Odessa Home Prices: $252K, Up 2.7% — 6 ZIPs Analyzed (2026)

April 28, 2026 · 8 min read

$251,615. That is what a typical home in Odessa costs as of February 2026. Prices are up 2.7% from a year ago, and they have climbed every single month since last September.

Quick answer: The average home price in Odessa, TX is $251,615 as of February 2026, up 2.7% year over year according to Zillow.

Current Home Prices in Odessa

The Odessa market is moving up, but slowly. The typical home is worth $251,615. A year ago that number was about 2.7% lower. Compared to most Texas metros, Odessa stays well below the state median for major cities.

You should expect a wide spread depending on the neighborhood. The cheapest ZIP code in town sits at $207,805. The priciest one runs $330,554 — almost $123,000 more for the same city.

Metric Value
Median home value $251,615
Year-over-year change +2.7%
Lowest ZIP value $207,805
Highest ZIP value $330,554
ZIP codes tracked 6
Data through February 2026

The story here is the gap. A buyer in Odessa is really shopping two markets — the under-$220K east side and the $300K+ west side. The 2.7% annual gain is gentle compared to the boom years, but it beats the flat or declining numbers showing up in larger Texas cities right now.

For context, the median home in Odessa is up roughly $6,500 over twelve months. That is a steady drift, not a surge. If you are watching the market for a buying window, this is the kind of pace where you can take your time and compare neighborhoods without watching listings disappear in a weekend.

Odessa Home Prices by Neighborhood

Six ZIP codes cover the city. The price range between them is the widest single fact in the Odessa data.

ZIP Median Home Value vs. City Median
79765 $330,554 +31%
79766 $274,990 +9%
79762 $259,372 +3%
79764 $226,265 -10%
79763 $210,705 -16%
79761 $207,805 -17%

Most Expensive

79765 leads at $330,554, more than $55,000 above the next ZIP. Rent here runs $1,869 a month, also the highest in the city — a sign of newer or larger housing stock.

79766 sits at $274,990, the second-most-expensive area and the only other ZIP above the city median by a meaningful margin.

79762 comes in at $259,372, just barely above the citywide median. Rent here averages $1,550, putting it firmly in the mid-tier.

Most Affordable

79761 is the cheapest ZIP at $207,805. Rent matches that profile at $1,258 a month — the lowest figure available in the data.

79763 is just above 79761 at $210,705. The two cheapest ZIPs are within $3,000 of each other, suggesting a similar housing profile.

79764 rounds out the affordable tier at $226,265, about 10% below the city median.

Odessa home value trend chart

Odessa home values by ZIP code

Rent vs Buy in Odessa

Rent data is available for three of the six Odessa ZIPs. The numbers tell a clear story.

ZIP Median Rent Median Home Value
79761 $1,258 $207,805
79762 $1,550 $259,372
79765 $1,869 $330,554

Renting wins on monthly cash flow in every case. A $251,615 mortgage at typical 2026 rates — even with 20% down — runs well above $1,500 a month before taxes and insurance. Add property tax (Texas has no state income tax but high property tax) and insurance, and the gap widens further.

In 79761, the math is starkest. You can rent a typical home for $1,258. Buying that same home with a 20% down payment would mean roughly $166,000 financed, plus Texas property taxes that often run 2-2.5% of assessed value annually. The monthly cost of ownership likely lands $400-$600 above the rent figure.

That does not make buying wrong. It makes the breakeven point longer. If you plan to stay five years or more, the equity build-up tilts the math the other way. If you are unsure how long you will be in Odessa, renting is the safer answer in 2026.

Population Growth and Migration

Odessa is growing. The city counted 114,934 residents in 2020 and 119,748 in 2024 — a 4.2% gain over four years.

Year Population
2020 114,934
2021 112,210
2022 113,304
2023 116,402
2024 119,748

Note the dip. Odessa lost residents between 2020 and 2021 — likely tied to the oil price crash that hit the Permian Basin economy. The recovery started in 2022 and accelerated through 2024. The city now has more people than it did pre-pandemic.

