The effective property tax rate in Austin in 2026 sits at approximately 1.97%, but that number varies dramatically depending on which side of a city-limit line or school-district boundary your home happens to fall on. Across the Austin metro, effective combined rates range from a low of 1.78% in Westlake Hills to a high of 2.71% in Manor, a spread of nearly a full percentage point. On a $700,000 home, that gap translates to more than $6,500 in additional annual taxes. Understanding those differences before you write an offer is one of the most important, and most overlooked, steps in any Austin home purchase.
How Austin Area Property Taxes Are Calculated
Texas property taxes are levied as a combined rate applied to a property's appraised value, which is set each January by the relevant appraisal district. For most of the Austin metro, that means the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD)[1] sets the value, though homes in Williamson County cities like Cedar Park, Round Rock, and Leander answer to the Williamson Central Appraisal District (WCAD).
Your tax bill is not one rate, it is the stacked sum of every taxing entity that has jurisdiction over your specific parcel. A typical Travis County homeowner pays rates set by: the county itself, the applicable school district (Austin ISD, Eanes ISD, Del Valle ISD, etc.), the municipality (City of Austin, City of Lakeway, etc.), the Austin Community College district, and potentially one or more special districts such as a hospital district or water district. Each entity adopts its own rate annually, which is why the same street address in two different school districts can yield radically different tax bills on identical homes.
The Texas Comptroller publishes annual effective tax rate certifications for every taxing unit in the state.[3] These rates are set during the summer months following appraisals and take effect for the October billing cycle. The rates below reflect published 2025 certified rates, which apply to the bills mailed in fall 2025 and due January 31, 2026, the most current data available as of this writing.
Austin Property Tax Rate Breakdown, What's In Your Bill
Every Austin-area property tax bill is a composite of multiple separate rates, each set by a different governing body. Understanding the components helps you predict how a rate might change and which line items you have any chance of influencing.
School District (largest component): The school district levy typically accounts for 50–60% of your total property tax bill in the Austin area. Austin ISD's 2025 tax rate landed at approximately $0.8705 per $100 of assessed value, while Eanes ISD, which serves Westlake Hills and parts of Bee Cave, came in lower at around $0.7940.[5] Round Rock ISD (RRISD), covering Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville, and parts of Hutto, certified at roughly $0.9450, contributing to that area's higher combined rate. The state's school finance formulas compress some district-to-district variation, but meaningful differences persist, particularly between districts funded primarily by local property wealth (like Eanes) versus those relying more on state equalization funds.
Travis County: The county levy applies uniformly across all Travis County properties regardless of city limits. The 2025 Travis County rate was approximately $0.3498 per $100 of assessed value, covering county government operations, the county hospital district (Central Health), and the Austin Community College district, which collectively add roughly $0.5000–$0.5500 to the rate stack.
City of Austin: Properties within Austin city limits pay an additional city rate of approximately $0.4488 per $100. Unincorporated communities like Westlake Hills and Rollingwood do not pay a city levy, which is a major reason their effective rates are lower despite being in Travis County. Cities like Lakeway, Cedar Park, and Round Rock levy their own municipal rates on top of county and school rates.
Special Districts: Hospital districts, emergency services districts (ESDs), and water control districts add additional fractional rates. Travis County Healthcare District (Central Health) added approximately $0.0626 per $100 in 2025. Williamson County cities often stack additional special district levies that Travis County properties do not carry, widening the suburban rate gap further.
Homestead Exemption Impact, How to Reduce Your Bill
Texas law provides several mechanisms to reduce property tax liability for primary-residence homeowners. The homestead exemption is the most significant and widely available, and it must be applied for. It is not automatic.[1]
General Homestead Exemption: Filing a homestead exemption with TCAD (or WCAD for Williamson County properties) does two things. First, it removes a portion of your home's value from taxation, Austin ISD, for example, grants a $100,000 school district homestead exemption under current state law, which means the first $100,000 of appraised value is exempt from the school rate. Second, and often more valuable over time, it caps the annual increase in your home's taxable assessed value at 10% per year regardless of how much market values rise. During the 2020–2022 Austin boom, when homes appreciated 30–40% in a single year, this cap saved homestead owners thousands versus what they would have owed on full market value.
