Travel nurse housing in Houston: a furnished apartment living room near the Texas Medical Center with an open kitchen and city views

Travel Nurse Housing in Houston, TX: Costs and Where to Live Near TMC

Travel nurse housing in Houston ran $600 to $6,000 a month in asking rents on one listing site, CircleRN, on October 20, 2026, against a federal lodging rate of $133 a night (GSA FY2027 per diem for Houston). HUD's FY2027 fair market rent for a regular one-bedroom lease in ZIP 77030, home of Texas Children's main campus, is $1,720 a month.

Texas Children's, Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, Baylor St. Luke's and MD Anderson are on the Texas Medical Center's member list, and the METRORail Red Line runs through the campus, so where you live mostly decides how you get to work.

What travel nurse housing costs in Houston

Housing type	Cost	Source (read October 20, 2026)
Federal lodging rate (benchmark)	$133 a night ($3,990 for 30 nights)	GSA FY2027 per diem, Houston
Regular one-bedroom lease (benchmark)	$1,720 a month in ZIP 77030	HUD FY2027 Small Area Fair Market Rents
Private room	Median $1,075 a month	CircleRN asking rents
Entire furnished place	Median $2,650 a month	CircleRN asking rents
All 66 furnished rentals listed	$600 to $6,000 a month; median $1,625	CircleRN asking rents
Hotel or extended-stay hotel	Ask each hotel for its 30-night rate	Rates vary by property and date

CircleRN figures are asking rents on October 20, 2026, not what nurses paid. HUD's fair market rent is its estimate of the 40th-percentile rent, utilities included, paid by recent movers. Several hotels on MD Anderson's lodging list (last updated July 2026) say their medical rates "are for patients, family members and caregivers".

Where travel nurses find housing in Houston

Travel-nurse listing sites. Travel Nurse Housing and CircleRN list furnished rooms and entire places, priced by the month.
Sublet platforms. RotatingRoom lists furnished sublets for travel nurses and medical students.
Facebook groups. Search Facebook for Houston travel-nurse housing groups.
Furnished-apartment and corporate housing companies. Landing is one that lists furnished apartments in Houston.
Extended-stay hotels. No lease, so they work for the first weeks while you look in person.

See the place, or get a live video tour, before you send a deposit.

Travel nurse in scrubs arriving with a suitcase at a modern furnished apartment building in Houston near the Texas Medical Center

Which area fits your TMC hospital

METRO's Red Line destination list puts Texas Children's Hospital and O'Quinn Medical Tower at St. Luke's at the Dryden/TMC station, Memorial Hermann Hospital at the Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo station, and Houston Methodist Hospital at Bertner @ Wilkins. Trains run every 6 minutes on weekdays and every 12 on weekends for most hours, from before 5 a.m. to after midnight. For MD Anderson, use MD Anderson's own directions for your building.

Medical Center: every TMC hospital

Walk or shuttle

Living on or next to the campus means walking, or riding TMC's free weekday shuttle between buildings. More on the area: Medical Center neighborhood guide.

Museum District and Midtown: Memorial Hermann, Texas Children's, St. Luke's

Red Line north

The Museum District station is three stops north of Dryden/TMC, with Hermann Park/Rice U and Memorial Hermann Hospital/Houston Zoo in between. Ensemble/HCC, the station METRO lists for Midtown, is five stops north. Either is one train ride, no transfer. See the Midtown guide.

West University Place, Greenway Plaza and Montrose: any TMC hospital by car

By car

None of these areas has a Red Line station, so plan on driving or a bus. Price in hospital parking (below) and time the drive at your shift-change hours before you sign. Most of West University Place is in ZIP 77005 (Census ZIP code tabulation areas), where HUD's FY2027 benchmark for a regular one-bedroom lease is $1,880 a month.

NRG Park and the Astrodome area: any TMC hospital by rail from the south

Red Line south

The Red Line continues south from TMC Transit Center to Smith Lands, Stadium Park/Astrodome and Fannin South, where METRO runs a park-and-ride lot with public parking. Stadium Park/Astrodome is two stops south of TMC Transit Center.

