Best Places to Buy Rental Property in Texas (2026)

Texas recorded 116,247 closings in the last six months at a statewide median of $345,000, and the cheapest market on this list closes $167,750 below that. This ranking covers the fifteen most affordable Texas markets in our data that still cleared at least 100 sales in six months, cheapest first.

What this ranking is, and what it is not

This list ranks cities on two things only: entry price (the median sold price over the last six months) and transaction volume (the number of closings in that same window). It does not rank cities on rent, rent-to-price ratio, cap rate, or cash-on-cash return, because this dataset does not contain rent data. A guessed rent at the wrong end of a $200,000 purchase is the difference between a deal and a mistake. Rent and cash flow have to be verified property by property, and the last section covers how. Why volume belongs next to price: closings are your liquidity. A market that records 874 sales in six months will absorb your exit on your timeline. A market that records 101 will absorb it eventually. Neither is disqualifying, but the difference should be priced in before you buy, not discovered when you list.

The fifteen most affordable Texas markets

1. Wichita Falls, $177,250 median, 114 closings

The cheapest entry point on the list and the only one under $180,000. At this basis, a standard 20% to 25% down payment is roughly $35,000 to $44,000, which puts a first rental within reach of a lot of buyers who are priced out of the metros. The tradeoff is 114 closings in six months, under 20 a month, so your exit depends on hitting a narrow buyer pool. Expect a workforce housing tenant profile and underwrite turnover and maintenance carefully at this price point.

2. Marshall, $199,250 median, 110 closings

East Texas, just under the $200,000 line, with 110 closings. Similar profile to Wichita Falls: low capital requirement, thin liquidity. In markets this size, the median hides enormous condition variance, so a photo-level condition read on the specific house matters more than the city number.

3. Pleasanton, $199,900 median, 105 closings

South of San Antonio, and the lowest-volume market on this list at 105 closings. Being in the orbit of the state's highest-volume metro helps the long-run demand story, but 105 sales in six months is a real constraint on exit timing. Buy here on the property's merits, not the metro's.

4. Pharr, $208,499 median, 150 closings

Rio Grande Valley, $208,499 median with 150 closings. Entry cost is low and volume is moderate. The Valley is a distinct regional economy, so comps should stay inside it rather than crossing to San Antonio or Corpus pricing.

5. Brownwood, $217,450 median, 160 closings

Central Texas, 160 closings at $217,450. A small market with steadier volume than the three cheapest entries. The relevant question at this basis is not the purchase price, it is whether the rent the property actually achieves covers taxes, insurance and debt on a $217,450 basis, which you have to verify locally.

6. Elmendorf, $222,192 median, 164 closings

A San Antonio satellite with 164 closings. This is the first entry that combines a sub-$225,000 basis with proximity to an 11,147-closing metro. New construction is common in these outer-ring communities, which changes the maintenance profile and the comp set: subdivision comps should come from the same project, not the nearest town.

7. Horizon City, $232,900 median, 137 closings

East of El Paso, $232,900 across 137 closings. El Paso itself closes 4,070 homes at $279,950, so Horizon City is a $47,000 discount to its anchor metro. Tenant demand in this corridor is tied to El Paso employment, and both should be researched together.

8. Von Ormy, $233,109 median, 155 closings

Another San Antonio-adjacent market, 155 closings at $233,109. Same logic as Elmendorf: metro-linked demand at a basis $65,891 below San Antonio's own $299,000 median and $111,891 below the state median.

9. Mineral Wells, $235,000 median, 101 closings

West of Fort Worth, and the thinnest market on this list at 101 closings. That is the volume floor for inclusion here, so treat liquidity as the binding risk. The upside is a basis $103,990 below Fort Worth's $338,990 median while still being within commuting distance of the DFW labor market.

10. Socorro, $239,950 median, 147 closings

The third El Paso-area entry, 147 closings at $239,950. Between Socorro, Horizon City and El Paso proper, the region offers a genuine ladder of price points inside one labor market, which is useful if you plan to buy more than one property.

11. Denison, $240,000 median, 265 closings

North Texas near the Oklahoma line, and volume improves markedly: 265 closings, more than double the cheapest entries. At $240,000 with that transaction count, Denison is one of the better liquidity-to-price combinations on the list.

12. Paris, $242,000 median, 195 closings

Northeast Texas, 195 closings at $242,000. Solid volume for a market of this size. As with all the small towns here, the median is a starting point and the specific property's condition will move the real number by a wide margin.

13. Harlingen, $242,325 median, 366 closings

The second-highest volume on the list at 366 closings, in the Rio Grande Valley. A $242,325 basis with that much transaction activity means you are not the only buyer or the only future seller, which is exactly what you want for an exit.

14. Killeen, $244,450 median, 874 closings

By far the most liquid market here: 874 closings in six months, nearly eight times the volume of the cheapest entry, at a $244,450 median that is still $100,550 below the state median. That is the standout price-to-volume combination in Texas. Killeen's demand is heavily tied to a single large institutional employer, which cuts both ways: it is stable, and it is concentrated. Verify the local rental picture directly rather than assuming it.

15. Del Rio, $245,000 median, 207 closings

Border market, 207 closings at $245,000. Reasonable volume for its size, the highest entry price on this list, and still $100,000 under the state median.

What entry price and volume can and cannot tell you

Price and volume tell you how much capital you need and how hard it will be to get out. They do not tell you whether the deal works. Two properties at the same $240,000 median in the same city can produce completely different outcomes depending on rent, taxes, insurance, condition, and what you paid relative to true value. So do these three things before committing. Value the property, not the city. Resideline freezes its estimate at the moment of listing and then grades it against the real closing price, with the record published on a public accuracy dashboard. The comps behind each estimate are visible and adjustable, so you can drop a comp that came from the wrong neighborhood. Condition is estimated from listing photos, which matters in low-basis markets where deferred maintenance is common. Live valuations run in 31 states. Verify rent yourself. Pull actual leases and current listings for the exact property type and bed count, in that specific submarket. Then put the real numbers into the rental property calculator with taxes, insurance, vacancy, management and debt service included. Test the whole deal. The deal analyzer takes purchase price, rehab and financing to an outcome you can compare across cities. For flips and BRRRR exits, the ARV calculator sizes after-repair value first. Start from local pricing on the market pages, and note that all of the free calculators work with no signup. Entry price gets you onto the list. The underwriting decides whether you should buy.