Find your place in Texas.
Moving to the Houston area? Plain-English guides to Houston-area communities, schools, commutes and taxes, plus a local REALTOR® to walk you through them.
4.96/5 Client Experience Rating from 49 completed surveys on HAR.com
- 5 years in real estate
- 120 closed transactions
- 50+ VA loan transactions
- 4.96/5 on HAR.com (49 surveys)
Experience, transaction and rating figures as shown on Clayton's HAR.com profile (checked Nov 2026).
The Houston area at a glance
Greater Houston is the fifth-largest metro area in the U.S. by Census Bureau estimates, with about 7.9 million residents across Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and seven other counties. Texas has no state personal income tax, so property taxes do more of the work locally; see the property tax and MUD guide.
The region's largest job sectors include health care, retail, construction and manufacturing, alongside the energy industry. Northwest Houston suburbs like Tomball, Cypress, Magnolia and The Woodlands sit in Harris and Montgomery counties, along SH-249, US-290, the Grand Parkway and I-45, and Montgomery County grew about 4% in a year, more than twice the metro rate of 1.6%.
- 7.9 millionmetro residents (7,904,627), July 1, 2025
- 0%Texas state personal income tax
- 3.49 millionnonfarm jobs in metro Houston, Sept. 2026
- +4.0%Montgomery County population growth, 2024–25 (to 781,194)
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 metro and county population estimates (July 1, 2025; Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands MSA) · Texas Comptroller, “Texas has no state income tax” · Greater Houston Partnership, Monthly Update: Houston Metro Employment (Sept. 2026, released Oct. 19, 2026) and Economy at a Glance, Sept. 2026 (sector jobs, July 2026: health care 405,400; retail 319,800; construction 267,300; manufacturing 240,100).
Area guides
Tomball →
Old Town, Tomball ISD and newer master plans.
Area guideCypress →
Towne Lake, Bridgeland and US-290 commutes.
Area guideMagnolia →
Small-town feel along SH 249 and FM 1488.
Area guideThe Woodlands →
Villages, the Township and I-45 commutes.
Region hubNorthwest Houston →
Districts, corridors, taxes and trade-offs.
Texas market snapshot: Q3 2026
- $333,628statewide median sale price, down 0.4% from Q3 2025
- 87,862closed sales statewide, down 2.4% year over year
- 5.5 monthsof inventory, compared with 5.4 in Q3 2025
- 66 dayson market, 2 days more than Q3 2025 (99 days including closing)
Texas buyers had more homes to choose from in the third quarter, with active listings up 2.8% statewide while the median price held roughly flat. Inventory of 5.5 months is a little above the four to five months the Texas Real Estate Research Center says generally indicates a balance between supply and demand. In Greater Houston, HAR's September 2026 update showed a single-family median price of $325,000, 5.5 months of inventory and an average of 58 days on market.
Sources: Texas REALTORS®, 2026 Q3 Texas Quarterly Housing Report and release (third quarter 2026; data from the Data Relevance Project, analysis by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M) · Houston Association of REALTORS®, September 2026 Housing Market Update (single-family homes).
All information is deemed reliable estimates but Not Guaranteed and subject to change at any time.
Planning a move? Let’s talk.
Tell me where you’re moving from, when, and what matters most. I’ll help you narrow down Northwest Houston before you ever book a flight.