What actually sets Texas apart
Texas has no state income tax, and property tax carries the load instead. The detail that costs buyers most is the special district: a house in a MUD or PID can carry an effective rate well above 2.5% while an otherwise identical house a mile away sits nearer 1.8%. The district levies appear on the appraisal district's own tax estimator, and they are worth checking before you make an offer.
Property taxes in Texas at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 1.58% of home value per year
- Median home value: $260,400
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $4,111 per year (about $343 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 7th of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 11th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Texas statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
What the Texas rate leaves out
Texas is 7th of the fifty by rate and 11th by the bill a median-value owner receives — a shift of 4 places, and the $260,400 median home value is what causes it. The rate is a reasonable shorthand here, but it is not the whole answer, and both numbers are worth checking before comparing Texas with anywhere else.
How Texas works out what you owe
County appraisal districts appraise property at market value as of 1 January. There is no state property tax; every dollar is levied by school districts, counties, cities and special districts.
Once a homestead exemption is in place, the appraised value used for taxation cannot rise more than 10% a year regardless of what the market does. The cap applies from the second year you hold the homestead.
Exemptions Texas homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Texas bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- School district homestead exemption: A large exemption of value from school district tax, which is the biggest component of a Texas bill. Counties, cities and special districts may add their own optional percentage exemptions.
- Over-65 and disabled school tax ceiling: Once an owner turns 65 the school tax on their homestead is frozen in dollar terms and cannot rise, even if values do. The ceiling can be transferred to a new Texas homestead on a proportional basis.
Where you buy inside Texas changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Texas:
- Harris County: Houston, where municipal utility districts financing water and drainage in newer subdivisions can add a full percentage point to the effective rate
- Travis County: Austin, with the largest gap in the state between capped homestead values and market values after the pandemic run-up
- Collin County: the northern Dallas suburbs, where public improvement districts on new developments are common and are billed alongside the ordinary levies
Texas and its neighbours
The same $260,400 — the Texas median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- New Mexico at 0.72%: about $1,875 a year, roughly $2,236 less than the $4,111 a Texas owner would pay on the same value.
- Oklahoma at 0.82%: about $2,135 a year, roughly $1,976 less than the $4,111 a Texas owner would pay on the same value.
- Arkansas at 0.57%: about $1,484 a year, roughly $2,627 less than the $4,111 a Texas owner would pay on the same value.
- Louisiana at 0.55%: about $1,432 a year, roughly $2,679 less than the $4,111 a Texas owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Texas assessment
If the assessed value on your Texas home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the Appraisal Review Board, then binding arbitration or district court. The window is protests are due by 15 May or 30 days after the notice of appraised value, whichever is later, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Texas property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
Bills are mailed in October and are due by 31 January without penalty. Applications are filed with the county appraisal district; the general deadline is 30 April, and a late application is accepted for up to two years.
Does this calculator use my exact Texas county tax rate?
No — it applies the Texas statewide average of 1.58%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Texas is wide enough to matter: on a $260,400 home, $1,548 a year separates Texas from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Texas county before relying on this figure.
Reference sources
Related calculators
How this estimate is built
Principal and interest come from the standard amortization formula, worked through in full on the formula reference page. Property tax, insurance, PMI and loan-program figures layer on top from published assumptions — each one sourced, dated and listed on the methodology page. Every result here is an estimate built from public data, not a quote: confirm the specifics with a lender before relying on it.
For developers
This calculation is also available as a REST API and through an MCP server, both running the same engine as this page — so the figures match by construction rather than by convention. No key required.