San Antonio, TXThe Sun Belt's affordability story, built on military, healthcare and tourism
Sources: FHFA House Price Index (ATNHPIUS41700Q), U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey and Population Estimates, BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 2BR Fair Market Rent from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. SunBeltPulse is independent and not affiliated with any of these agencies.
Sourced, dated figures for San Antonio — cite freely.
Side-by-side stats, charts & AI analysis
San Antonio — quarterly, Q3 2016 – Q2 2026 · 40 quarters
FHFA House Price Index for San Antonio moved from 216.2 in 2016-Q3 to 378.4 in 2026-Q2 across 40 quarters of data.
| Quarter | San Antonio-New Braunfels |
|---|---|
| 2016-Q3 | 216.2 |
| 2016-Q4 | 217.3 |
| 2017-Q1 | 220.8 |
| 2017-Q2 | 225.7 |
| 2017-Q3 | 228.5 |
| 2017-Q4 | 231.6 |
| 2018-Q1 | 232.4 |
| 2018-Q2 | 238.6 |
| 2018-Q3 | 241.7 |
| 2018-Q4 | 244.7 |
| 2019-Q1 | 247.5 |
| 2019-Q2 | 252.4 |
| 2019-Q3 | 256.4 |
| 2019-Q4 | 257.4 |
| 2020-Q1 | 262.2 |
| 2020-Q2 | 262.0 |
| 2020-Q3 | 267.0 |
| 2020-Q4 | 272.7 |
| 2021-Q1 | 279.1 |
| 2021-Q2 | 292.8 |
| 2021-Q3 | 311.0 |
| 2021-Q4 | 325.9 |
| 2022-Q1 | 339.4 |
| 2022-Q2 | 363.6 |
| 2022-Q3 | 369.0 |
| 2022-Q4 | 368.2 |
| 2023-Q1 | 367.8 |
| 2023-Q2 | 370.1 |
| 2023-Q3 | 372.2 |
| 2023-Q4 | 369.7 |
| 2024-Q1 | 367.9 |
| 2024-Q2 | 378.4 |
| 2024-Q3 | 369.1 |
| 2024-Q4 | 375.4 |
| 2025-Q1 | 371.2 |
| 2025-Q2 | 380.4 |
| 2025-Q3 | 379.1 |
| 2025-Q4 | 382.0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 376.6 |
| 2026-Q2 | 378.4 |
San Antonio — new private housing units authorized, monthly, Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 · 24 readings
Monthly building permits authorized in San Antonio over 24 months (Oct 2024 – Sep 2026). Range: 482 to 1,403. Latest reading: 952.
| Month | Permits authorized |
|---|---|
| Oct 24 | 1,403 |
| Nov 24 | 1,078 |
| Dec 24 | 1,308 |
| Jan 25 | 876 |
| Feb 25 | 1,137 |
| Mar 25 | 1,062 |
| Apr 25 | 1,217 |
| May 25 | 963 |
| Jun 25 | 785 |
| Jul 25 | 1,015 |
| Aug 25 | 663 |
| Sep 25 | 643 |
| Oct 25 | 582 |
| Nov 25 | 482 |
| Dec 25 | 662 |
| Jan 26 | 893 |
| Feb 26 | 922 |
| Mar 26 | 883 |
| Apr 26 | 957 |
| May 26 | 1,013 |
| Jun 26 | 1,168 |
| Jul 26 | 1,113 |
| Aug 26 | 822 |
| Sep 26 | 952 |
San Antonio — BLS LAUS, monthly, Sep 2024 – Sep 2026 · 24 readings
Unemployment rate in San Antonio, Sep 2024 – Sep 2026 · 24 monthly readings. Range: 3.8% to 4.3%. Latest reading: 4.3%.
