Low Income Apartments and Affordable Housing For Rent in Houston, TX

Discover affordable housing in Houston where there are 319+ housing opportunities based on income and household needs like accessible units for seniors or persons with disabilities. Find and apply to these low income apartments now.

City Parc II at West Oaks Apartments

3530 Green Crest Drive, Houston, Texas 77082

Forest Creek Apartments

5915 Uvalde Rd, Houston, Texas 77049

Town Parc at Sherwood

1521 Sherwood Forest St, Houston, Texas 77043

Catalon Apartments

6013 Queenston Blvd, Houston, Texas 77084

Goldberg B Nai B Rith Towers

10909 Fondren Rd, Houston, Texas 77096

Yale Village

5673 Yale Street, Houston, Texas 77076

Villa Americana

5901 Selinsky Rd, Houston, Texas 77048

Oasis on Ella

13655 Ella Blvd, Houston, Texas 77014

Garden City Apartments

9601 W Montgomery Rd, Houston, Texas 77088

Independence Heights Apartments

302 Crosstimbers Street, Houston, Texas 77022

Sagetree Terrace Apartments

15505 Bammel N Houston Rd, Houston, Texas 77014

Altura Heights

4911 W Airport Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77085

Greens at Brentford

16731 Beechnut St, Houston, Texas 77083

Green Oaks

1475 Gears Road, Houston, Texas 77067

Cornerstone Gardens

14522 Cornerstone Village Dr, Houston, Texas 77014

Costa Rialto

5015 Aldine Bender Rd , Houston, Texas 77032

Lafayette Plaza Apartments

7320 Clarewood Dr, Houston, Texas 77036

Northline Apartment Homes

7211 Northline Dr, Houston, Texas 77076

Braeburn Village Apartment Homes

7500 Bissonnet St, Houston, Texas 77074

Highland Meadow Village

10990 Highland Meadow Village Drive, Houston, Texas 77089

The Hourly Wage Needed to Afford A Safe, Modest 2 Bed Apartment In Houston, Texas
$25.70/hour
$18.45 (+254%) more than Texas minimum wage and $18.45 (+254%) more than the Federal minimum wage.
Learn More About Houston, Texas Affordable Housing ↓

What HUD offices serve Houston, Texas?

Public Housing Agencies operate federally assisted affordable housing programs at local levels on behalf of HUD. Notably, housing agencies are responsible for managing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Project-Based Voucher waiting lists within their jurisdiction.

Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing programs for Houston, Texas.
Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs for Houston, Texas.
Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs for Houston, Texas.

Go to the Texas Public Housing and Low-Income Apartments Waiting Lists page for openings near Houston.

How many renters live in Houston, Texas?

The City of Houston has 2,304,414 people living in 947,632 households.

There are 1,254,370 renters living in 561,256 renter households in this City. Renters make up 54.43 percent of the population living in Houston.

What is the rental market like in Houston, Texas?

There are an estimated 1,043,326 housing units in the Houston area. Of these, 616,675 units are rental homes, making up 59 percent of the housing market. For every renter household in Houston, Texas, there are 1 rental units.

What is the vacancy rate for rentals in Houston?

The rental vacancy rate in Houston is 8 percent. This is a higher than average vacancy rate. When rental vacancy rates are high it means that there are a lot of available units and rents tend to be lower.

How many rental units are in Houston for each bedroom size?

Occupied Rental Units by Size in Houston
Studio One-Bedroom Two-Bedroom Three-Bedroom Four+ Bedrooms
65,183 200,661 197,768 77,895 16,803
Occupied Rental Units by Size in Houston

A large number of apartments in Houston have two or fewer bedrooms. Seniors and young professionals especially may have more success finding an apartment that meets their needs.

How many renter households in Houston are overburdened by housing costs?

Among renter households in this market, 50 percent have housing cost burden. Further, 24 percent of households are extremely rent overburdened. When renters pay too much for their housing, it leaves little money for other necessities like food, clothes, or medicine.

The federal government says that renters are cost-burdened if they pay more than a third of their monthly income for rent and utilities.

How Much Is Rent in Houston

Depending on size, the Fair Market Rent - HUDs measurement of the cost of an average housing unit - ranges from $1,073 to $2,303. FMRs are updated annually by HUD for every city and county nationwide.

Bed Size 2024 Fair Market Rents
Studio $1,073
One BR $1,135
Two BR $1,357
Three BR $1,792
Four BR $2,303
2024 Fair Market Rents in Houston, Texas

How many units are rented at Fair Market Rent (FMR) in Houston?

Renters with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher must select a home that is at or below the area’s Fair Market Rent. Markets with a large share of units above FMR tend to have longer search times to find a qualified unit, while those with a large share of units below FMR tend to have more choices and shorter search times. The share below FMR can vary by size of unit, as shown in the table below.

These are the approximate number of units renting below the FMR in this market:

Unit Size Count of Units Below FMR Percentage of Total Units Below FMR
Studio 28,633 44 percent
One BR 104,734 52 percent
Two BR 101,186 51 percent
Rental Units Below FMR in Houston, Texas

How many affordable rental units are in Houston?

There are a variety of federal affordable housing programs serving households in Houston, Texas including the following:

Federal Program Unit Count
Low Income Housing Tax Credit 39,007
Public Housing 2,316
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance 5,915
Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 1,266
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities 155
Tracked Units by Federal Program in Houston, Texas

Rental units may be funded in part by multiple federal programs.

Income Based Apartments in Houston, Texas

Houston features 12,987 income based apartments. Tenants of income based apartments typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities.

Low Rent Apartments in Houston, Texas

There are 37,533 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Houston.

Housing Choice Vouchers in Houston, Texas

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay Houston landlords $800 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $300 towards rent in Houston.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in Houston, Texas for a two-bedroom apartment is between $1,221 and $1,493.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.