Memorial is the wooded stretch of west Houston that follows Memorial Drive and Buffalo Bayou from Memorial Park out toward the Beltway. It includes the Memorial Villages, six small independent cities, along with Memorial City, a large mixed-use district at I-10 and Gessner. Much of it is single-family, so apartments cluster around Memorial City, along I-10 and in pockets along the main roads.
Memorial at a glance
The six Memorial Villages (Bunker Hill, Hedwig, Hilshire, Hunters Creek, Piney Point and Spring Valley) are separate cities with their own city services, surrounded by the City of Houston. Memorial City, developed by MetroNational, combines office towers, Memorial City Mall and Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center. Memorial Drive itself winds east along Buffalo Bayou to Memorial Park and downtown.
On our site, Memorial covers ZIP codes 77024 and 77079. The Census figures below use ZCTA 77024 from the American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020–2024).
Getting around
Walk Score rates the Memorial area 49 out of 100 ("Car-Dependent"), with a Transit Score of 34 and a Bike Score of 51 at the time of writing. Around Memorial City, shopping and dining are close together; elsewhere, plan to drive for most errands.
I-10 (the Katy Freeway) is the main commute corridor, with managed express lanes running east toward downtown and west toward Katy. Memorial Drive is the scenic alternative into downtown, and Beltway 8 and Loop 610 frame the area east and west. METRO local buses run along major streets, and the Addicks Park & Ride lot, west of the Beltway on I-10, offers commuter buses to downtown. The Census puts mean travel time to work at 23.1 minutes for ZCTA 77024.
What's nearby
Parks. Memorial Park, about 1,500 acres at the area's east end, has running trails, a golf course and the Kinder Land Bridge. The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, a 155-acre nature sanctuary, sits on the park's west side. Terry Hershey Park follows Buffalo Bayou west of the Beltway with wooded hike-and-bike trails.
Work and health care. Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, which MetroNational describes as one of Houston's largest medical campuses, sits beside the mall, along with Memorial City's office towers. Living nearby can mean a very short commute if you work there.
Shopping. Memorial City Mall at I-10 and Gessner covers everyday and department-store shopping, and CityCentre's shops and restaurants are just west at I-10 and Beltway 8.
Food. Credence, a Texas-inspired American restaurant on the Katy Freeway, is recommended by the Michelin Guide and was No. 7 on the Houston Chronicle's 2025 Top 100. Bar Bludorn is also recommended by the Michelin Guide, and The Pit Room's I-10 location made the Chronicle's 2025 list.
The apartment landscape
- Mid-rise buildings around Memorial City and along I-10, with garages, pools and walkable access to the mall and medical center.
- Garden-style communities along Gessner, Voss, Memorial Drive and the I-10 frontage roads, many with mature trees and surface parking.
- Townhomes and single-family homes for rent, scattered through the neighborhoods and leased by individual owners.
The Census reports a median gross rent of $1,786 a month for ZCTA 77024 (ACS 2024 5-year), and about 37% of its occupied homes were renter-occupied. Gross rent is the Census measure of contract rent plus estimated utilities, and it covers every rented home in the ZIP, from older duplexes to new towers, so treat it as a baseline rather than a quote for any one building. Call us for current pricing.
Tips for renting in Memorial
- Check which city you are in. An address in one of the Memorial Villages may have different trash, water and city services than one in Houston proper. Ask the property who provides each utility.
- Test the I-10 commute. The Katy Freeway is wide but busy at rush hour. Drive your route at the time you will actually commute before you sign.
- Read the flood disclosure. Buffalo Bayou runs through Memorial. Texas Property Code §92.0135 requires landlords to tell you in writing whether a unit is in a 100-year floodplain and whether it has flooded in the past five years.
- Get the full monthly cost. Ask for base rent plus parking, pet rent, trash, utilities billed by the property and any amenity fee.
- Compare effective rent. If a building offers a concession, ask how it is applied and which lease terms qualify. Many larger communities reprice daily.
- Start 30 to 60 days ahead. That is usually when a specific unit can be quoted and held.
Start your search in Memorial
Our neighborhood guide to Memorial maps every 4-star-and-above building we work with in the area. When you are ready, tell us your budget, move date and must-haves on Find Your Apartment, or call us at (713) 357-6339. We do in one conversation what takes most renters weeks on their own — and the properties pay us, so it costs you nothing.
Sources
- www.walkscore.com/TX/Houston/Memorial
- www.metronational.com/
- www.metronational.com/properties/medical/memorial-hermann-memorial-cit
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_City_Mall
- www.memorialparkconservancy.org/
- houstonarboretum.org/
- energycorridor.org/energy-corridor-parks-recreation/
- www.ridemetro.org/riding-metro/transit-facility-addresses
- guide.michelin.com/us/en/texas/houston_2986624/restaurant/credence
- guide.michelin.com/us/en/texas/houston_2986624/restaurant/bar-bludorn
- www.houstonchronicle.com/project/top-100-restaurants-houston/
- censusreporter.org/data/table/?table=B25064&geo_ids=86000US77024
- statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.92.htm