HomeMarketCap.comAustin vs Houston: Where Housing Costs Less
Housing is 55% cheaper in Houston on typical home value: $559,762 in Austin against $252,640 in Houston. Typical rent is 9% lower in Houston: $1,698 in Austin against $1,550 in Houston per month. The ranges overlap: Austin runs $270,219 to $1,315,141 across its ZIPs and Houston runs $132,359 to $1,729,857, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
Key stats
- Typical home value is 55% lower in Houston: $559,762 in Austin against $252,640 in Houston.
- Typical rent is 9% lower in Houston: $1,698 in Austin against $1,550 in Houston per month.
- The ranges overlap: Austin runs $270,219 to $1,315,141 across its ZIPs and Houston runs $132,359 to $1,729,857, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
- The income-needed indicator stands at $124,365 for Austin and $88,746 for Houston, a difference of $35,619.
- Median ZIP home value
- $559,762 / $252,640
- Median ZIP rent
- $1,698 / $1,550
- Tracked ZIP markets
- 42 / 97
What housing costs in Austin and Houston
Typical home value is 55% lower in Houston: $559,762 in Austin against $252,640 in Houston.
Typical rent is 9% lower in Houston: $1,698 in Austin against $1,550 in Houston per month.
Where the two metros actually overlap
The ranges overlap: Austin runs $270,219 to $1,315,141 across its ZIPs and Houston runs $132,359 to $1,729,857, so the cheaper metro on the median still contains neighborhoods dearer than parts of the other.
A metro median decides nothing on its own: a move lands in one neighborhood, not in the average of all of them, and the ranges above are what a shortlist has to sit inside.
What this comparison does not include
This page compares housing only. Groceries, transport, state and local taxes, insurance, and childcare are not measured here and can move the total either way — in particular, the two metros may sit in states with very different income-tax treatment.
The income-needed indicator stands at $124,365 for Austin and $88,746 for Houston, a difference of $35,619.
Continue your market research
- Austin housing marketMetro overview and the full ZIP directory.
- Houston housing marketMetro overview and the full ZIP directory.
- Moving to Austin: what housing costsThe same figures read from a mover’s side.
- Moving to Houston: what housing costsThe same figures read from a mover’s side.
Sources and method
- HomeMarketCap.com data sources: ZIP and metro housing-market datasets
- HomeMarketCap.com methodology: Metric definitions and calculation rules