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

Buying a home in Pasadena, Texas

In Pasadena, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $209,600, 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 $1,213 a month.

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

Pasadena home costs, fact by fact

About Pasadena

With 149,617 residents, Pasadena is part of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, ranked 5th among U.S. metro areas. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in Harris County is $1,497, while the median gross rent in the city is $1,213 per month.

Reading the Pasadena figures

Pasadena belongs to the lower tier of Texas home values: owners estimate a median of $209,600, against the state median of $318,100. Dallas reports $320,700. Tyler comes to $235,300, Odessa to $223,100, and Waco to $221,700. Killeen reports $215,400. Lubbock reports $212,400. Corpus Christi, at $210,400, sits just above Pasadena. Below it, Amarillo comes to $196,900 and El Paso to $184,500. Because these are owners' estimates rather than recorded sales, treat the small gaps in this group as ties.

The county tax read matters more than the city price. Pasadena sits in Harris County, which taxes at 1.62% of value and posts a median annual bill of $4,489, on county homes valued at a median of $276,600. Pasadena's median is well below the county's, so the same rate on a city-level home yields a lower dollar bill, but the 1.62% rate applies to every dollar of value, so it is the figure to carry into a monthly budget.

Rent is $1,213 a month at the median. Waco sits lower, at $1,165. Lubbock rent is $1,182, Killeen's $1,208. Tyler runs higher, at $1,252. Corpus Christi reaches $1,292, and Odessa $1,315. HUD's Fair Market Rent for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX HUD Metro FMR Area is $1,497 for a 2-bedroom home, with the larger home type listed at $2,017. HUD's number is a rental-assistance benchmark rather than a market median, and the census rent includes every unit size.

Of households, 54.5% own. Dallas shows 42.4%, and Waco 49.4%, both lower. Tyler reports 55.4%. Odessa's share is 59.8%, Amarillo's 59.7%, all higher. Laredo reports 64.1%, so the range among Texas cities of comparable value runs wide, and Pasadena sits toward its middle. The fact that Pasadena's median home value sits well below the county's $276,600 also means the city is a lower-priced pocket inside a large county, and that county figure should not be read as a Pasadena price.

Loan costs: in Harris County, lenders reported 35,942 loans in the 2025 HMDA data, a deep pool, that put the median loan cost at $8,540. The middle band ran from $5,777 to $12,025. Pasadena belongs to the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, ranked 5th nationally with 7,796,182 residents, and the city itself counts 149,617 people in 1 county. With a low sticker price, the loan costs and the tax rate carry much of the weight in a buyer's monthly math, so ask a lender for a written estimate and check it against the middle band above. A buyer weighing Pasadena against Dallas, or against Tyler, should compare the whole bill, tax and financing included, and not the price alone.

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 Pasadena

How much is property tax in Pasadena?

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 Pasadena?

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 Pasadena?

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 Pasadena?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Pasadena ($209,600) equals 14.4 years of the median gross rent ($1,213 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Pasadena?

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 Pasadena

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Sources

Texas · All states · Federal guides