Inside Baylor Scott & White Temple: Why 31 Residency Programs Mean Endless Rental Demand

How big is Baylor Scott & White Temple — and why should investors care?

Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas is a 636-bed Level I Adult Trauma Center — the only facility with that designation between Dallas and Austin. It is the flagship campus for the largest not-for-profit health system in the state, with over 2 million outpatient visits per year, approximately 50,000 annual surgical procedures, and 2,400+ deliveries through its Labor & Delivery unit. The system employs over 35,000 people and contributes more than $1.39 billion in annual community benefit.

For real estate investors, those numbers translate into one thing: a permanent, high-income tenant pipeline for furnished rental housing. Healthcare accounts for 40% of Temple's gross city product and 50% of all wages. That is not economic diversification — it is economic dominance by a single sector, and it creates rental demand that operates independently of interest rates, housing cycles, and broader economic conditions.

This article breaks down exactly where that demand comes from — beyond the generic "hospital jobs" explanation — so you can understand why Temple's rental market has structural advantages that most secondary markets do not.

The five demand sources most investors miss

When people talk about rental demand near hospitals, they usually mean "nurses need places to live." That is true but incomplete. BSW Temple generates rental demand from five distinct populations, each with different housing needs and lease durations:

1. Travel nurses (13-week assignments)

BSW Temple maintains a consistent volume of travel nurses to staff its high-acuity departments. The Level I Trauma Center designation requires 24/7 specialized staffing, and when permanent positions go unfilled, travel nurses fill the gap. Agencies like AMN Healthcare report steady demand for Med-Surg, Telemetry, ER, ICU, and Labor & Delivery positions at the Temple campus.

The average weekly pay for a travel RN in Temple is approximately $2,065, with ER nurses earning up to $2,752 per week. These professionals receive tax-free housing stipends on top of their base pay and typically seek furnished 3-bedroom homes within a 10-minute drive of the hospital.

Typical stay: 13 weeks, frequently extended to 26 weeks
Housing preference: Furnished single-family home, pet-friendly, blackout curtains, in-unit laundry

2. Medical residents (1 to 7 years)

This is the demand source that separates Temple from markets with smaller hospitals. BSW Temple hosts 21 accredited residency programs through its affiliation with Baylor College of Medicine. Residents are doctors-in-training who have matched into programs lasting anywhere from 3 years (Family Medicine) to 7 years (Neurosurgery).

Many residents relocate to Temple from out of state. They often arrive with partners, children, or pets, and they need housing quickly — often within weeks of receiving their match results. While some sign standard 12-month leases, those on shorter rotations or transitional tracks frequently need furnished mid-term arrangements.

The 21 residency programs at BSW Temple:

Each of these programs brings new physicians to Temple every July (Match Day) and rotates them through different facilities — including the VA campus — throughout their training.

3. Fellows (1 to 3 years)

After completing residency, many physicians pursue subspecialty fellowships. BSW Temple offers 26 fellowship programs, making it one of the most comprehensive training sites in Texas outside of Houston and Dallas. These are highly specialized physicians earning $70,000 to $90,000+ during their fellowship years.

Select fellowship programs at BSW Temple:

Cardiovascular Disease, Gastroenterology (top 10% nationally), Endocrinology, Hematology & Medical Oncology, Infectious Disease, Interventional Cardiology, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Nephrology, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Vascular Surgery, Adult Reconstruction, Pain Management, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and 12 others.

Fellows often arrive for 1 to 3 year terms and frequently need housing immediately. Because they are transitioning from residency (often in a different city), many prefer furnished rentals for their first few months while they decide where to settle long-term.

4. Medical students (1-month to 4-year stays)

The opening of the Baylor College of Medicine regional campus in Temple in 2023 added an entirely new demand source. The campus adds 40 students per year, reaching a steady state of 160 medical students. While most 4-year students sign standard leases, the visiting student population creates recurring short-burst demand.

Medical students from other campuses come to Temple for clinical electives — typically 4-week rotations. These visiting students need furnished housing for exactly one month, and they cycle through continuously during the academic year.

5. Locum tenens physicians (weeks to months)

Locum tenens — Latin for "to hold the place of" — are licensed physicians who fill temporary vacancies. BSW Temple utilizes locum tenens physicians in specialties where permanent recruitment is difficult: radiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, and specialized surgical fields.

The locum tenens market nationally reached $9.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to hit $9.8 billion in 2026. These physicians are among the highest-paid tenants in the mid-term rental market, often earning $1,500+ per day on assignment. They expect high-quality furnished housing and are willing to pay premium rates.

