Why You Should Apply For Housing Outside Of Houston

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Before you or a family member applies for housing in Houston, consider reading this article, or potentially subject yourself to disappointment and lots and lots AND LOTS of wasted time.

In this article, I will not only tell you why you should apply for housing outside of Houston, but I will also give you alternative housing authorities to apply at.

Why You Should Apply For Housing Outside Of Houston

The short answer is that you will be waitlisted for at least 2 years if you apply for housing in Houston.

The reason being is Houston has a HUGE population. By 2020 the population is expected to grow to 7.1 million people.

The reason this matters is the larger the city, the more people who need housing. The more people who need housing in a city means there is a larger/longer waitlist.

You Will Wait At Least 2 Years For Housing In Houston

If you were to apply for housing via Houston Housing Authority or Harris County Housing Authority you would wait at least 2 years.

Below is a table of the Houston Housing Authorities Annual Plan.

The annual plan provides important details like the number of families on the waitlist and the Annual Turnover. The Annual Turnover essentially means the number of people who are placed in housing for the year.

You can use the number of families on the waitlist and the Annual Turnover to estimate the amount of time you would be on a waitlist.

To estimate your stay on the waitlist you need to take the number of families on the waitlist which is 11,301 and divide this by the Annual Turnover which is 4,747.

Here is what you should type in your calculator:

11,301  ÷  4,747 = 2.38

This means you would be on the waitlist for approximately 2 years and 4 months.

The Smaller The Population, The Smaller The Housing Waitlist

If you want to move up a housing waitlist as fast as possible, you need to find the shortest waitlists. That being said:

The smaller housing waitlists are going to be in the least populated cities. 

To avoid housing waitlists of 2 or more years you should consider applying for housing at housing authorities in cities and counties just outside of Houston/Harris County.

In the next section, I will provide you with a listing of housing authorities you can use as alternatives to Houston or Harris County housing authorities.

Use These Texas Housing Authorities As Alternatives For Housing

Below is a map and list of alternatives for housing outside of Houston/Harris County.

Something that should be noted is that you can apply for housing in any city, county or state in the United States. The only drawback is that local residents will be a higher priority for housing over anyone applying from outside the community.

You can also apply for housing at multiple housing authorities. The more housing authorities you contact,  the faster you’ll receive housing benefits.

• Houston Housing Authority – 2640 Fountain View Dr, Houston, TX 77057 – 713.260.0500 – Population of 2.3 million
• Harris County Housing Authority – 8933 Interchange Dr, Houston, TX 77054 – 713.578.2100 – Population of 4.6 million
• Baytown Housing Authority – 1805 Cedar Bayou Rd, Baytown, TX – 281.427.6686 – Population of 76,804
• Beaumont Housing Authority – 1890 Laurel Ave, Beaumont, TX 77701 – 409.951.7200 – Population of 119,114
• Austin Housing Authority – 1124 S. IH 35, Austin, TX 78704 – 512.477.4488 – Population of 950,715
• Brazoria Housing Authority – 1524 E. Mulberry St, Angleton, TX 979.864.1427 – Population 362,457
• El Campo Housing Authority – 1303 Delta St, El Campo, TX 77437 – 979.543.6991 – Population 11,751
• Fort Worth Housing Authority – 1201 East 13th St, Fort Worth, TX 76102 – 817.333.3400 – Population 874,168
• Dallas Housing Authority – 3939 N. Hampton Rd, Dallas, TX 75212 – 214.951.8300 – Population 1.3 million
• Galveston Housing Authority – 4700 Broadway Avenue J #A100, Galveston, TX 77551 – 409.765.1900 – Population 50,497
• Liberty Housing Authority – 2103 Cos St, Liberty, TX 77575 – 936.336.4558 ext 4 – Population 83,658
• Montgomery County Housing Authority – 1500 N. Frazier St, Conroe, TX 77301 – 936.441.5816 – Population 570,934
• Pasadena Housing Authority – 1114 Davis St, Pasadena, TX 77506 – 713.475.5544 – Population 152,281
• Rosenberg Housing Authority – 117 Lane, Dr, Rosenberg, TX 77471 – 281.342.1456 – Population 37,661
• San Antonio Housing Authority – 818 S. Flores St, San Antonio, TX 78204 – 210.477.6000 – Population 1.49 million
• Tarrant Housing Authority – 2100 Circle Dr #200, Forth Worth, TX 76119 – 817.531.7640 – Population 2.05 million
• Arlington Housing Authority – 501 W. Sanford, #20 Arlington 76011 (817) 275-3351 arlingtonhousing.us – Population 396,394
• Bastrop Housing Authority – P.O. Box 707 Bastrop 78602 (512) 321-3398 – Population 8,802
• Bay City Housing Authority – 3012 Sycamore Bay City 77414 (979) 245- baycitypha.org – Population 17,528
• Bexar County Housing Authority 1954 E. Houston, #104 San Antonio 78202 (210) 225-0071 – habctx.org – Population 1.95 million
• Brazos Valley Council of Governments – P. O. Drawer 4128 Bryan 77805 (979) 595-2800 x2081 –  bvcog.org – Population 222,830
• Brenham Housing Authority –  P. O. Box 623 Brenham 77834-0623 (979) 836-9221 – brenhamhousing.org – Population 16, 951
• Bryan Housing Authority – 1306 Beck Street Bryan 77803 (979) 822-2013 – bryanhousing.org  – Population 84,021
• Buffalo Housing Authority – P. O. Drawer L Buffalo 75831 (903) 322-3654 –  Population 1,892
• Centerville Housing Authority – P. O. Box 249 Centerville 75833 (903) 536-2378 hacc68@hotmail.com – Population 899