Over-65 and Disabled Person Exemptions: Homeowners who are 65 or older or who qualify as disabled receive an additional exemption, typically $10,000 from the county and varying amounts from school districts, plus a tax ceiling that freezes the school district portion of their bill at the amount paid in the year they first qualified. This ceiling does not transfer to a new property but represents a significant long-term benefit for qualifying buyers.
Disabled Veteran Exemptions: Texas provides partial exemptions for veterans with service-connected disabilities, scaling from $5,000 for a 10–29% disability rating up to a 100% exemption (the entire property) for veterans with a 100% VA disability rating. These exemptions transfer if the veteran purchases a new home and refiled with TCAD.
To claim the general homestead exemption, you must have owned and occupied the property as your principal residence on January 1 of the tax year. Applications are due April 30 and can be filed online at tcad.org. Buyers who close before January 1 and establish the home as their primary residence are eligible for the exemption on the very first tax bill they receive.
New Construction Buyers: Watch for MUD, PID, and SID Districts
One of the most common, and expensive, surprises for Austin new construction buyers is the discovery of a Municipal Utility District (MUD), Public Improvement District (PID), or Special Improvement District (SID) tax layered on top of the standard city and county rates.[4]
These special districts are created by developers and authorized by the Texas Water Development Board or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to finance the construction of infrastructure, roads, water lines, sewer systems, drainage, parks, in areas where municipal services did not previously reach. The infrastructure costs are bonded out and repaid through an additional property tax levy that applies to all homes within the district boundary. MUD rates in the Austin area typically range from $0.30 to $0.80 per $100 of assessed value, though some older or highly leveraged districts can exceed $1.00.
The practical impact: a new construction home in a Pflugerville MUD already carrying a 2.45% effective city/county/school rate could see its combined rate pushed to 2.90% or higher. On a $550,000 home, that additional half-percent amounts to $2,750 per year, roughly $229 per month added to your housing cost.
How to spot them: request a tax certificate from the title company during the option period. The certificate will list every taxing entity levied against the property, including any MUD, PID, or SID. Your real estate agent should flag this at the time of the offer, not at closing. As a rule of thumb, master-planned communities built after 2000 in suburban Austin, particularly in Pflugerville, Hutto, Leander, Georgetown, Kyle, and Buda, have a higher probability of MUD overlays than properties within established city limits.
MUD bonds do eventually retire. Districts created in the early 2000s are often in their final years of debt, and some have already been absorbed by the surrounding municipality. When that happens, the MUD rate drops to zero. Buyers in mature suburban communities may actually benefit from inherited infrastructure without inheriting the full MUD tax burden, another reason to review the specific district's bond balance, not just the current rate.
How to Protest Your Property Tax Assessment
The appraisal protest process is one of the most underutilized financial tools available to Texas homeowners. TCAD receives hundreds of thousands of protests each year, but the majority of homeowners never file one, even in years when the district's values clearly exceed the market.[2]
The deadline is May 15. Or 30 days after TCAD mails your Notice of Appraised Value, whichever is later. Miss that window and you forfeit the right to protest for that tax year. Notices typically arrive in April. Check your mailbox and your TCAD online account in early April each year.
How to file: Go to tcad.org and use the online protest portal, it takes about 10 minutes. Alternatively, file by certified mail using the form attached to your Notice of Appraised Value. You can also walk into TCAD's offices at 850 E Anderson Lane in Austin during business hours.
The informal hearing: After you file, TCAD will schedule an informal hearing, usually a phone call or video meeting, with an appraiser. Bring three to five comparable sales from the past six to twelve months that support a lower value. MLS data, Redfin, or Zillow recent sales work as evidence. A recent independent appraisal is the strongest evidence you can present. Success rates at informal hearings are meaningful, many protests settle here without needing to escalate.
The Appraisal Review Board (ARB): If informal resolution fails, you can request an ARB hearing before an independent panel of citizens. The ARB hearing is more formal, with sworn testimony and evidence submission rules. Win rates are lower here but the ARB has authority to reduce values further than the informal appraiser can. After an ARB ruling you can still appeal to district court or use binding arbitration for lower-value properties.
