Even on the area’s higher pay, Shenandoah costs more to live in than 91% of U.S. towns
It ranks #559 of 642 in Texas for affordability. Down 2.1% in a year, 41% above the Texas typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area ($82K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Shenandoah’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($82K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 13% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 67% of renters.
In dollars
- $417Ktypical home, 41% above the Texas typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $1,940a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 99prices across the Houston metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 105)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 4.8 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$82K, Houston-area income
- 21%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 67%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Texas: 52%Census 2020–24
- 13%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
What Shenandoah’s housing numbers say
About two in three renters are stretched
67% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent, against 52% across Texas. A standard two-bedroom would take 38% of the median household income. Renting ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Shenandoah permitted 86 new homes in 2022, against about 26 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 1. New homes ↓
New building is almost all single-family houses
Of the 317 homes permitted in Shenandoah’s past 10 years, every one was a single-family house. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for May 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Shenandoah’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Shenandoah is more affordable than 9% of U.S. towns, #559 of 642 in Texas. The share of households paying 30%+ for housing pulls the grade down most; rent holds it up.
Values have outpaced Texas: the typical Shenandoah home is up 24.9% in five years, against 10.1% statewide (Zillow).
Up 24.9% in five years
Faster than Texas (10.1%).
Show as a table
| January | Shenandoah | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $278,000 | $188,000 |
| 2018 | $281,000 | $200,000 |
| 2019 | $285,000 | $212,000 |
| 2020 | $287,000 | $221,000 |
| 2021 | $305,000 | $240,000 |
| 2022 | $352,000 | $284,000 |
| 2023 | $381,000 | $310,000 |
| 2024 | $400,000 | $308,000 |
| 2025 | $414,000 | $308,000 |
| 2026 | $429,000 | $300,000 |
| September 2026 | $417,000 | $296,000 |
A typical Shenandoah home worth $274K in October 2016 is worth about $417K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 5 homes sold in May 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A typical home costs 4.8 years of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Shenandoah’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $108K short of a typical Shenandoah home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,940 a month here, $640 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Shenandoah’s typical property tax (1.14% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,940
Renters already here pay a median of $1,418, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
1 new home permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 1 new home in Shenandoah in 2025. That's 0.3 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Texas (8.1). Over the past 10 years, Shenandoah has permitted 317 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Shenandoah gained 1,365 residents while 455 new homes were permitted: about 3 new residents per new home, about the same as across Texas (2.6).
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $810,000 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2023 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $2 million |
| 2022 | 86 | 86 | 0 | $24.5 million |
| 2021 | 45 | 45 | 0 | $12.5 million |
| 2020 | 51 | 51 | 0 | $15.9 million |
| 2019 | 63 | 63 | 0 | $18.7 million |
| 2018 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $9.6 million |
| 2017 | 24 | 24 | 0 | $8 million |
| 2016 | 17 | 17 | 0 | $4.9 million |
| 2015 | 52 | 52 | 0 | $18.4 million |
| 2014 | 54 | 54 | 0 | $24.7 million |
| 2013 | 49 | 49 | 0 | $19.3 million |
| 2012 | 72 | 72 | 0 | $23.9 million |
| 2011 | 68 | 68 | 0 | $27.3 million |
| 2010 | 34 | 34 | 0 | $11.7 million |
| 2009 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $4.6 million |
| 2008 | 25 | 25 | 0 | $5.4 million |
| 2007 | 20 | 20 | 0 | $4.6 million |
| 2006 | 37 | 37 | 0 | $11 million |
| 2005 | 57 | 57 | 0 | $17.6 million |
| 2004 | 60 | 60 | 0 | $14.7 million |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
High tax bills, but a low tax rate
The median bill is $4,511 (Texas: $4,232), because homes cost more. As a share of value it’s 1.14% a year, against 1.49% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Shenandoah
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area, or Texas. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 99 | TX 97 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 101 | TX 98 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 95 | TX 88 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 96 | TX 97 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Shenandoah vs. its neighbors
Of the 1 towns here with a Zillow value, Shenandoah has the lowest. The Woodlands has no Zillow value, so it is in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shenandoah | D | $417K | $395K | 1.14% | $1,940 |
| The Woodlands | D | — | $512K | 1.58% | $2,060 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Shenandoah
Is Shenandoah expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Shenandoah costs more than 91% of U.S. towns: a D for cost of living, #559 of 642 in Texas. The typical home costs 4.8 years of the median household income of the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metro area ($82K).
How much does a house cost in Shenandoah?
About $417K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, down 2.1% in a year. The Texas typical home is $296K.
What salary do you need to live in Shenandoah?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $111,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $2,580 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $78,000.
How much is rent in Shenandoah?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,940 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,418 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Shenandoah?
The median bill is $4,511 a year, 1.14% of the median home value (Texas: $4,232, 1.49%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Shenandoah going up?
No: down 2.1% in the past year and 24.9% in five years, against 10.1% across Texas (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Shenandoah buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, May 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.