Halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Halo-PAHs) are a new group of PAH derivatives and are reported to be more toxic than their parent PAHs. However, limited research has been undertaken on their physicochemical properties. In this study, sub-cooled liquid vapor pressures (PL) and octanol–air partition coefficients (KOA) of 24 chlorinated and 11 brominated PAHs (ClPAHs and BrPAHs) were determined using the gas chromatographic retention time (GC-RT) technique. The temperature dependences of PL and KOA for the Halo-PAHs were determined by the slopes and intercepts of the linear regressions. The GC-RT method also provided the enthalpies of vaporization (ΔHL) and internal energies of phase transfer (ΔUOA) for all interested compounds. The activity of Halo-PAHs in octanol (γoct) ranging from 18 to 87, indicated the non-ideal solution behavior. The number of the chlorine atoms in the PAH rings could influence the interaction of ClPAHs with the organic matter, whereas this interaction for BrPAHs could not be studied due to the limited number of target BrPAHs. The measured values of PL and KOA were applied to investigate the gas/particle partition behaviors of Halo-PAHs in Ulsan, South Korea. This study is so far the first one to report the linear regression coefficients, which can be used to estimate the PL and KOA values of Halo-PAHs at any temperature. Display omitted •PL and KOA for Halo-PAHs were determined using the GC-RT method.•The values of PL and KOA for Halo-PAHs were correlated with molecular weights.•A range of γoct (18–87) for Halo-PAHs indicated the non-ideal solution behavior.•The number of chlorines influenced the interaction of ClPAHs with organic matter.•The values of PL and KOA were applied to investigate the G/P partitioning behaviors.