• Cleveland Housing Authority – 801 S. Franklin Cleveland 77327 (281) 593-1159 clevelandhousingauthority@yahoo.com – Population 7,731
• Corpus Christi Housing Authority –  3701 Ayers Corpus Christi 78415 (361) 889-3300 – hacc.org  – Population 325,733
• Dayton Housing Authority – 2502 N. Winfree Dayton 77535 (936) 258-5372 daytonhousing@outlook.com –  Population 7,969
• Huntsville Housing Authority – 299 MLK Blvd. #1 Huntsville 77320 (936) 294-0277 – Population 41,277
• Jefferson Housing Authority – 505 St. Hwy 49 Jefferson 75657 (903) 665-2671 – Population 256,299
• Killeen Housing Authority –  101 E. Avenue B Killeen 76541 (254) 394-0160 – killeenha.org – Population 145,482
• Liberty Co. Housing Authority –  2103 Cos Street, Room 103 Liberty 77575 (936) 336-4558 co.liberty.tx.us – Population 83,658
• Madisonville Housing Authority – 601 S. Madison Madisonville 77864 (936) 348-6346 nctv.com – Population 4,672
• McKinney Housing Authority – 603 N. Tennessee St. McKinney 75069 (972) 542-5641 – mckinneyha.org – Population 181,330
• NacogdochesHousing Authority –  715 Summit Street Nacogdoches 75961 (936) 569-1131- nactxha.org – Population 33,614
• Navasota Housing Authority – P. O. Box 967 Navasota 77868 (936) 825-7024 – 9,151
• New Braunfels Hsg. Authority – P. O. Box 310906 New Braunfels 78131-0906 (830) 625-6909 nbhatx.us Population 79,152
• Orange Housing Authority – P. O. Box 3107 Orange 77631 (409) 883-5882- hacotx.com – Population 19, 072
• Plano Housing Authority –  1740 Ave G Plano 75074 (972) 423-4928 –planoha.org – Population 286,143
• Port Arthur Housing Authority – P. O. Box 2295 Port Arthur 77643-2295 (409) 982-6442 – pahousing.org – Population 53,937
• Round Rock Housing Authority – 1505 Lance Lane Round Rock 78664 (512) 255-3702 – taylorha.org – Population 123,678
• San Marcos Housing Authority – 1201 Thorpe Lane San Marcos 78666 (512) 353-5058 – Population 63,071
• Travis County Housing Authority – 502 Highland Mall Blvd, Suite 106-B Austin 78752 (512) 854-8245 – traviscountytx.gov – Population 1.22 million
• Waco Housing Authority – P. O. Box 978 Waco 76703-0978 (254) 752-0324 – wacopha.org – Population 136,436

Conclusion

This article was not meant to disparage Houston or Harris County Housing Authorities, because both agencies do good work in our community. That being said there isn’t enough of their good work to serve everyone needing housing in Houston. For that reason, people need alternative options which was the intent of this article.

Most people I speak with prefer housing sooner rather than later. To move up a housing waitlist sooner, you need to find shorter housing waitlists.  Those shorter waitlists are found in cities and counties with smaller populations.

Lastly, if you have been on a housing waitlist for months and you are open to moving outside of your city, contacting some of the housing authorities listed above is one way to obtain housing faster.