Explainers
Texas Property Tax Rates by County: Houston, Austin, DFW (2025)
Texas has no state property tax and no single rate. Your bill is the sum of the rates adopted by every local unit that covers your address, applied to your taxable value. That is why two homes of identical value a mile apart can carry bills hundreds of dollars different, and why "the Texas property tax rate" is really a question about where you live.
This guide collects the 2025 adopted rates for the largest taxing units in the nine counties we serve, shows what a typical bill looks like on the median home in each county, and explains how to find the exact rate for your own address. Rates for 2026 are adopted each August and September; the pattern rarely changes much year to year.
How the rate is built
Every property is covered by several taxing units, each with its own rate expressed per $100 of taxable value:
- School district, usually the largest component, split into maintenance and operations (M&O) and debt service (I&S)
- County, often with separate line items for flood control, a hospital district, or a port authority
- City, if the property is inside city limits
- Community college district
- Special districts: municipal utility districts (MUDs), emergency services districts, levee districts, and others, common in newer suburbs and sometimes larger than the city rate
Your bill = (taxable value ÷ 100) × the sum of those rates. Exemptions reduce the taxable value first; a homestead exemption removes $140,000 from the school district's base in 2026, so the school portion is computed on a smaller number than the county's.
2025 adopted rates, by county
Rates are per $100 of taxable value, as adopted by each unit for the 2025 tax year. The "representative combined rate" adds the county, largest school district, and largest city plus typical community college and hospital district rates; it is an estimate for a home in the central city with no MUD, and your address will differ.
| County | County rate | Largest school district | Largest city | Representative combined rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | ≈ $0.6241 (county, flood control, hospital, port) | Houston ISD $0.8783 | Houston ≈ $0.52 | ≈ 2.1% |
| Fort Bend | $0.412 | Fort Bend ISD $1.0569 (Lamar CISD $1.1469) | Sugar Land $0.3588 | ≈ 1.85% (no MUD) |
| Montgomery | $0.3770 | Conroe ISD $0.9496 | Conroe $0.4272 | ≈ 1.9% |
| Brazoria | See county rate sheet | Pearland ISD (see rate sheet) | Pearland $0.630 | ≈ 2.2% |
| Galveston | See county rate sheet | Clear Creek ISD $0.9690 | League City (no-new-revenue rate) | ≈ 1.7% |
| Travis | $0.3758 | Austin ISD $0.9252 | Austin $0.5240 | ≈ 2.05% |
| Williamson | $0.3698 | Round Rock ISD $0.8931 | Round Rock $0.3720 | ≈ 1.7% |
| Dallas | $0.216 | Dallas ISD $0.994 | Dallas $0.6988 | ≈ 2.2% |
| Collin | $0.1493 | Plano ISD / Frisco ISD (see rate sheet) | Plano / Frisco (see rate sheet) | ≈ 1.8% |
Official rate sheets, which list every unit in the county: Harris County Tax Office, Fort Bend County and FBCAD, Montgomery County, Brazoria CAD, Galveston County, Travis CAD, Williamson County, Dallas County, and Collin County. School district rates above are from Houston ISD, Austin ISD, and Round Rock ISD; the City of Dallas rate is from its economic development office.
Two things stand out. First, Collin County's government rate is the lowest of the nine by a wide margin, at under 15 cents, while Harris County's combined county rate is more than four times that; the difference is largely the hospital district and flood control. Second, the school district is the biggest line everywhere, which is why the 2026 increase in the school homestead exemption to $140,000 matters more than any rate change.
What a typical bill looks like
We maintain appraisal records for all nine counties. Applying each county's representative combined rate to the median appraised home value gives a rough bill before exemptions:
| County | Median appraised home value (2026) | Representative rate | Bill before exemptions | Bill with the school homestead exemption (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | $275,796 | 2.1% | $5,790 | $4,560 |
| Fort Bend | $382,500 | 1.85% | $7,080 | $5,600 |
| Montgomery | $319,517 | 1.9% | $6,070 | $4,740 |
| Brazoria | $312,830 | 2.2% | $6,880 | $5,290 |
| Galveston | $317,964 | 1.7% | $5,410 | $4,050 |
| Travis | $447,830 | 2.05% | $9,180 | $7,880 |
| Williamson | $399,907 | 1.7% | $6,800 | $5,550 |
| Dallas | $315,110 | 2.2% | $6,930 | $5,540 |
| Collin | $462,747 | 1.8% | $8,330 | $6,890 |
The homestead column subtracts $140,000 from the school district's share only; county and city local-option exemptions, where adopted, reduce it further, and the 10% cap can put taxable value well below the median appraised value for long-time owners. Median values are from our June 2026 analysis of residential accounts appraised at $50,000 or more; see our Houston property values by ZIP for the neighborhood-level picture.
Why your rate is different from your neighbor's
Three common reasons two nearby homes pay different combined rates:
- MUDs and special districts. A subdivision built in the 2000s or later in unincorporated Harris, Fort Bend, or Montgomery County almost always sits in a municipal utility district that financed its water, sewer, and drainage. MUD rates of $0.30 to $1.00 per $100 are common, and they can push a combined rate above 3%. The district's rate falls as its bonds are paid down.
- City limits. A home just outside a city pays no city tax but may pay an emergency services district instead.
- School district lines. Districts do not follow city or county boundaries. Fort Bend County alone is split among Fort Bend ISD, Lamar CISD, Katy ISD, and others, with rates that differ by 10 to 20 cents.
How to find your exact rate
- Look up your property on your county tax office site (in Harris County, hctax.net). The account page lists every taxing unit and its current rate.
- Check the county's Truth-in-Taxation site each August for proposed rates and hearing dates; state law requires every unit to post them.
- Read your October tax bill. It itemizes the same units, the rates, and the amount each unit collects from you.
Rates go up, rates go down, values matter more
Texas law requires every taxing unit to calculate a no-new-revenue rate each year (the rate that would raise the same revenue on new appraisals) and a voter-approval rate above which an election is generally required. In years of rising values, many units adopt a lower nominal rate and still collect more. The practical lesson: a falling rate on a rising value is not a tax cut. Watch the value on your April notice, protest it when it is high, and keep your exemptions current. Our Texas property tax guide walks through how values, exemptions, and rates combine into the bill.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Rates are as adopted for the 2025 tax year by the units listed; representative combined rates are estimates. Confirm the rates for your address with your county tax office.