Apartment Complexes in Waco, TX: Prices by Tier, Market Data, and What to Check Before You Sign or Buy

A multi-unit, professionally managed rental community, typically 100 or more units with shared amenities and on-site leasing staff, is what “apartment complex” means in the tables below. A duplex or a single-family home listed for rent is a different product under the Texas Property Code, with different inspection and maintenance provisions, and isn’t covered here.

What counts as an apartment complex versus a smaller rental in Waco?A complex is a multi-unit, professionally managed community with shared amenities. A duplex or single-family rental follows different Property Code maintenance rules and isn’t included in the tables on this page.

Named Waco apartment complexes by tier and neighborhood

Property-reported pricing changes without notice; every figure below carries the date it was pulled, and none of it is a live availability guarantee.

The spread between Tuscany Ranch’s one-bedroom floor and Riverfront Lofts’ one-bedroom starting rent runs to roughly $430 a month, and square footage alone doesn’t explain it: Tuscany Ranch’s units run larger than Roots at Waco’s despite the lower price. Build year and riverfront location carry more of the gap than unit size does.

The Waco apartment market: vacancy, supply, and what’s coming

Waco’s stabilized apartment vacancy rate rose from 5.7 percent to 7.4 percent between the first quarters of 2023 and 2024, while the average rent slipped under 1 percent to $1,170, and 1,250 units remained under construction as of the report date.

Near Baylor University specifically, the two-mile-radius vacancy rate ran higher, at 8.5 percent, and the average asking rent there was also higher, at $1,215. Fall 2023 enrollment topped 20,800 students, and 71 percent lived off campus, with student households accounting for an estimated 10 percent of all renter households across the metro.

Is now a good time to invest in a Waco apartment complex?Local vacancy rose over the CoStar-tracked year, and 1,250 units were still absorbing into the market as of the report date, both of which favor buyers over sellers on price. Statewide, new multifamily deliveries are projected to fall under 35,000 units in 2026, down sharply from the 93,000 delivered in the prior 12 months, per the Texas Real Estate Research Center, which should ease absorption pressure over the following year or two. Neither figure is a Waco-specific forecast; treat them as directional context, not a timing signal for any one property.

How to choose between complexes: a decision matrix

How much does move-in typically cost beyond the listed rent?Pet fees run $250 to $350 non-refundable plus $25 a month pet rent at both Roots at Waco and Tuscany Ranch. Application fees run separately per applicant. Security deposits vary by screening result and carry no statutory maximum in Texas, so ask for the specific figure in writing before applying.

Common mistakes when picking a Waco apartment complex

• Signing off-cycle near Baylor. The 8.5 percent near-campus vacancy rate coexists with higher rent, which means a lease signed outside the fall pre-lease window competes against a thinner pool of available units at a premium price.
• Comparing average-rent figures across sources without checking date and scope. The $1,170-versus-$1,500 gap above is the clearest example: two real, sourced numbers answering different questions.
• Assuming the security-deposit deadline starts automatically. Under §92.107 of the Property Code, the 30-day refund obligation doesn’t begin until the tenant provides a written forwarding address; a tenant who moves out without sending one has no functioning deadline to point to.

What to know before you sign a lease or buy in Texas

Texas sets no statutory cap on security deposit size, which is unusual among states and worth knowing before a landlord asks for more than one month’s rent. The landlord must refund the deposit, or provide an itemized list of deductions, within 30 days of the tenant surrendering the unit and supplying a forwarding address in writing (Property Code §92.103 and §92.107); missing that window creates a presumption of bad faith, and a tenant can then sue for three times the wrongfully withheld amount plus $100 and attorney’s fees (§92.109). On the maintenance side, once a tenant sends written notice of a needed repair, the law presumes seven days is a reasonable time for the landlord to act (§92.056); if the landlord doesn’t act, the tenant may repair and deduct the cost from rent, capped at the greater of one month’s rent or $500 (§92.0561). A landlord may not retaliate, including by non-renewal, against a tenant who complained in good faith about a needed repair, for six months after that complaint (§§92.331 to 92.335), per the Texas Attorney General’s renter’s-rights guidance. None of this substitutes for reading the specific lease in front of you; it’s the statutory floor beneath it.

Waco-area submarkets by price

Woodway prices roughly 27 percent above the Waco citywide average; Beverly Hills prices about 10 percent under it. Neither Alta Vista nor the South Waco 76711 corridor, where Roots at Waco and Tuscany Ranch sit, has a published area-level average in the sources checked here; their pricing above comes from the named complexes themselves.

Where the general advice above breaks down

The car-dependency and price-tier patterns above hold for most of the city, but not for the riverfront and downtown pocket where Riverfront Lofts sits. That area prices above the citywide average and trades car-dependency for walking distance to the Brazos Riverwalk, the opposite of the general Waco pattern where lower Walk Scores line up with lower rent.

Do I need a car if I live near Baylor versus elsewhere in Waco?At Roots at Waco, inside the Baylor-adjacent Alta Vista area, the Walk Score is 20, meaning most errands require a car. Riverfront and downtown properties trade that off for pricing at the top of the market instead.