What it actually costs to live in Bryan-College Station right now.

The numbers

Apartment List figures are medians on new leases; it did not publish a 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom split for either city this month. RentCafe figures are averages for large managed buildings, and in a college town that includes pricey by-the-bed student complexes, which is one reason its College Station average runs well above Apartment List’s median.

College Station’s income median is pulled down by students: the city’s median age is 23.3. We have not yet found a current published residential rate sheet for College Station Utilities or a current College Station water rate schedule, so those rows use EIA’s 2025 averages and the city’s budget summary instead. Bryan ISD’s debt-service rate was not in the sources we checked, so we do not show a combined Bryan total.

College Station vs. Bryan rents

The two cities share a metro but not a rental market. College Station is closer to campus and has more student-oriented buildings; Bryan has more older single-family rentals. Figures below are from Apartment List (medians, Oct 2026 data) and RentCafe (large-building averages, Sep 30 / Oct 1, 2026).

What makes Bryan-College Station different

A rental market built around Texas A&M

Texas A&M reported a record fall enrollment of 72,289 students, nearly 20% more than in 2016, and developers have answered with high-rise student housing near Northgate. One 21-story, 1,193-bed tower broke ground in January 2026 for a 2028 opening, with several more under construction. The university has also said it will pause undergraduate growth for several years. More beds and flat enrollment help explain why College Station rents are falling while Bryan’s are flat.

Two practical notes for non-students. Leases often start in August, so the best selection is in spring. And College Station enforces a limit of four unrelated people per single-family home, with enforcement that began in June 2024. That rule matters if you are buying a house to rent out.

No electricity shopping

Most of College Station is served by the city’s own utility, College Station Utilities, which also handles water and wastewater (City of College Station). Bryan and some College Station addresses are served by Bryan Texas Utilities, the city of Bryan’s utility. Both are city-owned and set their own rates. Texas city utilities can stay out of retail choice, and a retail aggregator lists College Station as regulated (ElectricityPlans, which is inconsistent about Bryan). In practice, expect to be billed by CSU or BTU, not to pick a plan on Power to Choose. Check which utility serves an address before you sign: BTU publishes separate rate sheets for Bryan and for homes inside College Station, and the power cost and transmission charges on both can change.

Out-of-date numbers you’ll still find online

Same everywhere in Texas

No state income tax, the 8.25% sales tax ceiling, the $140,000 homestead exemption, vehicle fees and insurance averages are on our Texas taxes and pay page and the Texas overview. For how exemptions and protests work, see Texas property taxes; for why some cities have retail electricity and others do not, see Texas electricity. To see Bryan-College Station next to Houston, Austin and the rest, use the city comparison.

Coming soon: the Bryan ISD election result (Nov 3, 2026), and 2025 Census income figures, which the Census Bureau released on Oct 29, 2026.

How we check

Every figure links to its source and shows the date it applies to. We prefer the agency or utility that produces the number, such as the cities, BTU, Census and BEA, and we label anything from a marketplace or aggregator. Where we do arithmetic on published rates, we say so. Read the full methodology.