6%
47	Fort Worth	835,129	$57,309	$1,462	$141,400	30.6%
48	Pasadena	153,909	$50,207	$1,278	$108,700	30.5%
49	Arlington	388,225	$55,562	$1,413	$147,000	30.5%
50	San Angelo	99,135	$47,044	$1,196	$118,900	30.5%
51	Mesquite	144,118	$52,167	$1,326	$119,000	30.5%
52	Duncanville	39,636	$53,222	$1,351	$128,100	30.5%
53	Abilene	122,762	$46,093	$1,166	$106,800	30.4%
54	Baytown	76,205	$51,874	$1,307	$103,300	30.2%
55	Hurst	38,813	$58,871	$1,477	$157,000	30.1%
56	Haltom City	44,059	$46,618	$1,166	$95,300	30.0%
57	West Odessa	25,781	$52,674	$1,300	$86,100	29.6%
58	Victoria	66,515	$52,255	$1,288	$124,000	29.6%
59	Killeen	140,513	$48,898	$1,205	$121,900	29.6%
60	Temple	71,795	$49,970	$1,229	$132,200	29.5%
61	North Richland Hills	69,039	$65,340	$1,605	$171,200	29.5%
62	Weatherford	28,817	$60,739	$1,481	$153,400	29.3%
63	Garland	235,965	$55,637	$1,351	$132,600	29.1%
64	DeSoto	52,596	$64,575	$1,552	$155,100	28.8%
65	Euless	54,135	$60,558	$1,444	$163,700	28.6%
66	Big Spring	28,257	$47,184	$1,120	$73,600	28.5%
67	Amarillo	197,823	$51,198	$1,215	$123,200	28.5%
68	Grand Prairie	188,664	$62,589	$1,483	$139,600	28.4%
69	Bedford	49,082	$64,933	$1,537	$179,600	28.4%
70	Cleburne	29,595	$49,046	$1,158	$97,600	28.3%
71	Georgetown	63,062	$67,753	$1,587	$240,800	28.1%
72	Grapevine	51,733	$83,675	$1,938	$273,600	27.8%
73	Richardson	111,055	$76,719	$1,748	$226,100	27.3%
74	Waxahachie	33,240	$57,887	$1,311	$139,600	27.2%
75	Carrollton	131,240	$73,218	$1,649	$197,500	27.0%
76	Odessa	115,930	$61,541	$1,382	$136,300	26.9%
77	Copperas Cove	32,844	$52,017	$1,168	$106,400	26.9%
78	New Braunfels	70,317	$64,208	$1,430	$186,000	26.7%
79	McKinney	164,760	$87,608	$1,949	$255,300	26.7%
80	Plano	281,566	$88,578	$1,966	$271,300	26.6%
81	Farmers Branch	33,808	$65,810	$1,460	$160,600	26.6%
82	Harker Heights	29,548	$71,817	$1,561	$171,900	26.1%
83	Mission Bend	38,570	$62,580	$1,355	$127,300	26.0%
84	Friendswood	38,811	$98,609	$2,119	$256,300	25.8%
85	Cedar Hill	48,149	$69,269	$1,486	$146,200	25.7%
86	Round Rock	116,369	$76,295	$1,630	$210,800	25.6%
87	Midland	131,286	$75,646	$1,604	$193,200	25.4%
88	Sugar Land	86,886	$108,994	$2,297	$292,700	25.3%
89	The Woodlands	109,608	$115,083	$2,387	$351,000	24.9%
90	The Colony	41,388	$76,613	$1,586	$172,900	24.8%
91	Kyle	36,929	$72,822	$1,488	$165,800	24.5%
92	Mansfield	65,033	$94,035	$1,909	$218,200	24.4%
93	Cedar Park	70,010	$96,612	$1,961	$258,200	24.4%
94	Channelview	40,983	$59,489	$1,204	$106,600	24.3%
95	Coppell	41,138	$119,936	$2,420	$344,300	24.2%
96	Spring	57,932	$67,800	$1,354	$132,200	24.0%
97	Burleson	43,296	$74,341	$1,480	$150,600	23.9%
98	Schertz	38,199	$80,112	$1,594	$186,600	23.9%
99	Keller	45,357	$126,013	$2,495	$334,000	23.8%
100	Pflugerville	58,013	$82,145	$1,616	$200,600	23.6%
101	Allen	96,865	$104,132	$2,045	$261,600	23.6%
102	Timberwood Park	26,236	$113,331	$2,221	$306,900	23.5%
103	Frisco	155,363	$120,701	$2,360	$335,900	23.5%
104	La Porte	35,216	$73,645	$1,406	$131,500	22.9%
105	Colleyville	25,557	$164,682	$3,135	$456,100	22.8%
106	Pearland	113,693	$102,124	$1,943	$208,900	22.8%
107	Rockwall	42,316	$92,665	$1,756	$225,500	22.7%
108	Leander	40,338	$89,649	$1,691	$214,500	22.6%
109	Lake Jackson	27,317	$77,739	$1,466	$154,800	22.6%
110	League City	98,215	$100,996	$1,896	$218,900	22.5%
111	Missouri City	72,688	$88,896	$1,661	$171,000	22.4%
112	Rowlett	60,357	$90,391	$1,679	$181,500	22.3%
113	Wylie	47,855	$88,450	$1,627	$173,500	22.1%
114	Deer Park	33,748	$78,391	$1,440	$147,000	22.0%
115	Southlake	30,090	$207,917	$3,819	$627,700	22.0%
116	Cibolo	26,602	$92,773	$1,658	$214,500	21.4%
117	Atascocita	75,114	$93,167	$1,661	$174,800	21.4%
118	Little Elm	39,471	$93,094	$1,650	$205,300	21.3%
119	Flower Mound	71,575	$128,426	$2,226	$312,000	20.8%

Methodology

To find the least and most affordable cities in Texas we turned to the 2017 American Community Survey. We pulled data from the Housing survey as well as the Economic survey to get a fuller picture on home owner affordability in every CDP in Texas. We then filtered for only CDPs with greater than 25,000 people. To get the affordability margin we took the median monthly housing costs which include mortgage, insurance and tax costs and multiplied by 12. We then divided that amount by the median income for each CDP.