The 2023 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston is the fourth comprehensive study of its kind. Previous State of Housing reports tracked various housing indicators and the pandemic's impact on the local housing market. This year's report focuses exclusively on renters: renting affordability and eviction, renter cost burden, the growth of investor landlords and rental habitability.
Key findings include:
- From 2015 to 2021, increases in monthly rent prices outpaced increases in median household income.
- As of 2021, a majority of renter households in the city and county are housing cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
- When accounting for household size, income and other essential costs, more than 6 in 10 rental households are cost-burdened.
- When looking at housing conditions, nearly 1 in 5 rental structures in Harris County was graded “below average” by the Harris Central Appraisal District in 2021.
- A quarter of Harris County’s single-family homes are rentals. Of Harris County’s 1,099,193 single-family rental homes, an estimated 10,385 were owned by a small set of multistate corporate investors, and an additional 38,703 were owned by other corporate entities (e.g., limited liability companies).
Data from the 2023 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report can be accessed from the Kinder Institute's Urban Data Platform. A data dashboard with neighborhood-level indicators about homeownership, home purchasing, demographics and other factors is also available.
Findings from this report were shared during a webinar, which also featured a panel of local housing experts. The 2023 State of Housing in Harris County and Houston report and webinar are made possible with lead funding from Wells Fargo.
