Texas · 154th largest metro area

Buying a home in Lubbock, Texas

In Lubbock, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $212,400, Lubbock County's effective property tax rate is 1.51%, a purchase mortgage carried a median $6,786 in total loan costs in 2025, and median gross rent is $1,182 a month.

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

Lubbock home costs, fact by fact

About Lubbock

Lubbock has 272,086 residents and lies in the Lubbock metro area, the 154th largest in the United States. Median gross rent is $1,182 per month, and HUD's Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in the county is $1,241.

Reading the Lubbock figures

Lubbock reads as a lower-cost market when set beside the state. Owners estimate the median home at $212,400, compared with $318,100 for Texas and $320,700 for Dallas. Among covered cities, it sits close to Killeen, where owners report $215,400, and Waco, where they report $221,700. Corpus Christi reports $210,400. Pasadena reports $209,600. Mesquite, with $245,700, and San Antonio, with $235,700, are higher, while Amarillo, with $196,900, and McAllen, with $190,400, are lower. None of these values is a recorded sale; owners estimated every one.

Rent is $1,182 a month at the census median, and HUD lists $1,241 for its smaller-home tier in the Lubbock zone, plus $1,718 for the larger tier. HUD's number is a federal benchmark and not a market median, but here the census median sits just under the smaller tier. Waco shows $1,165. Killeen shows $1,208. Both are very close. Corpus Christi shows $1,292, and Dallas $1,472, both higher. Amarillo shows $1,092. Laredo shows $1,030, and Edinburg $996, so those are lower.

About 51.2% of households own. That is just above Killeen (49.5%) or Waco (49.4%), close to San Antonio (52.2%), and below Mesquite (62.8%) or Laredo (64.1%). Dallas, with 42.4%, has a smaller owner share. The split between owners and renters here is fairly even, which tends to keep renting a live option for a buyer.

Lubbock County's tax figures are modest in dollars, but the rate is not. The median annual bill is $3,241, the effective rate is 1.51%, and a typical county home is valued at $214,100. The city's median value is very close to that county figure, so the county bill is a fair guide to what a typical purchase would face, although a specific home's assessed value settles it.

For financing, lenders recorded 3,214 loans in 2025, with a median total cost of $6,786. The middle of the distribution ran from $4,522 to $9,546, a modest band for a city whose median value is $212,400. Even so, a written estimate from more than one lender remains the surest way to see where a particular loan falls, since the spread within that band is still real.

Lubbock has 272,086 residents, close to Laredo's 261,260. Population alone says little about cost: what a buyer in Lubbock pays at closing and each year in tax depends on the county figures above, not on how the city ranks in size against its peers. Killeen, with 160,616 residents, is much smaller yet reports a median value only slightly higher, $215,400. It is the main city of the Lubbock metro area, ranked 154th nationally with 367,109 people, and it lies in a single county, so the Lubbock County figures apply across the whole city.

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 Lubbock

How much is property tax in Lubbock?

Homeowners in Lubbock County pay a median $3,241 a year in property tax, 1.51% of the county median home value of $214,100 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in Lubbock?

Home-purchase mortgages in Lubbock County carried median total loan costs of $6,786 in 2025; half of the 3,214 loans fell between $4,522 and $9,546 (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 Lubbock?

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 Lubbock?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Lubbock ($212,400) equals 15 years of the median gross rent ($1,182 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Lubbock?

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.

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Texas rules that apply in Lubbock

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Sources

Texas · All states · Federal guides