The VA campus: the demand multiplier most investors overlook

Directly adjacent to the BSW campus sits the Olin E. Teague Veterans' Medical Center — one of the largest integrated VA healthcare systems in the country. This is not a small VA clinic. It is a full-scale medical operation that includes:

• A 189-bed teaching hospital serving as the referral center for 32 Texas counties
• A 262-bed domiciliary for residential treatment programs
• An 80-bed Community Living Center with a 20-bed hospice unit
• An $11.5 million VA Research Institute

The VA maintains 113 separate affiliation agreements and trains over 1,500 students, residents, and professionals annually. Many BSW residents rotate through the VA for required training blocks — the Internal Medicine program alone sends residents to the VA for 3-month rotations.

This geographic pairing creates a unique advantage for rental investors. Properties located between the BSW and VA campuses serve both tenant pools simultaneously. A travel nurse finishing a contract at BSW may be replaced by a locum tenens physician starting at the VA — with no gap in occupancy for the landlord.

The $1.39 billion economic engine and what it means for investors

Healthcare is not just Temple's largest employer — it is the economic foundation of the city. BSW Health contributes over $1.39 billion in annual community benefit, including medical education and research investments. Recent expansion projects include:

• Baylor College of Medicine campus — multi-million dollar investment bringing 160+ medical students to Temple
• BSW Distribution Center — $20 million, 100,000 sq. ft. facility on I-35
• BSW Service Co. headquarters — new corporate headquarters relocated to Temple

These are not speculative developments. They are completed or actively under construction commitments from the state's largest health system. Each expansion brings more employees, trainees, and support staff who need housing.

For the rental investor, this institutional commitment reduces the single biggest risk in real estate: demand evaporation. Temple's rental demand is not driven by a tech company that might relocate or an industry that might contract. It is driven by sick people needing medical care and young doctors needing training — demand that does not disappear during recessions.

What this means for your investment strategy

If you are evaluating Temple as a rental investment market, the BSW medical ecosystem changes the analysis in three important ways:

1. Your tenant quality is structurally higher. Travel nurses, medical residents, and locum tenens physicians are pre-screened by professional licensing boards and staffing agencies. They have verified income, clean backgrounds, and professional reputations to protect. This is a fundamentally different risk profile than the general tenant population.

2. Your vacancy risk is structurally lower near the medical corridor. The combination of 5 demand sources — travel nurses, residents, fellows, medical students, and locum tenens — means that if one pipeline slows, another accelerates. Flu season spikes travel nurse demand. July Match Day brings a new class of residents. Clinical electives rotate students year-round.

3. Your rent premium is defensible. The willingness of healthcare travelers to pay $2,500 to $3,500/month for a furnished home near the hospital is not arbitrary — it is driven by tax-free housing stipends and the non-negotiable need for proximity to 12-hour shifts. This premium will persist as long as BSW Temple operates as a major medical center, which given a $1.39 billion annual investment, is not changing.

For a complete breakdown of how to invest in travel nurse housing near BSW Temple — including financial analysis, platform strategy, and tenant screening — read my complete travel nurse housing investment guide.

To see current investment opportunities in the Temple medical corridor, visit my investing in Temple page or contact me directly to run numbers on a specific property.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many employees does Baylor Scott & White have in Temple?
BSW Health employs over 35,000 people across its system, with the Temple campus serving as the flagship facility. Healthcare accounts for 40% of Temple's gross city product and 50% of all wages.

How many residency programs does BSW Temple have?
BSW Temple hosts 21 accredited residency programs and 26 fellowship programs through its affiliation with Baylor College of Medicine — totaling 47 graduate medical education programs.

Does the Temple VA hospital also create rental demand?
Yes. The Olin E. Teague Veterans' Medical Center is a 189-bed teaching hospital with 113 affiliation agreements that trains over 1,500 professionals annually. It sits adjacent to the BSW campus, and many BSW residents rotate through the VA for required training blocks.

Is Temple TX a good market for mid-term rentals?
Temple is one of the strongest mid-term rental markets in Texas due to the concentration of Baylor Scott & White's flagship campus, the new Baylor College of Medicine campus, and the VA Medical Center. Furnished 3-bedroom homes within 10 minutes of BSW rent for $2,500 to $3,500/month — a 43% to 100% premium over unfurnished long-term rates.

Taylor Dasch is a licensed real estate agent with EG Realty and an active investor with 100+ transactions in Central Texas. He specializes in helping out-of-state buy-and-hold investors find cash-flowing rental properties in Temple, Belton, and surrounding markets. Contact: (254) 718-4249 | [email protected]