Sell Your Commercial Property In Bell County, TX

Who rents in Bell County

Renters head 61,887 of Bell County's 142,305 occupied households, a 43.5% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners hold the remaining 80,418 households. Across Texas, renters make up just 37.4% of all households, so Bell County runs 6.1 points higher.

Killeen carries most of that renter base. The city counts 30,211 renter households, 48.8% of the Bell County total, with a 50.5% renter share of its own. Temple adds 16,458 renter households, a 26.6% share of the county figure. Harker Heights and Belton lean more toward owners, with renter shares of 38.3% and 44.0%. Together, the four covered cities hold 306,245 residents, about 79.2% of Bell County's total population.

Rents, growth and affordability

Bell County's median gross rent climbed 32.0%, from $927 to $1,224, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Population grew 11.0% to 386,897 residents over the same span, adding 38,323 people. Renter households rose 10.4%, adding 5,830 households.

Supply grew too. Units in 5+ unit buildings in Bell County increased 16.2%, up 2,956 units to 21,186. Household income rose 25.5% to $68,865, outpacing rent growth in percentage terms but not cost burden: 51.3% of Bell County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent in the 2020-2024 ACS.

On price, Bell County runs below the state. Its $1,224 median gross rent sits 12.8% under the $1,403 Texas median. Rental vacancy is tighter too, at 5.8% against a 7.7% statewide rate. HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Killeen-Temple area is $1,138, effective October 1, 2026, below the county's own median gross rent.

City-by-city comparison

Killeen anchors the Bell County rental market, with a 50.5% renter share and 14.9% of its housing units in 5+ unit buildings. Temple and Belton post higher apartment shares, at 20.3% and 23.4%.

Vacancy ranges from Belton's 3.9% to Killeen's 6.8%. Harker Heights combines the county's highest median household income with one of its lowest renter shares, at 38.3%. Belton posts the highest median gross rent in the table, at $1,252.

Property taxes and assessment in Bell County

Apartment buildings in Bell County are appraised at market value as of January 1 each year, under Texas Tax Code Sec. 23.01. Assessment runs through the county appraisal district, and the county, cities, school districts and any special districts each set their own rate on top of the appraised value.

The 10% cap on year-over-year increases under Tax Code Sec. 23.23 applies only to homestead property, so a Bell County apartment building carries no cap on its annual appraisal increase. A sale does not trigger an immediate reassessment; the district picks up the new value as of the next January 1. Owners selling mid-year should expect the buyer's underwriting to anticipate that reset rather than rely on the current tax bill.

What this means if you sell in Bell County

When you sell commercial property in Bell County, TX, you sell into a renter-heavy market. Renters hold 43.5% of households, above the 37.4% Texas rate, and Killeen alone supplies nearly half of the county's renter households. Rental vacancy of 5.8% is tighter than the state's 7.7%, which can support a faster lease-up for a buyer.

Taxes reset each January 1 under Texas Tax Code Sec. 23.01, so buyers underwrite the post-sale appraisal rather than your current bill. Rent control is not a factor in Bell County, since Texas Local Government Code Sec. 214.902 allows it only after a disaster emergency with the governor's approval.

As a multifamily buyer in Bell County, we review 5+ unit buildings from Killeen to Temple and Belton as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and the latest tax statement, and we will price the building on those numbers.