All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can underwrite conservatively; buyers dependent on strong rent growth or limited competition should avoid it.
Median price$214k
Median rent$1,405
Gross yield7.9%
Job growth▲ 0.6%
Composite Market ScoreRank #403 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Lubbock, TX?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,405 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 1.74% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Lubbock
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lubbock County, TXFIPS 48303 | $818 | $990 | $1,175 | $1,634 | $1,940 |
| Hockley County, TXFIPS 48219 | $848 | $854 | $973 | $1,353 | $1,632 |
| Lynn County, TXFIPS 48305 | $705 | $767 | $1,007 | $1,207 | $1,465 |
| Garza County, TXFIPS 48169 | $681 | $820 | $973 | $1,353 | $1,569 |
| Crosby County, TXFIPS 48107 | $818 | $990 | $1,175 | $1,634 | $1,940 |
| Cochran County, TXFIPS 48079 | $681 | $820 | $973 | $1,170 | $1,606 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Lubbock merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can underwrite conservatively; buyers dependent on strong rent growth or limited competition should avoid it. Median asking rent of $1,405 against a $214,061 home value produces a 7.88% gross yield, but that is before operating costs, financing, and vacancy.
The opportunity is a relatively accessible purchase multiple and positive, if modest, demand signals. Price-to-income is 3.36, employment grew 0.56%, and tax filings show net migration of 284 households. These measures support further property-level review, but none demonstrates rapid demand expansion.
The risk is that new construction and resale conditions dilute landlord pricing power. Permitting reached 8.03 units per thousand residents, while 25.25% of listings had price drops. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, adding a location-specific underwriting issue even though the annual climate loss ratio is 0.1827% of building value.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Does the market show enough demand to justify deeper diligence?
The record shows CES employment growth of 0.56% and 7,791 inbound households versus 7,507 outbound households, producing net migration of 284. Those are positive demand indicators, but their modest scale supports verification rather than an aggressive growth assumption.
What does the income profile of migration suggest?
Average income was $59,035 for inbound movers and $59,207 for outbound movers. The published gap is negative $172, so migration was slightly positive by household count but did not bring a higher average mover income than departures.
How competitive is the acquisition market for investors?
Non-occupants represented 17.25% of purchase mortgages, and total purchases were 4,969. The record also reports 3.1 months of supply, 43 median days on market, and price drops on 25.25% of listings, indicating investor participation alongside some room for property-specific negotiation.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 7.9%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 1.74%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 17.3%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Lubbock as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply3.1 mo.▼ from 4.0 mo. a year ago
Median days on market43 days▼ from 51 days a year ago
Listings with price drops25.3%▲ from 22.4% a year ago
Sale-to-list ration/a2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 2.0%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 1.74%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield7.9%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.6%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady41→41
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 35% and rents 26%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
41| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 69 | 30% | 20.70 |
| Rent trend | 26 | 25% | 6.50 |
| Affordability | 38 | 15% | 5.70 |
| Supply pressure | 28 | 15% | 4.20 |
| Climate risk | 28 | 15% | 4.20 |
| Published score | 41 | ||
Lubbock, TX scoreRank #403
41Job growth69/100
Job: CES employment growth of 0.56% -> labor demand is positive but modest, so underwriting should not rely on rapid household or rent expansion.
Rent trend26/100
Rent: Asking-rent growth of 1.74% and a 7.88% gross yield -> current income potential is more notable than recent rent momentum, and net yield requires expense-level verification.
Affordability38/100
Afford: Rent absorbs 26.5% of median household income and the price-to-income ratio is 3.36 -> tenant affordability appears workable, while acquisition pricing still requires neighborhood-level income and rent checks.
Supply pressure28/100
Supply: There were 2,882 permits, equal to 8.03 per thousand residents, and 3.1 months of for-sale supply -> buyers face meaningful development activity alongside a resale market that is not showing extreme listed inventory.
Climate risk28/100
Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the annual loss ratio is 0.1827% -> parcel exposure, insurance terms, and mitigation costs should be checked before treating the headline yield as durable.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$214k
YoY ▲ 2.0%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,405
YoY ▲ 1.74%
Gross Rental Yield
7.9%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,405 × 12 ÷ $214,061
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.6%
CES payrolls
Job signal 69/100
Median Household Income
$64k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
26.5%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.4x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$990
Market rent 141.9% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,405Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$837−$568 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$990−$415 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,159−$246 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Lubbock as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Direct local rental evidence
Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Lubbock, TX
These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 31180. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.
Direct recent-lease rent history
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Recent-lease rent$1,1872026-07 · +1.7% year over year
Rental vacancyn/an/a
Time on marketn/an/a
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Lubbock
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$39,690 median wage
42.5%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$27,150 median wage
62.1%
Sales and Related Occupations$32,970 median wage
51.1%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$37,390 median wage
45.1%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$60,270 median wage
28.0%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations$79,510 median wage
21.2%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
2,862 units authorised in 2026, 25% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
+284
7,791 in vs 7,507 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 3.6% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$172
Arriving $59,035 vs leaving $59,207
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
17.3%
857 of 4,969 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.183% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Tarrant County · Hale County · Dallas County · Midland County · Harris County
✓ 7,791 in − 7,507 out = 284 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Dallas, TX902 arriving
- Amarillo, TX292 arriving
- Plainview, TX290 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Dallas, TX1,121 leaving
- Austin, TX379 leaving
- Houston, TX333 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- Rent growth may be too weak to absorb rising operating expenses: median asking rent increased 1.74%, and the published gross yield does not deduct taxes, insurance, maintenance, management, financing, or vacancy.
- Additional housing competition could restrain occupancy and pricing power: the record shows 2,882 permits, including permitting equal to 8.03 units per thousand residents and 24.4% from five-plus-unit structures.
- Exit values and property costs could disappoint: 25.25% of listings recorded price drops, median days on market was 43, and inland flood is the dominant hazard with an annual climate loss ratio of 0.1827%.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Cities in this market
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Lubbock
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lubbock, TX (Target) | 41 | $214k | $1,405 | 7.9% | ▲ 0.6% |
| Gulfport, MS | 45 | $225k | $1,459 | 7.8% | ▲ 0.4% |
| Huntington, WV | 63 | $168k | $1,078 | 7.7% | ▲ 0.4% |
| Lafayette, LA | 32 | $204k | $1,370 | 8.1% | ▲ 0.4% |
| Beaumont, TX | 43 | $188k | $1,297 | 8.3% | ▲ 0.3% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |