Stafford Apartments and Rentals

Stafford apartments for rent are an excellent way to join the ranks of the more than 18,340 people living across the nearly seven square miles of land the city encompasses. Stafford is located just outside of Houston, within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metro area, within Fort Bend County. This city is family-friendly and known nationally for a handful of unique achievements such as creating a municipal school district and abolishing its municipal property tax for both residents and business.

Touted by local publications as Texas' best-kept secret, this community operates under the mantra of "living life within means." People who settle in Stafford find the city offers a number of reasons to stay.

Living in Stafford apartments gives residents an opportunity to live in a unique Texas city. This community was originally founded in the early 1820s as a ranching plantation. Roughly 15 years after its founding, Stafford was razed by Santa Anna's Mexican Army, and as it was reconstructed, it became a thriving commercial center.

In recent years, Stafford is well-remembered for its breakaway from the school districts of Fort Bend and Houston from 1976 to roughly 1982. Stafford made its way into the history books as the only "break-away" school district that had been sanctioned by the federal courts; more than 300 previous attempts had been made in other areas across the country. Mayor Leonard Scarcella revealed that the Stafford Municipal School District is the only of its kind in the state of Texas. Stafford is also well-known for obliterating its municipal property tax in 1995.

Stafford apartments make attractive options for business professionals. The city of Stafford website reports the top employers in the city include Texas Instruments, Tyco Valves, Input-Output, Puffer-Sweiven, Seamar Divers, Flextronics and Lone Star Medical Products. Stafford has more than 2,000 businesses, more than 50 restaurants and plenty of room for further commercial development.

Stafford is also home to Houston Community College Southwest, which enrolls more than 10,000 students and continues to grow and expand. The campus has plans to develop the 70 acres it sits on fully and attract more than 20,000 students in the future. The most recent addition to the campus came in 2009 with the construction of a 120,000-square-foot Learning Hub that provides students with classrooms, laboratory space, a library and additional parking facilities.

According to data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, Stafford rentals had a vacancy rate of 8.6 percent, and the median rent was valued at $999 as of 2010. More than 46 percent of all renters fall into the gross rent range of $1,000 to $1,499, with more than 87 percent of all renters falling in the wider range of $750 to $1,499. Nearly one-fourth of all renters reported spending 35 percent or more of their household income on gross rental costs.

City-Data information revealed that in March 2012, the cost of living in Stafford was assigned a value of 93.3, which is nearly 7 percent less than the national average of 100 points.

Those living in Stafford apartments have a number of local attractions to enjoy and take advantage of. At the top of the list is the Stafford Centre, a 90,000-square-foot performing arts theater and convention center complex. The Stafford Centre opened in 2004 and hosts a large variety of events, such as the ballet and comedy shows. It also hosts a number of annual conventions and civic events.

Its amenities include a 1,100-seat performing arts theater, a 20,000-square-foot ballroom, 25,000 square feet of meeting, exposition and banquet space and more than 28 acres of outdoor space. The green outdoor space makes the Stafford Centre a popular spot for festivals and fairs.

To find your next rental apartment or house in Stafford, take a look at our listings on Rent.com®.