Texas property taxes, explained with real 2026 numbers.

How a Texas property tax bill stacks up

There is no state property tax in Texas. Your bill is the sum of rates set by every local body whose boundaries include your address, each quoted in dollars per $100 of taxable value. Your county appraisal district sets the value; each taxing unit sets its own rate; the county tax office usually collects it all on one bill in October. Statewide, WalletHub puts the average effective rate at 1.49%, with a median bill of $4,232 (reported Feb 17, 2026). That average hides a wide range: the same house can owe very different amounts a mile apart if it crosses a school district or MUD line.

The layers

• School district (ISD). Almost always the biggest line: about 40% to 47% of the combined rate in the big-city examples below. It is also the only layer the $140,000 state homestead exemption applies to.
• City. Usually the second-biggest line if you live inside city limits. Unincorporated areas skip it but may pay a MUD or emergency services district instead.
• County. Some counties split off a separate flood control or road and flood rate. Harris County bills its Flood Control District separately, and Bexar County has a Road and Flood fund.
• Hospital district. Harris Health, Parkland (Dallas), JPS (Tarrant), Central Health (Travis), University Health (Bexar) and UMC (El Paso) each levy a countywide rate.
• Community college. HCC, Dallas College, Tarrant County College, ACC, Alamo Colleges and EPCC each have a rate, about 10 to 17 cents in our examples.
• MUDs and other special districts. Municipal utility districts pay for water, sewer and roads in suburban subdivisions, and their rates can rival a city’s. On the Harris County tax office list, 2025 MUD rates range from $0.18 to $1.72 per $100 among those with a nonzero rate. Ask for the MUD rate before you buy in a new subdivision.

Worked example: a $300,000 San Antonio homestead

Bexar County’s tax office publishes every 2026 rate next to the exemption each body grants, which makes it easy to show the math. This example is our own calculation for a home appraised at $300,000 inside San Antonio and San Antonio ISD, owned by someone under 65 who has filed for the homestead exemption. Rates and exemptions are from Bexar County’s 2026 rate list.

Our arithmetic: taxable value × rate ÷ 100 for each line. The SAISD rate on the county’s list includes a 3.17-cent increase that is on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot; if voters reject it, the school line drops by about $51 on this house. If the owner were 65 or older, the extra $60,000 school exemption would cut the SAISD taxable value to $99,970 and the school tax to about $1,187, and the school tax ceiling would then hold it there. Real bills can be lower in a given year because the 10% homestead cap can keep taxable value below market value.

Combined rates in the big six

Each total adds every rate a typical homestead pays inside the core city and its main school district. It is the rate before exemptions; your effective rate after the homestead exemptions will be lower, as the San Antonio example shows. We show 2026 where every major piece has been adopted and is posted by the tax office, and 2025 (the last complete year) where it is not. Suburbs, other school districts and MUDs will differ.

What is still moving for 2026

• Dallas: the city cut its rate to $0.6978 for FY2026-27 (Sep 16, 2026). Dallas County adopted $0.248650, which is 2.4 cents above its voter-approval rate of $0.224650, so it goes to voters on Nov 3. We have not confirmed 2026 rates for Dallas ISD, Parkland or Dallas College.
• Austin: the city adopted $0.579948 for FY2026-27, and Central Health proposed $0.135195, up from $0.118023. Final 2026 rates for Travis County, Austin ISD and ACC were not posted where we could confirm them.
• El Paso: the city proposed $0.809487 for 2026, equal to its voter-approval rate, and the county set the UMC hospital rate at $0.236904 (Aug 24, 2026).
• Houston: the city’s proposed 2026 rate holds at 51.919 cents, and HISD adopted $0.8421 on Oct 8, 2026, down from $0.8783. The Department of Education (HCDE) row on the tax office list still shows zero for 2026.

City pages have the local detail: Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and El Paso. For side-by-side costs, see compare Texas cities.

Exemptions after the November 2025 amendments

Voters approved all 17 constitutional amendments on Nov 4, 2025 (National Law Review). Prop 13 raised the school homestead exemption, Prop 11 raised the senior and disability add-on, and Prop 9 raised the business personal property exemption. The Comptroller’s exemptions page now shows the new homestead amounts.

