Harris County’s median household income grew 4.83% when adjusted for inflation between 2016 and 2021—outpacing the county’s growth rate of the median cost of housing and median gross rent, according to American Community Survey data released Dec. 8.
Between 2016 and 2021, the median cost of a housing unit rose 22%, while median gross rent increased 10%.
The 2016 and 2021 ACS five-year estimates drew from data collected over a period of five years for greater statistical reliability than the corresponding one-year estimates. Harris County's median household income grew at a smaller rate than the median statewide—close to 9% statewide after adjusting for inflation—and the least out of the top-five most populous counties in Texas. Income grew at the highest rate in Travis County at around 17%.Although the median cost of housing grew at a rate four times higher than the county’s median income, the cost increased by a smaller percentage than the cost in other major Texas counties as well as the cost statewide. Harris County’s 22% increase after inflation was three percentage points lower than the statewide average and close to 15 percentage points lower than the increase in Tarrant County.Harris County’s rent also increased by a smaller percentage than the cost statewide by about one percentage point. Residents in Dallas County saw the greatest rate of increase at 16.8% after adjusting for inflation.
