Houston, Alabama.
Typical home $399,673 (+7.5% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$1,208 (+136%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $27,716 +7%
- $371,957$399,673 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $74,700 +23%
- $324,973$399,673 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Houston$2,098
- Alabama$1,252
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 17 years.
Typical home values in Houston, AL rose 7.5% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Houston, Winston County, Alabama
The Census does not count Houston on its own, so the figures here are Winston County's. Half the county's households earn more than $57,256 a year and half less; 19% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 76% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 24% are rented. Unemployment in Winston County was 3.9% in August 2026, and the county had 2.0% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Winston County work in manufacturing, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Houston is a small community in Winston County, in the hills of northwestern Alabama. Winters are cooler than in much of the South, though snow is rare, and summers are hot. The area gets more rain than most of the country, so the land stays green and the creeks and rivers run full for much of the year.
Work. Unemployment across Winston County is lower than a year earlier, and the number of jobs has grown slightly. Many residents work in manufacturing, in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, or in the building trades. Few people work from home, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than across the country. Most homes in the county are lived in by their owners.
Things to do. The William B. Bankhead National Forest is in or beside town, a protected area of woods and trails. The Sipsey Wilderness, also a protected area, lies a longer drive away and offers a more remote setting for walking. Lewis Smith Lake, a reservoir a longer drive away, is a good choice for those who enjoy being on the water.
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- 9,420households
- 45.4median age
- 14%of adults have a degree
- 19%below the poverty line
- 28 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What people in Winston County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Winston County had 8,154 jobs in 2025, 2.0% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 50° and lows near 29°; warmest in July, with highs near 88° and lows near 68°. About 61 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Addison weather station, 7 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Winston County
- Winston HomebuildersManufacturing building construction558
- ClaytonManufactured home manufacturing308
- ClaytonManufactured home manufacturing275
- Winston County SchoolsSchool district259FTE
- ClaytonManufactured home manufacturing251
- MasoniteDoor frames and sash, wood and covered wood, manufacturing251
- ClaytonManufactured home manufacturing220
- Haleyville City SchoolsSchool district203FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 24 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 3,329 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Cold wavesRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Winston County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Winston County.
Houston home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Houston$399,673
- Alabama$238,614
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Houston13
Zip codes with a Houston address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Houston — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.