Austin Property Tax Guide 2026: Rates, Exemptions & MUDs

Bottom line: Austin property taxes in 2026 run about $2.07 per $100 of taxable value inside city limits — roughly $10,350 per year on a $500,000 home before exemptions. The school district homestead exemption jumped to $140,000 this year, knocking about $1,300 off the typical homeowner’s school tax bill. Travis County rates are among the highest in Texas, but the picture varies sharply by city: a $750K home in Bee Cave can pay $3,000 to $4,000 less per year than the same home in central Austin. New construction buyers face a different math entirely because of MUD and PID taxes that can push effective rates above 3%. The rest of this guide breaks down rates by city, every exemption available in 2026, and how to actually lower your bill.

William Zhang is an Austin real estate agent with eXp Realty (TREC #811948). Property taxes are the single biggest carrying cost after the mortgage for most Austin homeowners, and the rules changed materially in 2026. This guide is current as of May 2026 and covers Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties.

The Short Version

If you only have two minutes, here is what you need to know:

• Combined Austin rate (city + AISD + county + ACC + Central Health): ~$2.07 per $100, or 2.07%.
• Typical bill on a $500K home inside Austin: about $10,350/year before exemptions.
• School district homestead exemption (new in 2026): $140,000 — up from $100,000.
• Travis County exemption: 20% general homestead.
• City of Austin exemption: $25,000.
• Senior/disabled extra exemption (new in 2026): $60,000 — up from $10,000.
• Homestead cap: 10% per year on assessed value increases.
• Homestead application deadline: April 30, 2026.
• Property tax protest deadline: May 15, 2026 (or 30 days after your appraisal notice).

If you bought a home in the last 12 months and have not filed a homestead exemption, do it today. It is free, takes 15 minutes online, and saves the average Austin homeowner more than $1,500 per year once all exemptions stack.

How the Austin Property Tax Bill Is Built

Your Austin property tax bill is not a single rate. It is the sum of taxes from every taxing entity that has authority over your address. Inside Austin city limits, in the Austin ISD boundary, you pay five entities:

Taxing Entity	2026 Rate (per $100)	What It Funds
Austin ISD	$0.9252	Public schools
City of Austin	$0.5240	City services, parks, police, fire
Travis County	$0.3758	County services, sheriff, roads
Austin Community College	$0.1279	ACC system
Central Health	$0.1180	County hospital district
Combined	~$2.07

That works out to about $2.07 per $100 of taxable value, or 2.07% of your home’s assessed value per year before exemptions. On a $500,000 home, that is $10,350 per year, or about $863 per month, which most lenders will fold into your escrow.

Move outside city limits, and the City of Austin line goes away — but you may pick up a MUD or PID rate instead, often netting higher. Move into Round Rock ISD, Leander ISD, Lake Travis ISD, or Hays CISD and the school rate changes. The county line changes if you cross into Williamson or Hays.

Property Tax Rates by City in the Austin Metro

Effective rates vary significantly across the Austin metro depending on city, school district, and whether you are in a MUD or PID. These are 2026 estimates for typical owner-occupied homes:

Area	Estimated Total Rate	Notes
Austin (in AISD)	~2.07%	Standard urban rate
Round Rock	~1.95% to 2.15%	Round Rock ISD
Cedar Park	~2.05% to 2.20%	Leander ISD; some MUD overlays
Leander	~2.10% to 2.45%	Many MUDs in newer subdivisions
Pflugerville	~2.20% to 3.00%	MUDs in newer areas push rate up
Hutto	~2.50% to 3.20%	Heavy MUD/PID overlay common
Manor	~2.60% to 3.20%	New construction often in MUDs
Georgetown	~2.00% to 2.40%	Some MUDs in newer subdivisions
Bee Cave	~1.70% to 1.90%	Lake Travis ISD; lowest in metro
Lakeway	~1.75% to 1.95%	Lake Travis ISD
Dripping Springs	~1.85% to 2.10%	Dripping Springs ISD; some MUDs
Kyle	~2.20% to 2.80%	Hays CISD; MUDs in new areas
Buda	~2.15% to 2.70%	Hays CISD; PIDs in newer areas

On a $750,000 home, the spread between Bee Cave (~1.8%) and central Austin (~2.07%) is roughly $2,000 per year. Versus a Manor or Hutto MUD address at 3.0%, the spread can exceed $9,000 per year. This is one of the most underweighted variables in the Austin home search.

If you are looking at new construction, see the Austin new construction guide and confirm MUD/PID status before you put down earnest money.

