What it costs to live in H-Town

The Cost of H-Town index

One Houston household, using each source's own published figures: a homestead in the City of Houston and Houston ISD worth the 2025 median sale price, 6,000 gallons of water and 1,000 kWh of electricity a month.

Sources: [Harris Central Appraisal District, 2026 Market Trends report (HAR data)] [U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts] [Houston Public Works rate schedule] [Community Impact, June 10, 2026] [Texas Department of Insurance] [EIA Electric Power Monthly]

Bills and rates

Water, sewer and garbage

• The city's average homestead: taxable value $341,861; city tax on it $1,774.91 a year at the unchanged rate of $0.519190. [City of Houston tax rate notice]
• The 2021 water and sewer ordinance raised rates every April through April 2026; the city's schedule says inflation adjustments continue each year after that. [Houston Public Works rate schedule]
• The garbage fee starts at $5 a month, may rise each year, and the city projects it reaching the full $25 monthly cost of service by 2032. [Community Impact, June 10, 2026]

The water billing mess

• About 125,000 remote meter-reading devices had failed; the city could manually read about 40,000 meters a month. 38% of devices worked continuously, 35% monthly, 27% had failed. [Houston Public Works Water Bill Improvement Plan, April 2024]
• 637 homes got the wrong water meters in 2024; the error was found in January 2026 and the meters replaced in March 2026. [KPRC, May 13, 2026]
• The city began shutting off water Sept. 8, 2026 for about 15,000 delinquent accounts owing about $30 million. [KPRC, Aug. 27, 2026]

Electricity

• Texas average residential price: 15.88¢ per kWh in July 2026, compared with 15.36¢ a year earlier. [EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A]
• CenterPoint's delivery charges on every Houston bill, whatever company you buy power from: $4.90 a month plus about 6.0¢ per kWh, all its riders added together. At 1,000 kWh that is about $65 a month. [CenterPoint Energy residential rates]
• Storm repair costs added to bills and the rate cases behind them are tracked on the ERCOT Tracker.

Getting around

• METRO local fare $1.25 ($0.60 discounted); day pass $3; Park & Ride $2.00 to $4.50 by zone. [METRO]
• Harris County toll rates are still the schedule effective Sept. 12, 2015: the Sam Houston Tollway's North, Central and South plazas are $1.75 without a tag and $1.50 with an EZ TAG; Westpark takes EZ TAG only, $1.50 at the Wilcrest and Fondren mainlanes. Two-axle EZ TAG users have had a 10% discount since Sept. 4, 2023, which makes a $1.50 plaza $1.35. [Harris County Toll Road Authority toll rate schedule]
• HCTRA's director says tolls have not gone up in ten years. Drivers paid $874 million in tolls in 2025, and the toll authority transferred $398.6 million to the county. [KPRC, May 7, 2026]
• The Grand Parkway (SH 99) went up 2% on Jan. 1, 2026; a full through-trip with a toll tag is $26.37, up from $25.82, and drivers without a tag pay 50% more plus fees. Fort Bend County's toll roads also rose 2% on Jan. 1, 2026. [TxDOT]
• The I-45 rebuild through Houston is now estimated at $13 billion, up from about $7 billion, with completion possibly 2038 to 2040. [Spectrum News, June 8, 2026]

Homeowners insurance

• Texas average homeowners premium: $1,791 in 2016, $2,124 in 2021, $2,374 in 2022, $2,795 in 2023, $3,291 in 2024, $3,489 in 2025 (preliminary). [Texas Department of Insurance]
• The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association covers parts of Harris County east of Highway 146 plus La Porte, Morgan's Point, Pasadena, Seabrook and Shore Acres. Its board voted no rate change for 2026 and again for 2027. [TWIA]
• TWIA policies get automatic coverage increases of about 1% on renewals from Nov. 1, 2025, and about 3% from Sept. 1, 2026. [TWIA]

Rate changes insurers have filed

In the last year, 229 homeowners rate filings with a stated change: 33 raised rates, 57 cut them; average change -0.8%.

Statewide filings to the Texas Department of Insurance, read daily from the state's open data portal. [TDI rate filings]

How long the city takes

Calls to Houston 311 about streets, drainage, water, sewer, garbage and lights in the last 12 months on file, from the city's 311 data extract: how many came in, how long the closed ones took, and how many are still open.

What Houston hospitals charge

From each hospital's price file, which federal law requires it to post: the list price ("gross charge") and the price for paying cash, for common procedures. Where a hospital lists several prices for one code, the range is shown.

ER visit, moderately high severity (CPT 99284)

Chest X-ray, 2 views (CPT 71046)

CT scan of head, no contrast (CPT 70450)

CT of abdomen and pelvis, with contrast (CPT 74177)

MRI of lower spine, no contrast (CPT 72148)

Comprehensive metabolic blood panel (CPT 80053)

Complete blood count (CPT 85025)

Colonoscopy, diagnostic (CPT 45378)

Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center: its price file has refused to download to this site since Oct 23, 2026 (download failed (Connection timed out after 45001 milliseconds)). The federal price-transparency rule requires a hospital's file to be accessible "to automated searches and direct file downloads" (45 CFR 180.50(d)(3)). Its prices can't be shown here until it is.

Files: Memorial Hermann–Texas Medical Center · Houston Methodist Hospital · Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital · Texas Children's Hospital

Road money and road deaths

People killed in crashes in Harris County

From NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, which the federal government finalizes about two years after each year ends. Crashes are placed in Harris County by the census tract NHTSA recorded for each one; the few recorded without a tract are not counted. [NHTSA FARS files]

TxDOT projects in Harris County, by highway

From TxDOT's Project Tracker data for the Houston District. The newest update TxDOT has put in this file is from October 21, 2026, so recent changes may not show. [TxDOT Project Tracker]

• The I-45 rebuild through Houston is now estimated at $13 billion, up from about $7 billion, with completion possibly 2038 to 2040. [Spectrum News, June 8, 2026]