Kemah, Texas

Population

Growing. Up 70.9% since 2020.

3,097

people, the 490th-largest of Texas's cities and towns.

Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among Texas's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates

The workday

Nearly every job here goes to someone who lives somewhere else.

98.6%

of 2,677 jobs located in Kemah are filled by in-commuters.

Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES

Rent

Median rent is up 124% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.

$1,775

a month. Texas's median is $1,403.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

The seam

Cross one tract line and median rent doubles.

A $2,564 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Galveston County.

• $937 Tract 7212.04
• $3,501 Tract 7212.05

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year

Room to build

The median rent is above what local wages can carry.

$799–$1,198

is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.

• $1,775 median

Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year

Building

57% of the housing here was built before 2000.

• 804 homes permitted in ten years, 2016–2025
• 48% of those were in multifamily buildings
• 57% of all homes were built before 2000

Census Building Permits Survey, 2016–2025; Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census Building Permits Survey, Census ACS 5-year

Units needed

Closing the gap would add 0.4–2.6% to the 1,019 homes here.

4–27

is the estimated number of missing housing units, from the lowest to the highest of three estimates.

Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac

Home value

A median home costs 1% less than Texas's.

$281,100

median home value in Kemah.

• $281,100 Kemah
• $283,800 Texas
• $332,700 U.S.

Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Survey estimates for a place this size carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year