Texas, The Land Of Millionaire Renters — Houston & Dallas Lead the Country In Growth Of 7-Figure Individuals Who Choose To Rent

You don’t need to own a home to live in luxury. Certainly not in Texas. And the days of anyone looking down on renters should be long over. Chances are those renters just might be millionaires. Especially in the Lone Star State, where everything is always bigger, including the bank accounts of those renting.

In Texas, a record number of millionaires are now choosing to rent instead of buy.

A new RentCafe study ranks Houston as the No. 1 metro area in the United States for millionaire renters growth. Close on the heels of H-Town, Dallas ranks  No.2 for renter millionaires growth, with Austin also cracking the Top 20.

In 2019, Space City was home to only seven millionaire renters, but that number skyrocketed to 179 in 2023, the latest year where full data is available. The number of renter and homeowner households in the $1 million and above category increased between 2019 and 2023 by 204 percent for renters and 169 percent for homeowners. This trend makes Houston the fastest-growing millionaire renter market in the entire country.

In just five years, the number of Houston millionaire renters has increased 25 times over. That means one in every 18 millionaires in Houston is now renting, marking a huge jump from the one in 118 mark back in 2019.

What’s driving this boom in the luxury rental market? Many wealthy Americans are rethinking the white-picket-fence lifestyle, instead choosing flexibility, luxury amenities and low maintenance living over buying a home. Having more high-end apartments suitable for a millionaire lifestyle is also shifting things. High-rise towers such as 2811 Maple, the tallest residential building in Uptown Dallas, stretching up 31 floors developed by Crescent Real Estate LLC, are game changers in their own right. Designed by renowned skyscraper whisperer Richard Keating with amenities galore, rents range from $4,175 to $19,500 (for the penthouses) a month in 2811 Maple.

Houston has its own roster of luxury apartment towers, from The Residences at La Colombe d’Or (where rents range from $2,524 to $20,844 a month) to Hanover Autry Park and Aspire Post Oak (where rents range from $2,165 to $15,250 a month) and many more. This new age of plush high-rises are as nice or nicer than many buy-in condo towers.

Renters are also looking for sun and Southern hospitality making Houston a hot commodity among millionaires. Millennials are leading the millionaire renter trend, with the number of millennial millionaires choosing to rent up 60 percent since 2019.

Living large is still very much a Texas thing. Only now, it includes renting the millionaire way.