Maybe you've been priced out of North Richland Hills or Hurst and someone mentioned Haltom City as the more affordable neighbor just to the north of Fort Worth. Maybe your company is relocating you to the DFW area and you're doing the math on where $244,636 — the typical home price in Haltom City as of July 2026 — actually goes. The honest answer is that it goes further here than almost anywhere else in Tarrant County, but that affordability has a specific shape you need to understand before you make an offer.
Haltom City's economy is grounded in school district employment, municipal jobs, food manufacturing, and medical device work — plus a large share of residents who commute roughly 20 minutes to Downtown Fort Worth and to aerospace employers in the area. The city of 45,542 people has its own employment base, but the freeway connections mean many residents look outside city limits for work. That commute dependence shapes the budget in ways housing prices alone don't capture.
On a pure price-per-square-foot basis, Haltom City sits noticeably below the DFW metro average. Groceries run slightly below the national average, and Texas's zero income tax is a genuine line-item advantage. The catches are property taxes — they are real and meaningful in Texas — and a car-dependent layout that means every adult in the household needs a vehicle and a fuel budget. Most errands mean a drive, and DFW gasoline prices have made that a more volatile budget line than it used to be.
Whether you're weighing a purchase, deciding between renting and owning, or trying to figure out how Haltom City stacks up against Fort Worth and its other neighbors, the sections below walk through housing costs, everyday essentials, the city-versus-city comparison, and the full tax picture.
What It Really Costs to Live in Haltom City
The number that defines Haltom City's affordability story is straightforward: the typical home price sits at $244,636 as of July 2026 (Zillow Home Value Index). That figure puts the city meaningfully below North Richland Hills, noticeably below Watauga, and below Richland Hills as well — a consistent pattern that makes Haltom City one of the more accessible entry points into Tarrant County's owner-occupied market.
What drives that relative affordability is mostly housing stock, not geography. The city's inventory leans toward mid-century ranch homes on modest lots rather than the newer-construction subdivisions that push prices up in surrounding cities. You are buying into an established neighborhood with mature trees and predictable layouts, not a master-planned community with HOA amenities baked into the price.
The trade-off is real, though. Day-to-day costs in the DFW area carry a metro premium on everything that isn't housing, and Haltom City is no exception. The city's median household income of $59,057 falls short of what's needed to comfortably carry the typical home here, so the affordability is genuine but not unlimited. For commuters, for two-income households, and for buyers moving in from higher-cost Texas metros, Haltom City's price point is a real advantage. For a single earner at the median income stretching to buy, the math is tighter than the headline number suggests.
Housing: Rent vs Buy in Haltom City
The city-wide typical home price of $244,636 (July 2026, Zillow Home Value Index) represents the middle of the market — what a move-in-ready three-bedroom ranch in an established part of town typically costs. Entry-level homes, primarily older construction needing some updating, start noticeably below that figure. The upper end of the local market — newer builds and larger lots in areas that run above the city median — can push well past it. For context on which neighborhoods cluster at which price tier, the Best Neighborhoods guide has the full breakdown.
The effective property tax rate in Haltom City is approximately 1.47%. That rate reflects the combined levy of multiple taxing entities: the city itself, the local school district, Tarrant County, and a hospital district. Texas voters approved an increase in the school district homestead exemption to $140,000 in November 2025, which meaningfully reduces the taxable value for owner-occupants when school district taxes are calculated — a real benefit for buyers who intend to make this their primary residence.
Renting remains a viable alternative. The city-wide typical rent runs $1,378 per month (Zillow ZORI, July 2026), which is among the lower rent baselines in the immediate DFW area. Renting makes the most sense for people who are new to the area and want 12 months to learn which neighborhoods feel right before committing, or for households whose income would require stretching uncomfortably to cover a mortgage plus property taxes. Buying makes sense for anyone planning to stay five or more years and who can handle the upfront carrying costs — at this price level, building equity in a no-income-tax state has a compounding effect that is hard to replicate renting.
The calculator below will calculate your estimated monthly payment based on current rates and your down payment — use it to pressure-test the specific price point you're targeting.
Everyday Costs Beyond Housing in Haltom City
| Category | Typical Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Housing (typical rent) | $1,378/mo | City-wide typical rent. Buying? Use the calculator above for a mortgage estimate. |
| Utilities | $190–$280/mo | Electricity, gas, water, sewer, trash |
| Groceries | $520–$720/mo | Food at home, household of 2–3 |
| Transportation & Gas | $200–$340/mo | Fuel, and transit where it is a real option |
| Phone & Internet | $110–$185/mo | Mobile plan plus home broadband |
| Misc / Discretionary | $220–$450/mo | Dining out, entertainment, subscriptions |
Non-housing figures are estimates for a household of two to three, not a sourced index; housing is the city-wide typical rent (Zillow ZORI, July 2026). Refreshed with the rest of the city data.