What the exemptions do and don’t cover

• The $140,000 and $60,000 amounts come off school taxes only. City, county, hospital and college taxes still hit the full value unless that body offers its own optional exemption. Many large ones do: Bexar County, University Health and the City of San Antonio give 20% (Bexar list), and HISD adds a local 20% on top of the state $140,000 (HISD).
• The school tax ceiling means that once you qualify at 65 or as disabled, your school tax on that home cannot go above what you paid that year, though it can go down. Adding a garage or other improvement can raise the ceiling, and the ceiling can move with you to a new Texas home as a percentage (Comptroller FAQ). Cities, counties and junior colleges can choose to adopt their own ceiling; other special districts can’t.
• The 10% cap limits how fast a homestead’s taxable value can rise each year, not the market value.
• The circuit breaker is the rental and second-home version of the cap: a 20% yearly limit, applied automatically with no application, for non-homestead real property at or below the threshold. HCAD’s example: a $1 million property reappraised at $1.25 million is taxed on $1.2 million (HCAD). The threshold was $5 million in 2024 and $5.16 million in 2025 (BCAD). It is authorized only for 2024 through 2026. The 2025 Legislature did not extend it, and any renewal would come from the session that starts in January 2027 (Ownwell, Sep 22, 2026). Watch Jan 2027
• Other November 2025 amendments added exemptions for surviving spouses of veterans who died of service-connected conditions (Prop 7) and for homes destroyed by fire (Prop 10) (NLR).

How and when to file for the homestead exemption

File once with your county appraisal district, not the tax office. It is free, and approved homeowners generally do not need to reapply unless something changes (Texas Tribune, Oct 20, 2026).

• Form: the Comptroller’s Form 50-114, Application for Residence Homestead Exemption. Every appraisal district has to accept it, and most also take it online.
• Who qualifies: you need an ownership interest in the home and must live there as your principal residence. You can claim only one homestead.
• Documents: usually a copy of your Texas driver’s license or state ID showing the property address. Active-duty military and people in nursing or assisted-care facilities are excused from the address match (Tribune).
• Deadline: the general rule is to file before May 1, so April 30, for a home you lived in on Jan 1.
• Late? Most homeowners can still file up to two years after that year’s taxes were due and get a refund (Tribune).
• Bought this year? You can apply as soon as you own and live in the home. If the seller had a homestead exemption, it stays on the account through year-end and yours starts the next year; if not, apply right away to get it for the rest of the year.
• Check it: districts often don’t send an approval letter. Look up your account online; the exemption should show on the spring value notice and the October bill. The district has 90 days to decide.

If you turn 65 or become disabled after you first file, tell your appraisal district so the extra $60,000 and the school ceiling get added. New to Texas? Our moving to Texas guide lists the other first-year deadlines.

How to protest your value

Appraisal districts mail value notices in the spring. If the value looks high or an exemption is missing, protest. It costs nothing, and you can do it yourself.

• Deadline: May 15 or 30 days after the district mailed your notice, whichever is later. Late protests are heard only for good cause.
• How to file: the Comptroller’s Form 50-132 works, but any written notice that names you, the property and what you disagree with is enough. Large districts take protests online. In Harris County, HCAD’s iFile system uses the iFile number printed on your notice, and iSettle can make you an online settlement offer before any hearing (HCAD, May 6, 2026).
• Informal review first: you can ask for an informal meeting with appraisal staff, which settles many cases.
• The ARB hearing: if you don’t settle, the Appraisal Review Board hears the case. It must give you at least 15 days’ notice, and you can attend in person, by phone or video, or send a sworn affidavit. Bring evidence: recent comparable sales, photos, repair bids, or a closing statement if you bought recently. The Comptroller is blunt that simply saying the value is wrong won’t win (Comptroller).
• After the ARB: homesteads of any value, and other property appraised at $5 million or less, can request binding arbitration within 60 days of the ARB order. District court is the other route; the State Office of Administrative Hearings is available only for values over $1 million.

Tax rate elections and the 3.5% rule

Texas caps how much a local government can raise in operating taxes without asking voters. Each fall, every unit publishes a no-new-revenue rate (the rate that would bring in the same money from the same properties as last year) and a voter-approval rate. For cities, counties and most other units, the voter-approval rate allows 3.5% more in operating revenue, plus debt payments and unused increment. Junior colleges, hospital districts and units with very low operating rates get 8%. School districts use a separate formula tied to the state’s compressed rate (Comptroller).

A unit that adopts a rate above its voter-approval rate generally has to hold an election on the next uniform election date. That is why several 2026 rates are on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot:

• Dallas County: voters decide the 2.4-cent increase above the $0.224650 voter-approval rate, for homelessness, encampment and mental health programs set to start Jan 1, 2027. On the county’s median homestead (taxable value $268,056) the county portion at the adopted rate is $666.52. Our calculation: the 2.4 cents adds about $64 on that home.
• San Antonio schools: SAISD (about 3.17 cents) and Northside ISD (about 3 cents) rate increases are on the ballot (TPR, Sep 28, 2026).

Results will change some numbers on this page. We will update after the canvass.

Out-of-date numbers you’ll still find online

Related pages

Sales tax, vehicle fees and pay are on Texas taxes and pay. Home, flood and windstorm premiums, which often cost as much as a tax line, are on Texas insurance costs. For the full picture by city, start at the Texas overview or compare Texas cities.

How we check

Rates come from county tax offices and the taxing units themselves wherever we could open them. Where we used a news report or a realtor’s compilation, the source column says so. Combined rates and the worked example are our own arithmetic from those published rates. Read the full methodology.