Odessa, TX cityscape
Markets / Texas / Odessa
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Odessa, TX

Odessa is a selective, higher-risk investigation rather than a broad buy.

Median price$256k
Median rent$1,551
Gross yield7.3%
Job growth▲ 0.0%
Metro Area · CBSA 3622040 public sourcesChecked nightly
SCORE / 10029RANK #522 / 571
Composite Market ScoreRank #522 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer

How much is rent in Odessa, TX?

Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,551 per month for 2026-06-30. That is down 4.50% from a year earlier.

Zillow ZORI$1,5512026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

Census ACS gross rent$1,259ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

HUD 2BR FMR$1,595FY2026 FMR

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 Odessa

Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.

FY2026 FMR · FY2026 · monthly gross-rent standards
CountyStudio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
Ector County, TXFIPS 48135$1,245$1,269$1,595$1,912$2,213
The read

Why this market scores where it does

Odessa is a selective, higher-risk investigation rather than a broad buy. Buyers who can underwrite weak leasing momentum and a very loose resale market may investigate; investors dependent on near-term rent growth or quick exits should avoid it.

The entry economics are the opportunity: median home value is $255,529, median asking rent is $1,551, and gross yield is 7.28%. Rent equals 26.02% of median household income, while net migration was positive by 337 households. These figures support a plausible cash-flow screen and indicate some household inflow, but they do not establish property-level expenses or demand.

The risk signals are aligned: asking rent fell 4.5% year over year, CES jobs rose only 0.03%, months of supply was 154, and 31.17% of listings had price drops. Home values nevertheless rose 5.31%, putting rising acquisition values against falling rents. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, so insurance and site-level exposure remain underwriting questions.

Frequently Asked Investor Questions

What do the median price and rent imply before expenses?
The published median value is $255,529 and median asking rent is $1,551 per month, corresponding to the published 7.28% gross yield; operating expenses are not published.
What does tax-filing migration show?
The metro had 4,330 households move in and 3,993 move out, for net migration of 337; average mover income was $51,217 inbound versus $68,124 outbound, with a published AGI gap of -$16,907.
What water hazard must be checked?
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.1256% of building value; site-level exposure and insurance terms are not published.

Investor Quick Takeaways

Gross Yield: 7.3%

Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.

Rent Momentum: ▼ 4.50%

Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.

Investor Activity: 6.2%

Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).

Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI

Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.

Run Cash-Flow Test for Odessa
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 supply154.0 mo.▼ from 316.0 mo. a year ago
Median days on market67 days▼ from 105 days a year ago
Listings with price drops31.2%▼ from 36.4% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.7%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 5.3%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▼ 4.50%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield7.3%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.0%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 steady2929
0 pts

The 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.

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.

Jobs45Rent trend1Affordability40Supply1Climate safety63
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
29
SignalScoreWeightPoints
Job growth4530%13.50
Rent trend125%0.25
Affordability4015%6.00
Supply pressure115%0.15
Climate risk6315%9.45
Published score29
Odessa, TX scoreRank #522
29
Job growth45/100

CES employment rose 0.03% year over year -> labor-market support for rental demand is nearly flat.

Rent trend1/100

Median asking rent fell 4.5% year over year -> current rent momentum is a material underwriting risk.

Affordability40/100

Median rent consumes 26.02% of median household income -> the published rent burden leaves income beyond rent, though tenant-level variation is not shown.

Supply pressure1/100

A 154-month supply, 67 median days on market, and 31.17% price drops -> buyers have ample resale choice, while sellers face exit risk.

Climate risk63/100

Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the climate loss ratio is 0.1256% -> flood exposure and insurance terms require site-level verification.

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
$256k
YoY ▲ 5.3%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,551
YoY ▼ 4.50%
Gross Rental Yield
7.3%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,551 × 12 ÷ $255,529
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.0%
CES payrolls
Job signal 45/100
Median Household Income
$72k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
26.0%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.6x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,595
Market rent 97.2% 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
Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$438$875$1,313$1,750Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,551HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,269HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,595Census ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$1,259Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$875$1,750Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,551HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,269HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,595ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$1,259
The chart compares published levels without averaging them. A longer bar does not mean a source is more accurate; it means that source measures a higher rent under its own definition.
Typical observed market rentZillow ZORI
$1,551Primary 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 ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 1BR FMR
$1,269−$282 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 ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 2BR FMR
$1,595+$44 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 ↗
Median gross rentCensus ACS gross rent
$1,259−$292 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 Odessa as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.

Direct local rental evidence

Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Odessa, TX

These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 36220. 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.

