Updated October 2026. Rent figures reflect September 2026 estimates from Apartment List's October report.
Apartment List's October 2026 Rent Index estimates Houston's median monthly rent at $1,269, 2.3% lower than a year earlier, with one-bedrooms at $1,120 and two-bedrooms at $1,327. If you're searching for a one-bedroom, use the one-bedroom median rather than the median for all apartment sizes. These bedroom-specific medians give you a starting point for comparing apartments in the neighborhoods you're considering.
Houston rents have been below their year-earlier level for 21 consecutive months, according to Apartment List's estimates, and the September 2026 median was 4.2% below the city's July 2023 peak and 7.5% above its August 2019 pre-pandemic high. Below, see which way prices are moving, how availability has changed, whether the time of year matters, and where rent runs lower nearby.
Median Monthly Rent, Houston and U.S., September 2026
| Apartment size | Houston | U.S. | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All sizes | $1,269 | $1,388 | Houston $119 lower |
| One-bedroom | $1,120 | $1,220 | Houston $100 lower |
| Two-bedroom | $1,327 | $1,374 | Houston $47 lower |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates.
Houston ranked 70th among the 100 largest U.S. cities for overall median rent in September 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, at 8.6% below the national median and between Garland, Texas ($1,280) and Omaha ($1,259). It ranked 64th for two-bedroom median rent and tied with Columbus, Ohio, for 64th among one-bedroom medians.
A median calculated from apartments advertised on one listing site describes that site's available inventory, which can differ from Apartment List's estimate for new leases across the whole city. Compare the listings you're considering with the median for your bedroom count rather than expecting them to match it.
Down from a year ago, up since January, and unchanged from last month. Houston's overall median rent was 2.3% lower in September 2026 than in September 2025 but 0.3% higher than in January 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, and it held at $1,269 in September after four consecutive monthly increases from May through August. For scale, Apartment List's national median fell 0.1% in September and was 0.4% lower than a year earlier, while Texas's median was 2.1% lower than a year earlier. Apartment List's national research finds the rent declines of recent years concentrated in the Sun Belt and Mountain West, with those regions now beginning to rebound.
Each comparison ends in September 2026. January's median was lower and the previous September's was higher, which is how Houston rents can rise during the year while staying below their year-earlier level. Apartment List's estimates show the same pattern in 2025: rents rose 0.9% from January to August, then fell in each month from September through December.
Yes, and it has been for 21 months running. September 2026 was the 21st consecutive month in which Houston's overall median rent came in below the same month a year earlier, in Apartment List's estimates; the run began in January 2025. It was also the third September in a row to come in below the one before.
The 2026 months show a flat market. According to Apartment List's estimates, Houston's overall median moved within a $10 range all year, falling to $1,259 in April 2026, its lowest point since the July 2023 peak, then rising in each month from May through August to $1,269 and holding there in September. The year-over-year decline widened from 1.9% in January to 3.1% in May, then narrowed to 2.3% in September.
Houston Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, January to September 2026
| Month | Houston median | Houston year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | $1,269 | -2.3% | -0.4% |
| August 2026 | $1,269 | -2.5% | -0.8% |
| July 2026 | $1,265 | -2.8% | -1.0% |
| June 2026 | $1,263 | -2.8% | -1.2% |
| May 2026 | $1,261 | -3.1% | -1.4% |
| April 2026 | $1,259 | -3.0% | -1.6% |
| March 2026 | $1,263 | -2.6% | -1.6% |
| February 2026 | $1,261 | -2.2% | -1.4% |
| January 2026 | $1,265 | -1.9% | -1.3% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; October 2026 release, data through September 2026.
The three months before that were the end of the fall decline. Houston's overall median fell from $1,294 in October to $1,269 in December 2025, according to Apartment List's estimates, and ran 1.0% to 1.9% below year-earlier levels.
Houston Median Monthly Rent and Year-over-Year Change, October to December 2025
| Month | Houston median | Houston year over year | U.S. year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | $1,269 | -1.9% | -1.2% |
| November 2025 | $1,284 | -1.2% | -1.1% |
| October 2025 | $1,294 | -1.0% | -0.9% |
Source: Apartment List rent estimates, overall median; October 2026 release, data through September 2026.
About $56 a month, or 4.2%. Houston's overall median rent peaked at $1,325 in July 2023 and stood at $1,269 in September 2026, according to Apartment List's monthly rent estimates. That is 7.5% above the pre-pandemic high of $1,180 in August 2019. The median fell 3.4% between February and December 2020, passed its 2019 high again in June 2021, rose 10.3% during 2021, reached the 2023 peak, and has stayed below it since.
The available share has fallen for eight months but remains above the national figure, and apartments that lease are taking longer than they did a year ago. In September 2026, 8.28% of units in the Houston apartment buildings covered by Apartment List's Vacancy Index were listed as available, down from 8.91% a year earlier and above the national 7.01%. Apartments that leased in September 2026 had been listed for a median of 35.0 days, according to Apartment List's time-on-market data, up from 33.7 days in September 2025 and 1.3 days above the national 33.7. That is the longest September in the Houston series, which began in 2019.
Listing Time and Available Share, Houston and U.S., September 2025 and September 2026
| Measure | Houston, September 2025 | Houston, September 2026 | U.S., September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median days listed before leasing | 33.7 days | 35.0 days | 33.7 days |
| Share of apartments listed as available | 8.91% | 8.28% | 7.01% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; Vacancy Index and time-on-market data through September 2026.
The available share reached 9.14% in January 2026, its highest reading since August 2017, and has fallen in every month since. Listing times have run above their 2019 to 2025 averages in every month of 2026; January's 42.3 days matched March 2019 as the second-longest reading in the series, behind February 2019. Ask about availability, current concessions, and the application timeline when you arrange a tour.
Fall and winter, if price matters most. Houston's overall median rent ended January below the previous September in seven of the nine fall-to-winter periods from 2017-18 through 2025-26, according to Apartment List's analysis of its monthly estimates. The seven declines ranged from 0.6% to 2.6%, and the last four periods all fell; the exceptions were 2017-18 and 2021-22, when the median rose between September and January. The most recent decline, 2.6% or about $34 from September 2025 to January 2026, was the steepest of the nine.
Summer, by about a week. Apartment List's time-on-market data, averaged over 2019 to 2025, puts the median listing time for Houston apartments that leased in June at 28.1 days, against 34.8 days for apartments that leased in January. January's median exceeded June's in each of those seven years. Every month of 2026 so far has come in above its 2019 to 2025 average.
Houston Seasonal Listing Times, 2019 to 2025
| Apartments leased in | Average monthly median listing time |
|---|---|
| January | 34.8 days |
| June | 28.1 days |
Source: Apartment List analysis of its time-on-market data, Houston city, 2019 to 2025.
Those figures describe apartments that already leased, not how long a listing you are looking at will stay open.
Humble. It had the lowest overall, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom medians of the 14 Houston metro area cities with published estimates in Apartment List's October 2026 release, at $1,130, $999, and $1,167. Six cities had a lower one-bedroom median than Houston's $1,120, and four of them also had lower overall medians; Baytown and La Porte were the exceptions.
Metro Area Cities With a Lower One-Bedroom Median Than Houston, September 2026
| City | All sizes | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom | Change in overall median from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humble, TX | $1,130 | $999 | $1,167 | -2.1% |
| Tomball, TX | $1,255 | $1,029 | $1,447 | +3.4% |
| Baytown, TX | $1,275 | $1,048 | $1,252 | -6.7% |
| Pasadena, TX | $1,266 | $1,056 | $1,277 | -1.0% |
| Texas City, TX | $1,256 | $1,062 | $1,239 | -1.2% |
| La Porte, TX | $1,337 | $1,073 | $1,471 | -4.3% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates. Cities sorted by one-bedroom median; each row covers that city's own boundaries.
Houston and the seven remaining cities had one-bedroom medians from $1,120 to $1,358, according to Apartment List's October 2026 release, a range of $238.
Houston and Metro Area Cities With a One-Bedroom Median of $1,120 or More, September 2026
| City | All sizes | One-bedroom | Two-bedroom | Change in overall median from a year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston, TX | $1,269 | $1,120 | $1,327 | -2.3% |
| Conroe, TX | $1,245 | $1,147 | $1,292 | -2.9% |
| Webster, TX | $1,329 | $1,227 | $1,564 | -0.4% |
| The Woodlands, TX | $1,707 | $1,250 | $1,664 | +2.0% |
| Jersey Village, TX | $1,349 | $1,293 | $1,540 | -0.5% |
| Spring, TX | $1,631 | $1,330 | $1,444 | -2.5% |
| Pearland, TX | $1,559 | $1,345 | $1,607 | +0.6% |
| League City, TX | $1,659 | $1,358 | $1,719 | +0.4% |
Source: Apartment List's October 2026 release; September 2026 rent estimates. Cities sorted by one-bedroom median; each row covers that city's own boundaries.