| Month | Unemployment rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Sep 24 | 3.9% |
| Oct 24 | 3.9% |
| Nov 24 | 3.9% |
| Dec 24 | 3.8% |
| Jan 25 | 3.8% |
| Feb 25 | 3.8% |
| Mar 25 | 3.8% |
| Apr 25 | 3.8% |
| May 25 | 3.9% |
| Jun 25 | 3.9% |
| Jul 25 | 4.0% |
| Aug 25 | 4.0% |
| Sep 25 | 4.1% |
| Nov 25 | 4.1% |
| Dec 25 | 4.1% |
| Jan 26 | 4.1% |
| Feb 26 | 4.1% |
| Mar 26 | 4.1% |
| Apr 26 | 4.1% |
| May 26 | 4.1% |
| Jun 26 | 4.2% |
| Jul 26 | 4.3% |
| Aug 26 | 4.3% |
| Sep 26 | 4.3% |
Latest figures: FHFA HPI -0.5% YoY, +0.5% QoQ (Q2 2026); unemployment 4.3% (Sep 2026, seasonally adjusted); population +1.38% YoY (2025). Pandemic run-up on the same index: +40.7% from Q1 2020 to Q3 2022.
San Antonio has become the Texas Triangle's affordability release valve. In the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey its median home value sat well under Austin's and Dallas's and below Houston's, drawing buyers priced out of Austin and Dallas, while military, healthcare, and tourism anchor a steady employment base. Population growth has been consistent rather than explosive, and price history has followed suit: San Antonio's pandemic-era run-up on the FHFA index was well short of Austin's, and it went through nothing like the drawdown Austin saw after its mid-2022 peak.
Figures from FHFA House Price Index (ATNHPIUS41700Q), U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits and Population Estimates, and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), plus HUD Fair Market Rents, refreshed with each release. The analysis is editorial, dated above, and names any third-party source it cites.
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Alamo City
The Alamo City on the River Walk
Total jobs
1.2M
BLS CES · curated Aug 2026
Unemployment
4.3%
BLS LAUS · Sep 2026 · seasonally adjusted
Job growth YoY
+0.9%
BLS CES · curated Aug 2026
Median HH income
$78K
Census ACS 2024, metro area
Share of total nonfarm employment
Metro-area headcount estimates
Joint Base San Antonio
MilitaryH-E-B
RetailUSAA
FinanceNorthside ISD
EducationCity of San Antonio
GovernmentMethodist Healthcare System
HealthcareUniversity Health
HealthcareBaptist Health System
HealthcareToyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
ManufacturingValero Energy
EnergyA government, military, and healthcare town with USAA as the private anchor — lower wages offset by lower costs, strongest for stability-seekers.
If you're moving to San Antonio, expect the most government-heavy economy of the major Sun Belt metros. Joint Base San Antonio — Lackland, Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston combined — is the single largest employer in Texas at roughly 80,000 uniformed and civilian personnel. Add the City of San Antonio, UT Health Science Center, and several large school districts, and public-sector payrolls top 200,000. Private depth is thinner but real: USAA dominates financial services, H-E-B is a retail behemoth, and three hospital systems (Methodist, Baptist, University Health) drive healthcare hiring.
Target healthcare (all three systems are net hirers), hospitality along the Riverwalk and at the Sea World/Fiesta complex, and USAA if you qualify — it still fills thousands of roles a year, though another few hundred cuts landed in January 2026. The honest trade-off: median household income at $78K trails every other major Texas metro, but so do housing costs. If you need high-ceiling tech or corporate roles, Austin or Dallas are closer matches. San Antonio is the pick for stability, affordability, and public-sector careers.
Timing: the south-side growth story — Toyota's truck plant suppliers and the JBSA-anchored cybersecurity cluster (the 'other' NSA hub after Fort Meade) — is real but slow-building. Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar data-center expansion and JCB's 1,500-job plant — hiring is underway ahead of its 2026 opening — are the more meaningful near-term pulls. If you're in cybersecurity or defense contracting, the 24-month picture is materially better than it looks on paper.
Recent corporate moves
JCB
RelocationAnnounced a $500M North American headquarters and manufacturing plant in San Antonio expected to employ 1,500 when fully operational by 2027.