Compared to other Texas cities, Odessa’s growth is middle of the pack:

City 2024 Population 4-Year Growth
Fort Worth 1,008,106 +9.1%
San Antonio 1,526,656 +6.1%
Lubbock 272,086 +5.4%
Odessa 119,748 +4.2%
Houston 2,390,125 +4.0%
Austin 993,588 +2.9%

Odessa is growing faster than Houston and Austin in percentage terms, slower than Fort Worth and San Antonio. For housing demand, 4.2% growth over four years means roughly 1,200 new residents a year — a steady pull on inventory but not the kind of pressure that produces double-digit price gains.

The 12-month trend shows a market that bottomed in spring 2025 and has climbed steadily since.

Month Median Value
2026-02 $251,615
2026-01 $249,142
2025-12 $246,819
2025-11 $245,051
2025-10 $243,563
2025-09 $243,202
2025-08 $243,416
2025-07 $243,671
2025-06 $243,834
2025-05 $244,144
2025-04 $244,843
2025-03 $245,088

Read it bottom up. Prices drifted down from $245,088 in March 2025 to $243,202 in September — a small but consistent slide. Then the trend flipped. Every month from October onward shows a higher number than the one before. The five-month gain from September to February is about $8,400, or 3.5%.

That is meaningful momentum. The recent months are pulling the year-over-year figure into positive territory. If you compared today’s price to the September low, the gain is steeper than the headline 2.7% suggests.

Is Odessa a Good Place to Buy in 2026?

The data tilts slightly toward sellers but not by much. Prices are rising. Inventory by ZIP is uneven. The cheapest neighborhoods (79761, 79763) sit at price points that work for first-time buyers in a way few Texas markets still allow.

For buyers, the upside is selection across price tiers. You can choose a $208K home in 79761 or a $330K home in 79765 within the same city limits. That kind of range is rare in markets growing faster.

For sellers, the rising five-month trend gives you room to price firmly. Listing at or just above the most recent ZIP-level median is reasonable.

The biggest risk for either side is the Permian Basin oil cycle. Odessa’s population dipped after 2020 and rebounded with energy prices. The local economy moves with crude. If oil softens significantly, the population and price trend can reverse — as they did in 2021.

Odessa Housing Market Outlook for 2026-2027

The 3-month trend shows acceleration. November to February added $6,564 in median value, the steepest stretch in the past year.

If the current pace continues, you should expect the median to push past $255,000 by mid-2026. That is not a forecast — it is what extrapolating the recent slope produces.

The slower read of the data is more useful. The 12-month gain is 2.7%. The five-month gain since the September trough annualizes to roughly 8.4%. The truth is probably between those two figures — somewhere in the 4-6% range over the next year, assuming oil prices and Permian Basin employment hold steady.

A reversal is possible if energy prices weaken. Odessa’s 2021 population dip is a reminder that this market does not move in one direction.

Similar Markets in TX

If Odessa is not the right fit, these Texas cities show up in our database:

  • El Paso — another west Texas market with a different economic mix.
  • Houston — much larger, much more diverse, with bigger price spread.
  • San Antonio — a major metro option if you want urban scale and steady price action.
  • Brownsville — a south Texas market often priced lower than mid-state options.
  • Dallas — for buyers willing to trade Odessa’s affordability for a deeper job market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average home price in Odessa?

The average home price in Odessa, TX is $251,615 as of February 2026. That number is the Zillow Home Value Index across the six ZIP codes that make up the city. Individual ZIPs range from $207,805 to $330,554.

Are home prices going up or down in Odessa?

Prices are up 2.7% year over year. More importantly, every month since September 2025 has been higher than the one before. The recent five-month gain alone is about $8,400.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Odessa?

Renting is cheaper on a monthly basis in every ZIP where rent data is available. Typical rent in 79761 is $1,258, while a mortgage on the $251,615 median home — with property taxes — runs well above that. Buying makes more sense if you plan to stay at least five years.

What is the most affordable neighborhood in Odessa?

ZIP 79761 is the most affordable at $207,805 — about 17% below the city median. Rent there is also the lowest in the city at $1,258 per month. ZIP 79763 is the next-cheapest option at $210,705.

Methodology

Home values are based on the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), a smoothed measure of typical home values in the 35th to 65th percentile range. Rent estimates use the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). Population figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (2020-2024 vintage). All datasets are publicly available. Housing data updated 2026-02-28.