Rents fell over the year in ten of the 14 cities and rose in four. For the newest monthly figures, see Apartment List's Houston rent report, which updates each month.
A higher citywide median doesn't necessarily mean higher rent for the apartment size you need, because the overall median pools all apartment sizes while the bedroom medians describe separate groups. Baytown shows the difference: its overall median of $1,275 was above Houston's $1,269, but its one-bedroom median was $72 lower and its two-bedroom median $75 lower. Conroe shows it in reverse: its overall median of $1,245 was below Houston's, but its one-bedroom median of $1,147 was $27 higher.
Humble is north of Houston near Bush Intercontinental Airport, and Tomball is northwest. Pasadena, La Porte, and Baytown are east along the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay, and Texas City is southeast toward Galveston. Whether a lower rent works for you also depends on where you need to go regularly.
Use the $1,120 one-bedroom and $1,327 two-bedroom medians for Houston from Apartment List's October 2026 report to set a price reference, then compare what apartments in that range actually offer.
For example, a Houston one-bedroom listed at $1,250 would be $130 above the $1,120 one-bedroom median. Its condition, location, lease terms, required monthly charges, and included utilities can help you judge whether that difference is worthwhile.
If your moving date is flexible, include fall and winter listings in your search; if it is fixed, compare the apartments available when you need to move.
Build a shortlist of places that meet your needs and compare their total monthly costs side by side. That gives you a practical next step: deciding which apartments deserve a tour and what to ask before applying.
For help fitting rent into your broader budget, see our Houston cost of living guide.
Rent, vacancy, and listing-time figures on this page come from Apartment List's October 2026 release, with data as of September 2026. Earlier months are shown as revised in that release.
Data Sources and Calculation Methods Behind This Page
| Source or method | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Rent estimates | Median rent on new leases signed in the month. Percentage changes are Apartment List's published figures, calculated before medians are rounded to whole dollars, so they can differ slightly from a change worked out from two rounded medians. |
| Vacancy Index | Share of units listed as available in buildings of 10 or more units that list on Apartment List. |
| Listing time | Median days from first listing to lease, for apartments leased in the month. |
| Historical rent figures | Monthly medians are Apartment List's published rent estimates for each month, as revised in the October 2026 release. The series begins in 2017. |
| Seasonal comparisons | September-to-January changes in that series, nine periods from 2017-18 through 2025-26. |
| Geographic scope | City figures cover Houston only. Metro figures cover Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, which includes the city. |
| Rankings | The 100 largest U.S. cities by population. |
| National Rent Report | Nationwide rent figures and regional context; October 2026 report, September 2026 data. |
All three data series are published on Apartment List's data and rent estimates page.
Apartment List's October 2026 Rent Index puts Houston's median rent at $1,269 across all apartment sizes, and $1,120 for a one-bedroom. Apartment List reports the median, the midpoint of new-lease rents signed in the month, so a figure another source labels an average rent is not directly comparable.
Using 30% of gross household income as a starting point for rent alone, the $1,269 Houston median rent from Apartment List's October 2026 report works out to an income of about $50,800 a year. The $1,120 one-bedroom median works out to about $44,800 and the $1,327 two-bedroom median to about $53,100. Utilities and other housing costs need additional room in that budget. For the broader budget, see our Houston cost of living guide.
About $30 a month, or 2.3%. Apartment List's estimates put Houston's overall median rent at $1,299 in September 2025 and $1,269 in September 2026.
About 8%. Compared with March 2020, Houston's median rent was 7.9% higher in September 2026, while the national median was 19.6% higher, according to Apartment List, in dollar terms without adjusting for inflation. Among the 100 largest U.S. cities, ten had smaller changes over that period, among them Austin (1.8%) and San Antonio (6.6%). Houston's net change includes a 10.3% rise during 2021, the climb to its July 2023 peak of $1,325, and the 4.2% decline since.
The city figure covers the City of Houston; the metro figure covers the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area, which includes the city. In September 2026, according to Apartment List's estimates, Houston's overall median of $1,269 was 4.9% below the metro's $1,335, its one-bedroom median 1.4% below the metro's $1,136, and its two-bedroom median 0.7% below the metro's $1,336. Because the metro figure includes the city, it says nothing on its own about what any one surrounding city costs.
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