Toyota
ExpansionCommitted $531M to expand the Tundra and Sequoia production line, adding roughly 400 direct jobs and additional supplier roles.
Microsoft
ExpansionAdvanced plans for multi-billion dollar data center campus expansion in San Antonio, supporting construction and long-term operations staffing.
USAA
LayoffsCut approximately 475 roles across its San Antonio campuses as part of ongoing restructuring in its banking and insurance operations.
JCB
ExpansionBegan hiring for its $500M Southside plant ahead of a 2026 opening that remains on schedule, targeting roughly 500 workers in the first wave on the way to 1,500 total.
USAA
LayoffsCut several hundred more jobs in January 2026 across technology, banking operations, and marketing, while continuing to hire elsewhere — it filled more than 8,600 positions in 2025.
Source: NOAA NCEI, retrieved Oct 2026
Days ≥ 100°F
18
Extreme-heat days per year
Days ≥ 90°F
122
Hot days per year
Days ≤ 32°F
14
Freezing days per year
Annual precip
32.4"
81 rainy days/year
San Antonio — 1991-2020 normals · San Antonio Intl Airport
San Antonio monthly climate normals. Average highs range from 63°F to 96°F (hottest: Aug at 96°F). Average lows range from 41°F to 75°F (coldest: Jan at 41°F). Total annual precipitation: 32.4".
| Month | Avg high (°F) | Avg low (°F) | Precipitation (") |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63 | 41 | 1.96 |
| Feb | 68 | 45 | 1.74 |
| Mar | 74 | 52 | 2.31 |
| Apr | 80 | 58 | 2.42 |
| May | 87 | 66 | 4.4 |
| Jun | 92 | 73 | 3.28 |
| Jul | 95 | 75 | 2.41 |
| Aug | 96 | 75 | 2.15 |
| Sep | 90 | 70 | 3.88 |
| Oct | 82 | 60 | 3.75 |
| Nov | 72 | 50 | 2.08 |
| Dec | 65 | 42 | 2 |
Cfa · Humid subtropical
Hazard levels are editorial ratings aggregated from FEMA, USDA wildfire risk, NOAA storm tracks, and NWS hail climatology. Not insurance or investment advice.
Drier and slightly less humid than Houston or Austin, but vulnerable to hail, flash floods, and Texas grid stress.
San Antonio's climate sits on the seam between the humid Gulf Coast and the semi-arid Hill Country. Summers are hot — July and August average highs around 95°F — but lower humidity than Houston makes shade and evening breezes more useful. Winters are mild and brief, with January highs near 63°F, though Arctic fronts occasionally drop temperatures into the teens. Rainfall is erratic: 32 inches a year on average, delivered mostly in thunderstorms that can be violent, producing some of the largest hail stones recorded in North America.
Practical considerations: hail is the signature hazard. The April 2016 supercell cost $1.36 billion — the second-costliest hailstorm in Texas history — and auto/home claims are a recurring feature of insurance budgets here. Foundations on clay soils need watering in drought summers. The ERCOT grid issues that hit Austin and Dallas apply equally to San Antonio, though CPS Energy's municipal utility model gave it a slightly better ride during Uri. Flash flooding along the Olmos Basin and Salado Creek watersheds is a localized but serious risk.
The metro has benefited from being just inland enough to miss most hurricane eyewalls — Harvey dropped only 1.94 inches at San Antonio International in 2017, versus 50+ inches near Houston. But tropical moisture still drives the region's heaviest rain events, and climate projections suggest more volatile precipitation, longer dry spells, and gradually warmer summers. Property tax rates are high; insurance is rising; but weather, relative to other Texas metros, is one of the more forgiving slices of the state.
Historical edge scenarios
$1.36B hailstorm — second-costliest in Texas history
On April 12, 2016, a supercell produced hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter across San Antonio, damaging 136,000 vehicles and 125,000 homes. Total insured losses reached $1.36 billion, second only to a 1995 Fort Worth storm at the time.
