Communities

Living in Bellaire, TX: what home buyers should know

Quick answer. Bellaire is its own city in southwest Harris County, surrounded by Houston, West University Place, and Southside Place. The April 1, 2020 Census counted 17,202 people on 3.60 square miles of land, and the July 1, 2025 estimate is 17,434. The city is zoned. The Harris County Tax Office lists a 2026 city rate of $0.4174 per $100. Houston ISD’s adopted 2026 rate is $0.8421 per $100. The tax units, the flood zone, and the zoned schools still have to be read for the address.

By Michael O'Neal, Broker and REALTOR®, Keller Williams Realty Northeast
Published November 13, 2026

I read the Census Bureau, the Handbook of Texas, the city, Houston ISD, and the Harris County Tax Office on November 13, 2026. I am a broker, not a tax adviser, surveyor, or flood engineer. Confirm anything that changes your offer with the office that published it.

Where is Bellaire, and what is a Bellaire address?

The Handbook of Texas puts Bellaire on Interstate Loop 610 in southwest Harris County, surrounded by Houston, West University Place, and Southside Place. William Wright Baldwin, as president of the South End Land Company, founded Bellaire in 1908 after buying the 9,449-acre Rice Ranch, and he built Bellaire Boulevard from the townsite to Main Street in Houston. The city received a general-law charter on June 24, 1918, when it had about 200 residents. Houston annexed the surrounding land on December 31, 1948, and the Handbook says that halted the city’s geographic growth. In April 1949 Bellaire adopted a home-rule charter with a council-manager government. The Handbook says the city is zoned for residential, commercial, and light industrial sections, that high-rise offices sit along Loop 610, and that Bellaire is largely known as a residential city. City Hall is at 7008 S. Rice Avenue, Bellaire, TX 77401. Source Source

The Census Bureau’s July 1, 2025 estimate is 17,434. The April 1, 2020 Census counted 17,202 people on 3.60 square miles of land. In the 2020–2024 survey, 87.9 percent of occupied homes were owner-occupied, the median value of those homes was $1,037,500, and the mean travel time to work was 20.9 minutes. That median is the Census survey figure, not a list price. Source

The Census Bureau says the Postal Service assigns ZIP Codes to delivery routes. A ZIP Code Tabulation Area is a statistical shape of those codes, not a city limit. I check the HCAD account before I treat a Bellaire mailing address as the City of Bellaire. Evelyn’s Park Conservancy lists its address as 4400 Bellaire Boulevard, Bellaire, Texas 77401. See the Bellaire guide, the West University Place guide, and the Southside Place guide. Source Source Source

What does zoning change on a Bellaire lot?

Bellaire’s Development Services FAQ says Bellaire is a zoned community. It gives R-1 as a district for single-family detached homes only, and UV-D as a district for a mix of commercial, office, civic, and entertainment uses. The city publishes a 2026 zoning district map. Setbacks come from that map, then the city’s setback sheet or Chapter 24. The city does not enforce deed restrictions. Copies come from the Harris County Clerk, and the legal description is on the appraisal-district account. Source

Combining two lots takes an amended plat. The FAQ says that is the step when you want to build across two adjacent lots, or buy the lot next door and add it to yours. Call Development Services at 713-662-8240 before you price a project that needs the extra land. Source

What permits, trees, and rentals should you expect?

A permit is required before work begins. The same FAQ says even painting and small cosmetic projects generally require a floodplain development permit, and replacing windows or window frames requires a permit. Fill brought onto a lot is limited to no more than a 1 percent slope from the back of the curb, or 8 inches of dirt. A new residence with living space above the second story needs an automatic fire sprinkler system. Some homes also need sprinklers when the driveway-to-rear distance exceeds 150 feet, as decided by the Fire Marshal. Permit applications go through the city’s SmartGov portal. Source

A tree permit is required to remove or damage a protected tree. The FAQ defines a significant tree as a large tree 12 inches or more in diameter, anywhere in the city. A large tree is 6 inches or more. Protected trees include every significant tree, plus large trees in a front yard, a corner street-side yard, or a right-of-way, and every large tree on a site that has a development or pre-development permit. The text is Chapter 9, Article XI. Source

Ordinance No. 25-108, adopted November 17, 2025, prohibits a short-term rental of 30 days or less in a residential district. The city defines that rental as the rental for compensation of all or part of a dwelling for not more than 30 days. A leaseback to a prior owner as part of a sale is excluded. The ordinance took effect March 17, 2026. Permitted short-term rentals are allowed in nonresidential districts. Source

Which schools serve a Bellaire address?

