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Channelview.

All Channelview data Compare Channelview

43,605people live here $64,422median household income▼ 20% below US $1,279median rent per monthNear US average $195,900median home value▼ 41% below US

Channelview is an unincorporated community in Harris County, TX. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Channelview

Channelview is an unincorporated community in Texas with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Channelview deals with household incomes below the national average, commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and college degree attainment below the national average.

The good

Rent below the national average
Affordable home prices
Average class sizes

The not so good

Below-average household incomes
Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Low college degree attainment
High poverty rate
Hot summers

How Channelview compares

Median household income

Channelview$64,422

Texas avg$78,476

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Channelview$1,279

Texas avg$1,403

US$1,413

Median home value

Channelview$195,900

Texas avg$283,800

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Channelview

Based on Channelview's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,558

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $51,160 a year
46% of Channelview renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$39,180

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $19,590
Homes cost 3.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,279/mo median rent

Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,279 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $195,900. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $195,900 · 46% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.5% county unemployment

Unemployment in Harris County is 4.5%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Harris County (county-wide)

Safety

316 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Channelview doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Harris County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs close to the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1362/100k · Policed by Harris County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 15% above US

30 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 7% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

81%

Carpool

9.5%

Work from home

6.7%

Other

2.3%

Public transit

0.4%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 93°F, and winters are mild, with lows rarely dropping below 46°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 58% below US

15% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

12 public schools inside the boundary

There are 12 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 16:1, close to the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Big Thicket National Preserve (64 miles away).

Bottom line

Channelview's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and commute times longer than most cities. A year of median rent ($1,279/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Channelview →·All Texas cities →