Winter Storm Uri
February 2021's Uri brought single-digit temperatures and days of freezing rain to San Antonio. Though CPS Energy managed outages somewhat better than ERCOT's grid at large, hundreds of thousands lost power; burst-pipe damage was widespread. Statewide deaths exceeded 246.
February 19 tornado swarm
Multiple tornadoes touched down around San Antonio on February 19, 2017, including an EF-2 that damaged dozens of homes in northeast neighborhoods. The outbreak was unusual for its winter timing and its direct hit on populated San Antonio suburbs.
Neighbourhoods
Where people actually live — from historic bungalows to new-build cul-de-sacs.
San Antonio's most distinctive neighbourhoods cluster around its river and historic core. King William is the prestige urban enclave — a National Register historic district of Victorian and Italianate mansions along the River Walk's southern reach. The surrounding Southtown blocks share that walkable character south of downtown, while the Pearl to the north turns a converted brewery into a mixed-use strip of restaurants, a weekend farmers market, and new residential construction. Alamo Heights is the inner-ring prestige suburb: tree-canopy streets, its own Alamo Heights ISD, and prices that reflect its location inside Loop 410, about five miles north of downtown.
Stone Oak in far north San Antonio is the master-planning showcase — newer construction, North East ISD schools, and a long-standing draw for corporate relocation buyers. Helotes on the far northwest side, where the Hill Country begins, offers larger lots and a small-town character that appeals to buyers who want acreage-adjacent living without the full commute.
San Antonio's value proposition is exceptional by Texas standards. Converse and Universal City on the northeast side sit beside JBSA-Randolph and serve military households at entry-level prices. Shearer Hills/Ridgeview, a 1950s neighbourhood inside Loop 410 near the airport and North Star Mall, offers mid-century single-family homes close to the centre for well under Alamo Heights prices. Leon Valley is the northwest mid-tier pick: established single-family stock at the Bandera Road (SH 16) and Loop 410 interchange, a straight run down 410 to JBSA-Lackland, and prices meaningfully below Alamo Heights for a comparable product.
As of Q2 2026, home prices in San Antonio declined 0.5% over the past year and rose 0.5% in the most recent quarter. The annual figure is still negative, but the recent quarterly uptick suggests prices may be finding a floor. Source: FHFA All-Transactions House Price Index (ATNHPIUS41700Q), retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom in the San Antonio metro is $1,441 per month (FY2027). HUD publishes Fair Market Rents annually as the benchmark for housing voucher payment standards — they reflect typical asking rents for modest, standard-quality units in the area. Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
San Antonio is growing — population rose 1.38% year-over-year; the 2025 Census estimate puts the metro at 2,813,140 residents. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The San Antonio metro unemployment rate was 4.3% in September 2026 — a healthy reading, roughly in line with the national seasonally adjusted 4.2% (BLS, September 2026). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; national rate: BLS Current Population Survey, retrieved from FRED.
Builders pulled permits for roughly 952 new private housing units in San Antonio in September 2026, running sharply higher than a year earlier (+48.1%). Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
About 8.6 cents of every dollar a first-year owner of the median San Antonio home pays (principal, interest, property tax and insurance) becomes equity, at the 7.18% 30-year rate of the week of Nov 5, 2026 with 10% down. Interest takes the largest share, and property tax plus insurance come to 3.28 times the first year's principal. Sources: Census ACS 2024 median home value and real-estate taxes; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®; Insurify 2026 premium estimate. See San Antonio against all 12 metros in our mortgage guide
Tracking a move beyond San Antonio? Every metro profile carries the same FHFA, Census, BLS, and HUD data, refreshed with each release.
Data sources: FHFA House Price Index (ATNHPIUS41700Q), U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey and Population Estimates, BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. 2BR Fair Market Rent from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. SunBeltPulse is independent and not affiliated with any of these agencies. Statistics represent metro-area figures and are updated monthly. Not financial or investment advice.