Bellaire High School is a Houston ISD campus at 5100 Maple Street, Bellaire, TX 77401, phone 713-295-3704. The Handbook of Texas, revised September 20, 2023, says that in 2017 several public schools in Bellaire were operated by Houston ISD. The campus is not the attendance map. HISD publishes 2026–2027 elementary, middle, and high school attendance boundary maps, and the demographics office handles address questions at 713-556-6828. School assignments can change. Confirm the assigned schools with the district before you write an offer. Source Source Source

How do city taxes change the payment?

The Harris County Tax Office publishes adopted rates under Tax Code section 26.16. On November 13, 2026, that table listed the City of Bellaire’s 2026 rate at $0.4174 per $100: $0.3089 for maintenance and operations and $0.1085 for debt. The 2025 adopted total on the same table is also $0.4174, with a different split, $0.3036 and $0.1138. Houston ISD adopted $0.8421 per $100 for 2026 on October 8, 2026: $0.6754 for maintenance and operations and $0.1667 for debt. HISD lists a homestead exemption of $140,000 plus 20 percent of appraised value, and an additional $60,000 plus a $5,000 local option for homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled. Each line applies only inside its own boundary. Source Source

A rate is not the bill. The same table lists 2026 rates for Harris County, the Flood Control District, the Hospital District, the Port of Houston Authority, the Harris County Department of Education, and Houston City College. Whether a line is on a Bellaire house is a question for that HCAD account, not a guess from the citywide table. Open the account, read the homestead guide if this will be your primary home, and type the rates into the true cost calculator. I do not pre-fill a house payment here. Source Source

How do you check flood risk for one house?

Flood risk is an address question. Bellaire says all development in the city must obtain the required permits, and that development in the floodplain without a permit is illegal. A substantial improvement is work over 365 days that equals or exceeds 50 percent of the structure’s market value before the work. That work has to meet the same construction requirements as a new building. The city’s higher standard requires construction at or above the Design Flood Elevation. The city’s FAQ points owners to FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer viewer and describes blue on that viewer as Zone AE and orange as Zone X. Development Services can be reached at 713-662-8230, and Harris County Flood Control at 713-684-4000. Source Source

Start with FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center and Harris County Flood Control’s flood education tool. Property Code section 5.008 requires the seller of a one-dwelling home to give written notice on flood insurance, prior flooding, and floodplain status, as the statute defines those words. Read it with the map and get a flood quote during the option period. Our Houston flood-check article and the flood-maps page walk through the same tools. Source

How does Bellaire compare with West University Place?

West University Place is the other small city buyers put next to Bellaire. Each one has its own city hall, its own tax rate, and its own zoning. I compared the 2026 rates, the tree rules, and the flood standards in West University Place vs. Bellaire. The side-by-side worksheet and the Bellaire homebuyer checklist go further. I previously lived in this part of Houston, and Bellaire is a city I specialize in.

Pull the appraisal-district account before you compare taxes. Ask the permit desk about the tree and the floodplain before you price a rebuild. Confirm the schools with Houston ISD. Then walk the street at the time of day you would actually live there. Start with the Bellaire guide, Inner Loop Houston, buying, the Bellaire seller guide, selling, or a home value checkup.

FAQ

Is Bellaire part of the City of Houston?

Bellaire is its own city in Harris County. A Bellaire mailing address still has to be checked against the city limit, because a ZIP Code follows a mail route.

Is Bellaire zoned?

Yes. The city’s Development Services FAQ says Bellaire is a zoned community. Confirm the district and the setbacks for the lot before you plan work.

What is Bellaire’s 2026 property tax rate?

The Harris County Tax Office lists $0.4174 per $100 for the City of Bellaire for 2026. Houston ISD adopted $0.8421 per $100 on October 8, 2026. Each line applies only inside its own boundary. Read every unit on the HCAD account.

How do I check flood risk for a Bellaire house?

Use FEMA’s map for the address, read the seller’s notice under Property Code section 5.008, and get a flood insurance quote during the option period. Bellaire also requires a permit for development in the floodplain.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Bellaire city, Texas, read November 13, 2026, and the ZIP Code Tabulation Area explanation.
Handbook of Texas, Bellaire, TX, revised September 20, 2023, read November 13, 2026.
City of Bellaire Development Services FAQ, the 2026 zoning district map, short-term rentals, and development in the floodplain.
Harris County Tax Office jurisdiction tax rates, read November 13, 2026, and Houston ISD tax information.
Bellaire High School and Houston ISD 2026-2027 attendance boundaries.
Evelyn’s Park Conservancy and Harris Central Appraisal District.
Texas Property Code section 5.008, FEMA Flood Map Service Center, and the Harris County flood education tool.

Want to see Bellaire in person? Call me and I will show you around.

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