The most compelling evidence in any protest is a recent arms-length sale of your own property (your purchase price from the past 12 months), or a licensed appraisal completed within 6 months of the January 1 valuation date. Bring comparable sales of similar homes that sold for less than TCAD's assessed value. Photographs documenting deferred maintenance, foundation issues, or condition problems also carry weight. The burden is on you to show the assessed value exceeds market value, come prepared with data, not just an argument that taxes are too high.
Comparing Annual Property Tax Costs by Home Value
The table below illustrates the real-dollar impact of different municipal tax rates across four common price points. These figures assume no homestead exemption to show gross cost; subtract roughly $870–$1,000 per year for the standard homestead exemption benefit on school district taxes. MUD rates are not included, add $0.30%–$0.80% for new construction communities in Pflugerville, Leander, Cedar Park, and similar suburbs.
| City / Area | Rate | $400K Home | $600K Home | $800K Home | $1M Home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westlake Hills | 1.78% | $7,120 | $10,680 | $14,240 | $17,800 |
| Lakeway | 1.89% | $7,560 | $11,340 | $15,120 | $18,900 |
| Austin (City) | 1.97% | $7,880 | $11,820 | $15,760 | $19,700 |
| Round Rock | 2.05% | $8,200 | $12,300 | $16,400 | $20,500 |
| Cedar Park | 2.28% | $9,120 | $13,680 | $18,240 | $22,800 |
| Pflugerville | 2.45% | $9,800 | $14,700 | $19,600 | $24,500 |
| Leander | 2.62% | $10,480 | $15,720 | $20,960 | $26,200 |
| Manor | 2.71% | $10,840 | $16,260 | $21,680 | $27,100 |
Gross annual tax cost at assessed value, before homestead exemption. MUD/SID districts not included. For illustration only, verify with TCAD, WCAD, or Travis County Tax Office.
The spreads are instructive. At $600,000, a buyer choosing between Westlake Hills and Manor faces a $5,580 annual tax difference, nearly $465 per month. Even the narrower gap between Austin city proper and Round Rock ($12,300 vs. $11,820 annually on a $600K home, in favor of Round Rock) adds up to $480 per year. Over a 10-year holding period, a homeowner who bought in Manor instead of Westlake Hills, all else equal, would pay $55,800 more in property taxes, net of any reductions from the homestead cap.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the property tax rate in Austin TX 2026?
The effective combined property tax rate for Austin city proper in 2026 is approximately 1.97%, which includes the Austin ISD rate, Travis County rate, City of Austin rate, and other special district levies. On a $600,000 home, that works out to roughly $11,820 per year before exemptions. Rates differ meaningfully by location within the metro, suburbs range from 1.78% (Westlake Hills) to 2.71% (Manor).
Which Austin suburb has the lowest property taxes?
Westlake Hills has the lowest effective property tax rate in the Austin metro at approximately 1.78%, largely because it falls within the Eanes ISD boundary, which carries a lower tax rate than Austin ISD. Lakeway is second-lowest at around 1.89%. Both are unincorporated areas within Travis County. Keep in mind that lower rates do not always mean lower dollar bills, higher appraised values in Westlake Hills can still produce large annual tax payments.
How do I appeal my property tax assessment in Travis County?
To appeal your Travis County property tax assessment, file a Notice of Protest with the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) by May 15. You can file online at tcad.org. TCAD will schedule an informal hearing where you can present comparable sales data, an independent appraisal, or evidence of errors in your property records. If unsatisfied, you can escalate to the Appraisal Review Board (ARB). Success rates are highest when buyers submit a recent independent appraisal or gather at least 3–5 comparable sales showing a lower market value.
Do new construction homes in Austin have higher property taxes?
Yes, many Austin new construction communities sit within Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs), Public Improvement Districts (PIDs), or Special Improvement Districts (SIDs), which add 0.30%–0.80% on top of standard city and county rates. A new home in Pflugerville or Leander with a MUD overlay could see an effective combined rate above 3.00%. MUD bonds phase out over 20–30 years as the district retires its debt. Always request the full tax certificate during your option period to identify every taxing entity levied against the property.