Your monthly guide to rental conditions in Houston metro. This is our June 2026 report, covering May 2026 rental data: what rents looked like last month, what's driving the market, and what it means if you own a rental home.
Houston Metro Rental Market Snapshot — May 2026
Here's where Houston Metro rents stand as of May 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
The Houston Metro median rent sits at $2,115 in May 2026, up just 1.04% year-over-year, with homes averaging 58 days on market — a slow pace heading into the summer leasing window that typically drives 40–50% of annual lease-ups. Landlords who price competitively now can capture that seasonal surge before hurricane season softens demand again in late summer.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, Houston metro) | $2,115 | +0.1% MoM |
| Avg. Days on Market | 58 days | — |
| Rent Growth YoY | +1.0% | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, May 2026.
What's Driving Houston Metro Rental Market Conditions Right Now
Houston Metro Rental Supply and New Construction
New supply across all rental property types in the Houston metro is pulling back sharply. Apartment deliveries dropped from 27,838 units in 2024 to 16,339 in 2025, the steepest year-over-year decline among major U.S. metros, and 2026 completions are on track to be the lowest since 2013. The exception is in high-growth suburban corridors: Katy, Sugar Land–Stafford, and the Highway 249 corridor in Northwest Houston are still seeing active deliveries, and build-to-rent projects like Wan Bridge's Palm Bay in Galveston and Pradera Oaks in Bonney are adding single-family rental inventory with rents starting around $2,200 and climbing above $3,200.
Why People Rent in Houston Metro
Houston added nearly 127,000 new residents in 2025, more than any other metro in the country, and those new households need somewhere to live. International migration drove 56.5% of that growth, which makes federal immigration policy a real variable worth watching: a tightening pipeline would directly slow household formation in a city that has historically depended on it. With a 30-year mortgage rate at 6.53% and a median rent of $2,115, the rent-vs-buy math keeps a large share of the population renting, especially in dense corridors like Midtown (popular with Texas Medical Center workers), the Heights, and EaDo, while suburban markets like Katy, Clear Lake, and Spring continue to pull family renters because of school district quality and employer anchors like the Exxon campus and NASA contractors.
What This Means for Houston Metro Landlords
Get your unit listed and priced by late May. June through August accounts for roughly 40–50% of annual lease-ups across the Houston metro, and that window closes fast once hurricane season anxiety sets in after late summer. With days on market sitting at 58 days and rent growth at just 1% year-over-year, you cannot afford to launch at an aspirational price and wait for traction during the busiest leasing stretch of the year.
Houston Metro Rent by City — May 2026
Pearland leads the Houston metro suburbs at 47 days on market, with The Woodlands and League City close behind at 49 days, making all three the fastest-leasing markets in the table right now. On the soft end, Houston proper sits at 97 days on market with rents down 0.6% month-over-month, a significant gap from every suburb in the table. Most cities are clustered between 47 and 63 days, with Pearland, The Woodlands, League City, and Sugar Land all leasing faster than the metro's suburban average and Conroe, Pasadena, and Spring lagging the pack.
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston, TX | $1,910 | $2,167 | $3,000 | 97 days | -0.6% |
| Sugar Land, TX | $2,348 | $1,780 | $2,190 | 50 days | +0.0% |
| The Woodlands, TX | $2,446 | $1,982 | $2,558 | 49 days | +0.5% |
| Pearland, TX | $2,252 | $1,590 | $2,250 | 47 days | +0.7% |
| Katy, TX | $2,325 | $1,840 | $2,200 | 53 days | +0.0% |
| League City, TX | $2,300 | $1,495 | $2,300 | 49 days | +0.0% |
| Conroe, TX | $1,822 | $1,522 | $1,880 | 62 days | +0.0% |
| Spring, TX | $1,855 | $1,565 | $2,167 | 59 days | +0.3% |
| Cypress, TX | $2,350 | $1,527 | $2,274 | 53 days | +0.0% |
| Pasadena, TX | $1,538 | $1,317 | $1,775 | 63 days | +0.4% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, May 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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Houston, TX: Inner Loop corridors like Midtown and the Heights anchor tenant demand for urban professionals and healthcare workers, but the broader city market is the softest in this table. At $1,910 median rent, Houston sits well below the suburban average, and 97 days on market is nearly double what faster suburbs like Pearland and The Woodlands are posting. Rent is down 1.4% year-over-year with another small dip in May, so owners here should price sharply and move quickly before summer inventory builds further.
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Sugar Land, TX: Sugar Land leases in 50 days, putting it comfortably in the faster half of the metro, but rent at $2,348 has slipped 2.5% over the past year. May was roughly flat month-over-month, so the annual decline is a slow bleed rather than a sudden drop. Owners should watch whether the summer leasing surge absorbs the excess supply or whether that 2.5% gap widens heading into fall.
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The Woodlands, TX: The Woodlands is the standout in this table. Rent climbed 8.4% year-over-year to $2,446, the strongest annual gain of any city listed, and homes are leasing in just 49 days. May added another 0.5% on top of that. Tight inventory and sustained demand are pushing this market in the opposite direction from most of the metro.
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Pearland, TX: Pearland posts the fastest absorption in the metro at 47 days on market, and May's 0.7% month-over-month gain was the strongest single-month move in this table. The catch is a 2.0% year-over-year decline at $2,252 median rent, suggesting the market corrected over the past year but may be finding its floor now. If the May momentum holds into June and July, Pearland could stabilize faster than its annual number implies.
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Katy, TX: Katy ISD's reputation draws a steady stream of families to this submarket, keeping single-family rentals in consistent demand. At $2,325 median rent with a 53-day average DOM, Katy sits in the middle of the pack on leasing speed, but the 4.0% year-over-year decline is the second-largest annual drop in this table. May held flat, which is mildly encouraging, but owners pricing new listings should expect renters to be sensitive to anything above the current median.
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League City, TX: League City benefits from its proximity to NASA, University of Houston-Clear Lake, and tech and petrochemical employers along the Bay, giving it a reliable base of professional and contractor tenants. At $2,300 median rent and 49 days on market, the submarket is leasing at a healthy pace, and annual rent change is essentially flat at +0.2%. May was also flat month-over-month, so this is a stable, hold-steady market rather than one pushing hard in either direction.
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Conroe, TX: Conroe is one of the better value plays in the metro at $1,822 median rent, and a 5.5% year-over-year gain puts it among the stronger performers in this table. The tradeoff is a 62-day DOM, which runs slower than the suburban average. May held flat month-over-month, so the annual growth is steady but gradual. Owners here are getting rent appreciation without the leasing speed of tighter markets further south.
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Spring, TX: Spring pulls renters who work at the ExxonMobil campus along the northern corridors, giving the submarket a stable professional demand base. At $1,855 median rent, it is one of the more affordable suburban options in the metro, and a 4.7% year-over-year gain with a 0.3% tick up in May points to a market that has been quietly building momentum. Homes are leasing in 59 days, which is slower than the faster suburbs but reasonable for the price point.
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Cypress, TX: Cypress sits at $2,350 median rent with a 53-day DOM, squarely in the mid-range on both metrics. The 4.2% year-over-year decline is the largest annual drop in this table, and May was flat, offering no signal of a near-term bounce. Owners in Cypress are competing on price right now, and that annual erosion is a reason to price at or slightly below comparable listings rather than holding firm on 2025 expectations.
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Pasadena, TX: Pasadena's proximity to the Bay Area refineries and petrochemical firms along the Ship Channel provides a consistent blue-collar and industrial workforce tenant base. At $1,538 median rent, it is the most affordable market in this table by a wide margin, and a 5.6% year-over-year gain is the strongest annual percentage increase of any city listed. With 63 days on market and a 0.4% May uptick, leasing is not fast, but the rent growth suggests supply is tightening relative to what this workforce-oriented market can absorb.
Houston Metro Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — May 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in Houston Metro
The median rent for a 3-bedroom home across the Houston metro sits at $2,259. Step down to a 2-bedroom and you're looking at $1,678, a $581 drop that reflects how much renters will pay for that extra room. Across all sizes, rents range from $1,255 for a 1-bedroom up to $2,693 for a 4-bedroom, an 83.2% spread that favors owners of larger homes.
| Bedroom Count in Houston metro | Median Rent (May 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,470 |
| 1-Bedroom | $1,255 |
| 2-Bedroom | $1,678 |
| 3-Bedroom | $2,259 |
| 4-Bedroom | $2,693 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings across all property types, Houston metro, May 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in Houston Metro
Single-family homes in the Houston metro median at $2,392, a $277 (13.1%) premium over the blended metro median of $2,115. Townhouses come close at $2,381, while condos and apartments sit well below the metro median, pulling the range from $1,350 to $2,392 across all types. Single-family also leases fastest at 51 days, seven days ahead of the 58-day metro average, while townhouses (103 days) and apartments (107 days) are sitting nearly twice as long. Owners of single-family rentals are collecting more rent and filling vacancies faster, which makes accurate pricing at the upper end of the range worth the effort.
| Property Type in Houston Metro | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $2,115 | 58 days | +0.1% |
| Single Family | $2,392 | 51 days | -0.3% |
| Condo | $1,818 | 74 days | +0.5% |
| Townhouse | $2,381 | 103 days | +0.4% |
| Apartment | $1,350 | 107 days | -0.1% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, Houston metro, May 2026. |
Data Sources & Methodology
- Rental market data: Median rents, days on market, listing counts, and rent change figures. Sourced from county public records, deed and tax assessor data, and rental listings on publicly accessible platforms.
- Doorstead Platform Data: Internal leasing outcomes from Doorstead-managed rental homes across all property types, including days to lease. Trailing 12 months.
Data refreshed monthly. Doorstead benchmarks reflect managed properties only and may not be representative of the broader Houston metro rental market.