Texas · Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area

Buying a home in Baytown, Texas

In Baytown, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $197,300, Harris County's effective property tax rate is 1.62%, a purchase mortgage carried a median $8,540 in total loan costs in 2025, and median gross rent is $1,307 a month.

Data as of : Census ACS 2020-2024, Census Vintage 2024, HMDA 2025, HUD FY 2027. Sources

Baytown home costs, fact by fact

About Baytown

Baytown is an incorporated city in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, the 5th largest in the country. Median gross rent is $1,307 a month, while HUD's Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in Harris County is $1,497.

Reading the Baytown figures

Baytown is one of the lower-valued places in this Texas set. Owners estimate their homes at $197,300, well under the statewide median of $318,100, and those are owner estimates, not recorded sales. Dallas is the clear outlier among the covered Texas cities, with owners reporting $320,700 for their homes. Waco comes in at a much lower $221,700, Killeen is reported at $215,400, and Lubbock sits near $212,400. Baytown ranks beside Amarillo, whose owners put the figure at $196,900, and above Laredo, McAllen, Edinburg, San Angelo and El Paso, where owner estimates run from $193,500 down to $184,500. Pasadena owners report $209,600 and Corpus Christi owners $210,400, so Baytown belongs to a crowded band of lower-valued Texas cities. Corpus Christi owners and Lubbock owners sit within a narrow band of Baytown's figure, which shows how tightly packed the middle of this list is.

Renting looks different from owning here. Renters pay a median of $1,307 monthly, and HUD's Fair Market Rent for the Houston area is $1,497, a HUD benchmark and not a market median. Other Texas cities show a range: Dallas renters report $1,472, Corpus Christi renters $1,292, and Laredo renters $1,030. Waco renters report $1,165, which is lower than Baytown even though Waco owners put their homes higher. Owners occupy 52.3% of Baytown homes, a larger share than Dallas (42.4%) and Waco (49.4%) but a smaller one than Laredo (64.1%) and San Angelo (61.2%). Killeen owners hold 49.5% of homes and Lubbock owners 51.2%, close to Baytown's share, while Amarillo reaches 59.7%. HUD's benchmark also sits above what Lubbock renters ($1,182) and Corpus Christi renters pay, which is a reminder that it is a benchmark and not a measured average.

The tax side deserves the closest read. Harris County's yearly taxes come to a median of $4,489 on a property valued at $276,600 in the county, which works out to an effective rate of 1.62%. Because the county's median value is higher than Baytown's own, a buyer here should not assume the county bill applies unchanged to a home near the city median; the rate matters more than the dollar bill. On financing, Harris County recorded 35,942 loans in 2025; the settlement charges for the loan were $8,540 at the midpoint, and the central range ran between $5,777 and $12,025, so a quote near either end of that band is not unusual for a buyer in this city. Even where a county median runs above the city's, the effective rate of 1.62% is the figure to carry into a home-specific estimate, because it scales with the price actually paid. Baytown lies in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro area, which has a population of 7,796,182, and the city itself counts 86,004 residents.

Calculate for Texas

If you buy

Texas state transfer tax

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Change the price: the amount is recalculated instantly.

Price$318,100
State transfer tax$0
Share of the price—

Default price: the Texas median value of owner-occupied homes, $318,100 (Census ACS 2025). Rule: No transfer tax exists. Buyers pay county recording fees and a state-set title insurance premium. Who pays: No transfer tax to assign. Recording fees and the title insurance premium appear on the closing statement. Not included: county and city transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and lender charges. Texas transfer tax guide · all 50 states.

If you sell

Capital gain and the federal tax on it

Same federal rule in every state: Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code excludes up to $250,000 of gain on a main home ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly).

Capital gain$350,000
Section 121 exclusion$250,000 (limit $250,000)
Taxable gain$100,000
Type of gainLong-term (owned over 1 year), 15% chosen
Federal tax on the gain$15,000

Section 121 excludes $250,000; the rest is taxable.

Gain = sale price minus your adjusted basis (purchase price, buying costs and improvements); selling expenses reduce it (IRS Publication 523). Long-term rates for sales in 2026, by taxable income including the gain (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.03): 0% up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly, 15% up to $545,500 single or $613,700 jointly, 20% above. Not included: Texas state income tax on the gain (not computed), the net investment income tax, depreciation recapture on a rental or home office, and the reduced exclusion for an early sale. Agent commissions are negotiated and never set by law. Capital gains on a home sale.

Questions about buying a home in Baytown

How much is property tax in Baytown?

Homeowners in Harris County pay a median $4,489 a year in property tax, 1.62% of the county median home value of $276,600 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in Baytown?

Home-purchase mortgages in Harris County carried median total loan costs of $8,540 in 2025; half of the 35,942 loans fell between $5,777 and $12,025 (HMDA). Total loan costs are the lender and settlement-service charges of the Closing Disclosure; transfer taxes and prepaid items come on top.

Is there a transfer tax when you buy a home in Baytown?

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Article VIII, Section 29 of the Texas Constitution, added November 3, 2015, says no law enacted after January 1, 2016 may impose a transfer tax on a transaction that conveys fee simple title to real property.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Baytown?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Baytown ($197,300) equals 12.6 years of the median gross rent ($1,307 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Baytown?

Across Texas, the main hazards for home insurance are flood, tornado, wind and hail, and the insurer of last resort is Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA). Texas gets more tornadoes than any other state, according to the Texas Department of Insurance; on the coast, windstorm coverage comes from a separate policy, often from TWIA, in 14 coastal counties plus part of Harris County.

Run your own numbers: rent vs buy calculator · closing costs calculator.

Texas rules that apply in Baytown

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Sources

Texas · All states · Federal guides