Your housing stipend against Houston prices

The GSA lodging rate in the table, plus $80 a day for meals and incidentals ($60 on the first and last travel days), is what federal employees receive when they travel to Houston (Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties) from October 1, 2026. Both CircleRN medians sit under the 30-night lodging total, so put the housing figure in your offer next to these numbers.

Why the GSA rate matters: under IRS Rev. Proc. 2019-48 (section 4.01), when an employer pays a per diem allowance instead of reimbursing actual lodging, meal and incidental costs for an employee traveling away from home, the amount deemed substantiated for each day is the lesser of the allowance or the federal per diem rate for that area. Whether a stipend is tax-free depends on a tax home and a temporary assignment; see "Temporary assignment vs. indefinite assignment" in IRS Publication 463. This is not tax advice.

Houston METRORail Red Line train at a Texas Medical Center station with a nurse in scrubs boarding and TMC hospital buildings in the background

Renting in Houston as a travel nurse

Parking and getting to TMC

METRORail

The regular fare is $1.25 a ride, and a $3 Day Pass covers unlimited local bus and METRORail rides.

TMC shuttle

Free for patients, visitors and employees inside the campus. On weekdays the Red route runs 6 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 8 p.m., and the Green route 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; the shuttles do not run on Saturdays, Sundays or TMC holidays.

Parking

TMC's visitor Prepaid Value Pass deducts at most $20 per 24-hour period ($52 buys $60 of parking; $100 buys $115). Monthly contract parking runs $101 to $383 a month before sales tax (2026 Contract Parking Guide); the $101 Smith Lands remote lots include free METRORail rides within the TMC area, and an off-peak contract covers 4:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. Ask your hospital or agency whether employee parking comes with the assignment.

Before you sign

Utilities and Wi-Fi in writing. Which ones are included, and whether there is a cap on electricity.

Parking. Whether a space is included, whether it is covered, and what it costs if not. Ask how old the A/C system is if your assignment runs through the summer.

Night-shift sleep. Blackout curtains, quiet hours, and a bedroom that does not face a busy street.

Extension and early-end terms. Assignments get extended and cancelled. Get month-to-month or a term that matches your contract, plus the notice and any fee to leave early, in the agreement.

Flood zone. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and ask whether the unit or the parking garage has flooded before.

Hotel tax. Ask whether Houston's 17% hotel tax is added; if you will stay 30 or more consecutive days, give written notice at check-in (the rule is in the hotel-tax answer below and on our Texas hotel tax page).

Common questions about travel nurse housing in Houston

Do travel nurses get their housing covered?

Your agency contract says whether housing is arranged for you or paid as a stipend. If housing is offered, ask for the address, the unit type and whether it is shared, and compare it with the benchmarks above.

Do I need a car for a travel nurse assignment at TMC?

Not if you live near a METRORail Red Line station. From West University Place, Greenway Plaza or Montrose, which have no Red Line station, plan on driving or a bus.

Do travel nurses pay hotel tax in Houston?

Yes, on lodging rented for less than 30 consecutive days: hotels and motels, including extended-stay hotels, and bed and breakfasts, condos, apartments or houses rented short-term. Houston's combined rate is 17% (6% state, 7% City of Houston, 2% Harris County, 2% Harris County Houston Sports Authority, per Houston First). Tell the property in writing that you will stay 30 or more consecutive days and you are exempt from check-in as long as you actually stay the 30 days; if the assignment ends sooner, the tax is due. Without written notice you pay the tax on nights 1 to 30 and are exempt after that (Comptroller Publication 96-224). A hotel may still collect the tax and refund or credit it later, and any interruption in the stay voids the exemption (Comptroller hotel tax FAQ). An apartment leased for more than 30 consecutive days is not subject to hotel tax.

Is a travel nurse housing stipend tax-free?

It can be, if you travel away from your tax home on a temporary assignment. IRS Publication 463 defines your tax home as your regular place of business or post of duty; an assignment in one place realistically expected to last, and that does last, 1 year or less is generally temporary, while an indefinite one becomes your new tax home. With no regular place of business and no place you regularly live, you are an itinerant and your tax home is wherever you work. This is not tax advice; ask a tax professional.

Where these numbers come from

Sources (read October 20, 2026)

By the RelocateMeTX Editorial Team · Reviewed October 20, 2026 How we source our data →

This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional financial, legal, or medical advice.