Haltom City's climate is the biggest wild card in the non-housing budget. With 230 sunny days a year and genuine Texas summers, cooling costs are substantial. Residents in Texas's deregulated electricity market choose their own retail supplier — the local utility handles the wires, but you select the rate plan — and locking in the wrong plan is a budget mistake that compounds monthly through a long DFW summer. Compare plans before you sign a lease or close on a home.
Groceries are exempt from Texas sales tax, which takes some sting out of the 8.25% combined sales tax rate the city otherwise applies to most purchases. Fort Worth-area grocery prices run slightly below the national average. The bigger ongoing cost for most households is transportation. Most errands in Haltom City mean a drive, and every adult commuter needs a car. DFW gasoline prices rose substantially over the past year, making the fuel line in any household budget a genuinely volatile one.
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Haltom City vs Nearby Cities: Cost Comparison
| City | Typical Home Price | Typical Rent | Cost vs Haltom City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haltom City (this city) | $244,636 | $1,378/mo | — |
| North Richland Hills | $370,431 | $1,545/mo | 51% higher |
| Watauga | $276,575 | $2,039/mo | 13% higher |
| Richland Hills | $275,000 | $1,300/mo | 12% higher |
Source — home prices: Zillow ZHVI, July 2026; rent: Zillow ZORI, July 2026. Nearby-city figures are the same series, refreshed together.
Haltom City consistently comes in below its immediate neighbors on housing costs, but the gap varies meaningfully depending on which city you're comparing — the table below shows how the numbers stack up across the cities buyers most often weigh against each other in this part of Tarrant County.
Taxes & the Bottom Line for Haltom City
Texas's most consequential tax advantage is the one everyone already knows: no state personal income tax. For a household earning the city's median of $59,057, the absence of a state income tax — which in comparable states can run 4% to 6% or more — represents real take-home pay that stays in the budget rather than going to Austin.
Sales tax in Haltom City totals 8.25%, assembled from the 6.25% Texas state rate, a 1.75% city rate, and a 0.25% special district levy. No Tarrant County sales tax applies on top of that. The rate sounds high against states with no sales tax, but groceries are fully exempt — so routine food shopping is untouched by it. Most clothing and household purchases are where the 8.25% actually lands.
Property tax is the honest counterweight to the income-tax advantage. At approximately 1.47% effective, it is not punitive by national standards, but it is real and inescapable as a carrying cost for owners. Several taxing entities layer together to produce that rate — city, school district, county, hospital district — which is why Texas property taxes often surprise buyers who focus only on the headline home price. The $140,000 school district homestead exemption approved by Texas voters in November 2025 helps owner-occupants at the typical price point here, but it does not eliminate the underlying rate.
Whose budget does Haltom City fit? Households earning above the city median who are priced out of North Richland Hills or Hurst, two-income couples buying their first Texas home, and renters who want to own without stretching into a six-figure-down-payment situation. The city tends to be a harder fit for single earners at or below $59,057 targeting the typical home price, and for anyone expecting walkable streets or transit access — most errands mean a drive, and that car will cost more to fuel than it did a year ago. For the right household, though, Haltom City's combination of below-median DFW pricing, no income tax, and a short drive to Fort Worth's employment base is a genuinely strong deal. For the full picture on schools, see the Haltom City schools guide; for the commute and neighborhood details that shape the daily-life math, see what it's like to live in Haltom City.
Local Expert Takeaway: Haltom City's affordability is real, but it is not frictionless. The typical home price is genuinely lower than every immediate neighbor, groceries are tax-exempt, and the no-income-tax advantage compounds over time. What eats into those savings is the property tax rate — multiple taxing entities stack together to about 1.47% effective — and a car-dependent layout that makes vehicle ownership and fuel costs a non-negotiable budget line for every adult in the household. The buyers who come out ahead here are those who price in all three of those lines before they sign, not just the purchase price.
Quick Takeaways & FAQs
✅ The typical Haltom City home price of $244,636 (July 2026) comes in noticeably below North Richland Hills, Watauga, and Richland Hills — making it one of the more accessible entry points in Tarrant County.
⚠️ Haltom City's layout means most errands require a drive, so every adult in the household needs a car — and rising DFW fuel prices make that a meaningful ongoing budget line.
📍 Texas's $140,000 school district homestead exemption, approved by voters in November 2025, meaningfully reduces the taxable value of a primary residence for school district tax purposes — a real benefit for owner-occupants at Haltom City's typical price point.
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