The 2026 Homestead Exemption — What Changed

Texas voters approved Proposition 13 in November 2025 with 79% support, which raised the school district homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000 starting January 1, 2026. This was implemented through Senate Bill 4. For the average Austin homeowner, this single change cuts roughly $370 per year off the AISD portion of the bill on top of what they were already saving.

Here is the full stack of exemptions available in 2026 to a typical Austin homeowner:

• Texas school district homestead: $140,000 off taxable value for AISD (or your local ISD). Saves about $1,300 per year on a $500K home.
• Travis County 20% general homestead: Reduces taxable value for county taxes by 20%, with a $5,000 minimum.
• City of Austin homestead: $25,000 off taxable value for city taxes.
• Senior (65+) or disabled exemption: Additional $60,000 off school district taxes — up from $10,000 in 2026 under Senate Bill 23.
• Disabled veteran exemption: Ranges from $5,000 to total exemption based on disability rating.
• Surviving spouse exemption: Continues the deceased spouse’s exemptions.

The 10% homestead cap is the most important non-exemption protection. It limits how much your assessed value can rise year over year — even if your home’s market value jumps 30%, the appraised value used for taxes can only go up 10%. The cap resets to market value when the home sells. That is why a buyer paying $700K for a home the seller bought at $400K often sees their property tax bill double in Year 1 versus the seller’s last bill.

If you bought in 2025 or 2026 and have not filed homestead, you are leaving four figures on the table every year. Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) has an online filing portal at traviscad.org. Williamson County (WCAD) and Hays County (HaysCAD) have similar systems. Filing deadline is April 30, but you can file late and TCAD generally honors it for the same tax year if filed by the protest deadline.

How MUD and PID Districts Change the Math

Inside Austin city limits and in established Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Georgetown subdivisions, your tax bill is usually just the five entities above. But many newer Austin-area subdivisions — especially in Manor, Hutto, eastern Pflugerville, Liberty Hill, Buda, and Kyle — sit inside a Municipal Utility District (MUD) or Public Improvement District (PID). These are separate taxing entities that can add $1,000 to $7,500 per year on top of your standard bill on a $500K home.

A MUD is a state-approved entity that lets a developer issue bonds to build water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure for a new subdivision. Once homes are built and sold, homeowners pay back those bonds through an annual MUD tax — typically $0.25 to $1.50 per $100 of value. A PID is similar but created by city councils to fund parks, trails, lighting, and streetscaping. PID assessments often show up as an annual fee rather than a percentage rate.

The Texas homestead exemption usually does not apply to MUD taxes because MUDs are independent taxing entities. That means a homeowner in a Manor MUD with the new $140K exemption still pays the full MUD rate on the un-exempted value. Combine a 2.0% standard rate with a 1.0% MUD rate, and you are at 3.0% effective — on a $500K home, that is $15,000 per year before exemptions.

This is the single most common surprise for buyers moving from California, New York, or other high-income-tax states who assumed Texas was uniformly low-cost. See the moving from California to Austin guide for the full cost-of-living comparison, and the MUD vs PID explainer for how to verify status before you make an offer.

How to Verify Your Property’s Tax Picture Before You Buy

Before signing a purchase contract on any Austin-area home, run these five checks:

1. Search the parcel on TCAD, WCAD, or HaysCAD. Look at the “Taxing Jurisdictions” list. Every entity on that list is taxing the property. Note their rates.
2. Look for MUD or PID line items. If the list includes “MUD #” or a Public Improvement District, that property has additional tax burden the listing agent may not have highlighted.
3. Pull the current year’s tax bill. TCAD shows current and prior year bills. Compare what the seller paid last year against what the same home would owe at today’s market value with the homestead cap reset to market value.
4. Calculate the new owner’s first-year bill. Take your purchase price, apply the homestead exemption ($140K off school + 20% off county + $25K off city if inside Austin), then apply the combined rate. That is roughly your Year 1 bill.
5. Confirm with the title company. Title companies pull a tax certificate before closing. If your loan estimate’s tax line looks too low, ask for the certificate before you commit.

A common pattern: a home is listed with the seller’s tax bill of $7,200 in the MLS description. The buyer pays $625K for it; the home reassesses at sale; the cap resets; Year 1 taxes are $13,000. The lender catches this at underwriting and the buyer’s monthly payment jumps $400/month from the loan estimate to the closing disclosure. Avoidable with one TCAD search.

Property Tax Protest — Worth Doing Every Year

Filing a homestead exemption and protesting your property taxes are two separate actions, and you should do both every year. The exemption reduces your taxable value. The protest reduces your appraised (market) value before exemptions are applied.

TCAD mails appraisal notices in April. You have until May 15, 2026, or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later, to file a protest. Filing is free, takes about 20 minutes online through TCAD’s iFile system, and roughly 60% of Travis County protests in 2025 resulted in a reduced appraised value.