$1,958$1,489$1,0192017-012026-07
Recent-lease rent$1,6382026-07 · -4.4% year over year
Rental vacancyn/an/a
Time on marketn/an/a
Regional price level

What feels expensive inside Odessa

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
Regional price parity categories for Odessa, TXHorizontal bars compare all-items, housing, goods, utilities and other-services price levels with the United States benchmark of 100.708090100110All items93.9Housing89.7Goods93.8Utilities82.9Other services96.2
Orange extends above the national level; emerald extends below it. The chart does not convert rent or income into purchasing power.
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
Annualized asking rent compared with major occupational median wages in Odessa, TXHorizontal bars show annualized Zillow asking rent as a share of the BLS annual median wage for six major occupational groups with the largest published employment.0%10%20%30%40%50%60%Construction and ExtractionOccupations$49,610 median wage37.5%Transportation and MaterialMoving Occupations$46,280 median wage40.2%Office and AdministrativeSupport Occupations$44,560 median wage41.8%Food Preparation and ServingRelated Occupations$28,850 median wage64.5%Sales and Related Occupations$37,200 median wage50.0%Installation, Maintenance, andRepair Occupations$58,990 median wage31.6%
Construction and Extraction Occupations$49,610 median wage
37.5%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$46,280 median wage
40.2%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$44,560 median wage
41.8%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$28,850 median wage
64.5%
Sales and Related Occupations$37,200 median wage
50.0%
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations$58,990 median wage
31.6%
BLS OEWS 2025-05; Zillow rent 2026-06-30. The 30% line is a visible screen, not a RentMarker score or a claim about household costs.
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
Download CSV ↓
1,77820191,18620201,4042021888202269020231,004202492120251,32820265+ unit buildingssingle family
1,328 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Source: Census Building Permits Survey
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
+337
4,330 in vs 3,993 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 7.8% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$16,907
Arriving $51,217 vs leaving $68,124
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
6.2%
160 of 2,565 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.126% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →
Households arrive mainly from: Midland County · El Paso County · Miami-Dade County · Harris County · Lubbock County
4,330 in − 3,993 out = 337 net
Direct 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.

Explore every route
Leading inbound markets
  1. Midland, TX970 arriving
  2. El Paso, TX220 arriving
  3. Dallas, TX214 arriving
Leading outbound markets
  1. Midland, TX1,168 leaving
  2. Dallas, TX291 leaving
  3. El Paso, TX138 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

  1. Median asking rent fell 4.5% year over year while home values rose 5.31%, leaving weaker rental momentum against a higher value base.
  2. A 154-month supply, 67 median days on market, and 31.17% price-drop share indicate substantial exit-liquidity risk.
  3. CES employment increased just 0.03% year over year, providing little evidence of expanding job support for tenant demand.
Statistical peers

Market areas that behave like Odessa

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 areaScorePriceRentYieldJob Growth
Odessa, TX (Target)29$256k$1,5517.3%▲ 0.0%
Utica, NY61$235k$1,3937.1%▼ 0.3%
San Angelo, TX64$234k$1,3066.7%▲ 0.3%
Owensboro, KY61$216k$1,1896.6%▲ 0.1%
Kankakee, IL47$226k$1,3537.2%▼ 0.7%
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 SourceMethodRelease PeriodPulled Date
Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rentdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — historical household incomedirectACS 2019 and 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — populationdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-26
Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent indexdirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquiditydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
BEA County Personal Income — income and populationdirect2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-20242026-08-03
BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levelsdirect2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-20242026-08-03
BLS CES — payroll employmentdirectCES SM current2026-07-26
BLS LAUS — resident employmentdirectLAUS current2026-07-26
BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wagesdirectMay 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15)2026-08-03
BLS QCEW — county employment and wagesdirectannual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 20242026-08-02
OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographydirectOMB July 2023 delineation2026-07-30
Census Building Permits Survey — permitted unitsdirectBPS through 20262026-07-26
Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housingdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-29
Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stockdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS 5-year — cities and communitiesdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and incomedirectACS 2024 5-year ZCTA2026-08-08
FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosmodelledNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)2026-07-26
FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciationdirectannual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 20252026-08-02
HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy typedirectHMDA 2024 purchase originations2026-07-26
HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income banddirectHUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23)2026-08-03
HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standarddirectFY2026 FMR2026-07-26
HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallbackdirectZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY20262026-07-26
HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalkdirectHUD-USPS 2026Q12026-08-09
IRS SOI — county migration and mover incomedirectSOI migration 2022-20232026-07-26
Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage ratesdirectweek of 2026-07-302026-08-06
Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-06
Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventorydirectcounty inventory 2026-062026-07-28
Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rentsdirecttop-50 rental asking rents 2026-052026-08-05
Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cutsdirectmetro tracker through 2026-05-012026-07-26
Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supplydirectZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-032026-08-12
USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum CodesdirectUSDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes2026-08-02
Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rentsdirectcounty ZHVI/ZORI 2026-062026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesdirectMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — city home valuesdirectzillow_zhvi_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsdirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZORI — city market rentsdirectzillow_zori_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusteddirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv2026-08-15
Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rentsdirectZORI ZIP 2026-062026-08-08