Most Expensive Housing Markets in Texas

With its year-round warm climate, robust economy, and no state income taxes, Texas is an attractive landing spot for new residents — as well as a comfortable place for long-time Texans. Citing statistics from the Census Bureau, nonprofit research institute Texas Public Policy Foundation reported that between mid-2015 and mid-2019, 3.8 million people moved to Texas, pushing its total population to nearly 29 million.

Who wouldn’t want to live in Texas? Residents and newcomers benefit from the Lone Star State’s relatively low cost of living. The state’s cost of living index stood at 92.3, lower than the U.S. average (the U.S. index is 100), and placing it 14th lowest among all states, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. By comparison, the state with the highest cost of living, Hawaii, had an index of 187.6. 

The state’s housing costs index factored to 83.5, making Texas one of the more affordable states to buy a home. Yet not all areas in the state are that affordable, and some Texas cities have pricier home values. Buying a home in the cities listed here will cost homebuyers much more than the state’s median home price tag of $172,500. In fact, these cities have a good percentage of homes valued at $250,000 or higher. Of course, that’s still well below the median U.S. home sales price of $374,900, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, but more than what most homebuyers pay in the Lone Star State. 

The city on this list with the lowest percentage of homes valued north of $250,000 is Missouri City in the Houston metro area. There, the median home price is still a more affordable $197,200. (For more places where housing prices are skyrocketing, see cities where home values are rising the fastest.) 

The two cities with the highest percentage of homes worth at least $250,000 — Flower Mound and Frisco — sit within the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. The median home value in those two locales is more than $350,000, most likely because each is a suburban city attached to a large and bustling metro area. Number nine on the list is tech-driven Austin, where the median home value is $337,400. With the tech industry attracting newcomers, a population surge has driven up Austin’s housing prices. (Austin is now among the cities where the middle class can no longer afford housing.)