Three reasons to protest every year:

• Your market value claim is wrong. TCAD uses mass appraisal — they do not visit your home. Their model may overstate value, especially if your home has deferred maintenance, dated finishes, or a small lot.
• Comparable sales support a lower value. Pull 3 to 5 recent sales of similar homes nearby. If they sold below TCAD’s appraised value, that is your evidence.
• Unequal appraisal. If similar homes in your neighborhood are appraised lower than yours, you can win on equity grounds even if recent sales support TCAD’s number.

We have a full step-by-step guide at how to protest property taxes in Austin. Even a 5% reduction on a $500K appraisal saves roughly $520 per year.

Property Tax When You’re Buying a Home

Three things to know if you are house-hunting in Austin in 2026:

The seller’s tax bill is not your tax bill. Once the home sells, the homestead cap resets, the appraised value moves to market value, and your bill is typically much higher than what the seller paid last year. Underwrite to your projected bill, not theirs.

Pre-payment at closing is real money. Texas closes mid-year, and the seller credits you for their portion of the year’s taxes at closing. Then the full bill comes due in October. Your escrow account is “behind” until you accumulate enough — most lenders solve this by requiring 2 to 3 months of cushion in the initial escrow deposit, which can add $3,000+ to cash to close.

MUD/PID is part of qualifying. Your lender uses your projected property tax in your debt-to-income (DTI) calculation. A higher tax rate means a higher monthly PITI, which means you qualify for less. In a Manor MUD versus an in-Austin address at the same purchase price, you may qualify for $30,000 to $50,000 less house in the MUD area.

Property Tax When You’re Selling a Home

Two things sellers should know:

Your low tax bill is a marketing asset, but be careful how you list it. If you bought your home in 2018 and have benefited from the 10% homestead cap, your tax bill is much lower than what a new buyer will pay. Showing your bill in the MLS is fine; representing it as the buyer’s future bill is not.

Pro-rated taxes at closing. You owe taxes for the portion of the year you owned the home. If you close June 30, you owe roughly half of the projected year’s taxes — that is debited from your sale proceeds at closing and credited to the buyer. The buyer then pays the full bill when it comes due in October.

See our Austin home selling guide for the full closing-cost picture.

Common Property Tax Mistakes Austin Buyers Make

After working with buyers across the Austin metro, these are the property tax mistakes I see most often:

• Not filing homestead in the first year. You can file as soon as you own and occupy the home. Waiting until next year leaves money on the table.
• Missing the protest deadline. May 15 is firm. Set a calendar reminder for the second week of May every year.
• Using the seller’s tax bill in the affordability calculation. Always underwrite to the post-sale, market-reset bill.
• Ignoring MUD status. A $50K builder incentive does not offset a 1.2% MUD tax over 10 years.
• Not factoring the tax change after a sale. If you bought a home that has been homesteaded for 10 years, your bill at year 1 may be 80% to 200% higher than what the seller paid.
• Skipping the senior exemption. If you or a spouse turns 65 during the year, file the senior exemption. The extra $60,000 in 2026 is one of the biggest single tax breaks available.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are Austin property taxes due in 2026? Bills mail in October 2026 for the 2026 tax year. Payment is due by January 31, 2027. Most homeowners with a mortgage pay through escrow.

Can I pay Austin property taxes monthly? Travis County offers a quarterly installment plan for homeowners 65+, disabled homeowners, and disabled veterans. Other homeowners typically pay through their mortgage escrow, which spreads the bill across 12 months.

Does the homestead exemption transfer when I sell? No. Your exemption ends when you sell. The new owner must file their own application. If you move to another Texas home within the same year, you can transfer the homestead status — important for the 10% cap.

Is there an Austin property tax calculator I can use? TCAD’s online portal lets you enter a parcel and see exact taxes. For a quick estimate on a target purchase price, multiply the price by 0.0207 for in-Austin, in-AISD addresses. Then subtract $140K × 0.009252 (about $1,295) for the school exemption.

What is the appraisal cap if I do not have a homestead exemption? There is none. Non-homestead properties (rentals, second homes, vacant land) can be appraised at full market value every year with no cap. This is why investors and second-home owners often see much sharper tax increases than primary-residence homeowners.

Working With William Zhang

Property tax math is a load-bearing piece of every Austin home purchase, and the answer is rarely the same for two addresses even one block apart. If you are buying, selling, or relocating to Austin in 2026, I run the full tax projection — TCAD search, MUD/PID verification, post-sale reset estimate, and exemption stacking — before you write an offer.

Reach out at (512) 766-3188 or through the contact form. I work the full Austin metro at eXp Realty (TREC #811948).