How Much Are Property Taxes on a $500,000 Home in Austin, Texas Currently

On a $500,000 home in Austin, Texas, you can expect to pay somewhere between $9,000 and $12,500 in property taxes per year as of September 2026. That wide range exists because Austin is not one single taxing jurisdiction. Your total bill is the sum of rates charged by the city, the county, the school district, and sometimes a municipal utility district or special district layered on top.

The combined effective rate across most of Travis County currently sits between 1.8% and 2.5% of assessed value, depending on location. At 2.0%, a $500,000 assessed value produces a $10,000 annual tax bill. At 2.4%, that same home produces $12,000. These are real numbers, not estimates pulled from a national average.

How the Combined Tax Rate Is Built

Every Austin-area property tax bill is a stack of individual rates, each set by a separate governing body. The City of Austin currently levies around $0.4457 per $100 of assessed value. Travis County adds roughly $0.3027 per $100. The Austin Independent School District, which covers a large portion of central Austin, adds the biggest single line item at approximately $0.9066 per $100. Add in Austin Community College at about $0.1048 per $100 and the Central Health district at $0.0992 per $100, and you are already at roughly 1.86% before any special district charges.

Homes inside a municipal utility district, common in newer master-planned communities on Austin's northern and southwestern edges, carry an additional MUD rate that can range from $0.10 to $0.60 per $100 of value. That single factor can add $500 to $3,000 to the annual bill on a $500,000 property.

Sample Dollar Figures for September 2026

To make this concrete, here is what a $500,000 assessed value produces at several common combined rates in the Austin metro right now. At 1.86%, the annual bill is $9,300. At 2.0%, it is $10,000. At 2.2%, it is $11,000. At 2.4%, it is $12,000. At 2.5%, it is $12,500. For a detailed, address-specific estimate, the HomeLight Austin property tax calculator is a useful starting point before you close on a home.

2. How Austin Property Taxes Are Calculated

Austin property taxes are calculated by multiplying a property's assessed value by the combined tax rate for that address. The Travis Central Appraisal District, known as TCAD, sets assessed values each January 1. Those values are mailed to property owners in April, and owners have until May 15, or 30 days after the notice is mailed, to protest.

Assessed Value vs. Market Value

Texas law requires TCAD to appraise properties at 100% of market value, but the two numbers often diverge. In a rising market, the appraisal district sometimes lags behind actual sale prices. In a cooling market, assessed values can temporarily exceed what a home would sell for today. The assessed value on your tax notice is the number that matters for your bill, not what Zillow says the home is worth.

There is also a 10% annual cap on increases to the assessed value of a homesteaded property. If you buy a $500,000 home and file a homestead exemption, TCAD can raise your assessed value by no more than 10% per year, regardless of how much the market moves. New buyers do not benefit from this cap until the year after they file their exemption, so the first tax bill after purchase often reflects the full market value.

The Role of Each Taxing Entity

Each taxing entity sets its own rate independently, and those rates shift every year when governing bodies adopt their budgets in the fall. Texas Senate Bill 2, passed in 2019, limits most taxing units to a 3.5% revenue increase before triggering an automatic rollback election, and school districts are capped at 2.5%. These limits have slowed rate growth but have not stopped assessed values from climbing, which is the primary driver of higher bills over time.

For a full breakdown of every taxing entity rate by address, the resource at LRG Realty's Austin property tax rates by address guide lets you look up the specific combination of entities that apply to a given street address, which is the most accurate way to estimate your actual bill before making an offer.

3. Property Tax Rates by Area Inside and Around Austin

Where a home sits within the Austin metro is the single biggest variable in your property tax rate. Two $500,000 homes purchased on the same day can produce annual tax bills that differ by $2,000 or more simply because they fall under different school districts, county lines, or special districts.

City of Austin and Travis County Core

Properties inside the City of Austin limits and within the Austin ISD boundary carry the rates described above, producing combined rates in the 1.8% to 2.1% range for most addresses. Neighborhoods like Barton Hills, Hyde Park, Bouldin Creek, and Crestview typically fall into this band. A $500,000 home in Barton Hills, for example, would carry an annual tax bill of roughly $9,300 to $10,500 at current rates. If you want to understand how property taxes fit into the broader cost picture of owning in that area, the Barton Hills market guide covers pricing and ownership costs in detail.

Homes in East Austin that fall within the Del Valle ISD boundary instead of Austin ISD see slightly different combined rates, sometimes a few hundredths of a percent higher or lower depending on the specific entity mix. Always verify the school district boundary for any specific address, since the ISD line does not follow neighborhood boundaries neatly.

Round Rock, Pflugerville, and Williamson County Edges

Once you cross into Williamson County, the taxing entity mix changes entirely. Round Rock ISD, Pflugerville ISD, and Georgetown ISD each carry their own rates, and Williamson County's rate differs from Travis County's. Combined rates in Round Rock and Pflugerville have historically run between 2.0% and 2.4%, meaning a $500,000 home there produces a bill in the $10,000 to $12,000 range. The higher rates in some Williamson County addresses reflect MUD charges on newer subdivisions north of Parmer Lane and along the 45 toll corridor.

Cedar Park and Leander, both growing rapidly with new construction along the 183A corridor, also sit in Williamson County. Many newer communities there carry MUD rates that push total effective rates toward 2.3% to 2.5%, so a $500,000 home could produce a bill of $11,500 to $12,500 annually.

Lakeway, Bee Cave, and the 620 Corridor

West of Austin along Lake Travis, communities like Lakeway, Bee Cave, and Hudson Bend sit in the Lake Travis ISD boundary. Combined rates in this area have generally run between 1.9% and 2.2%, producing annual bills of $9,500 to $11,000 on a $500,000 assessed value. Westlake Hills and Rollingwood, which are inside the Eanes ISD boundary, have historically carried slightly lower combined rates because Eanes ISD has maintained a lower maintenance and operations rate than some neighboring districts. A $500,000 home in Westlake Hills might produce a bill closer to $9,000 to $10,000 annually at current rates.

If you are weighing a sale in Westlake Hills and want to understand how taxes factor into your net proceeds, the Westlake Hills seller's guide walks through pricing, timing, and what buyers in that price range are looking for right now.

4. Exemptions That Can Lower Your Austin Property Tax Bill

Texas offers several exemptions that directly reduce the taxable value of your home, which lowers every line item on your bill. On a $500,000 home, the right combination of exemptions can reduce your annual bill by $1,000 to $3,000 or more. Filing for every exemption you qualify for is one of the most straightforward ways to manage your ongoing ownership costs in Austin.

Homestead Exemption

The general homestead exemption is the most widely used and the most impactful. Texas law requires each school district to offer a $100,000 homestead exemption off the assessed value for school district taxes. At Austin ISD's current rate of approximately $0.9066 per $100, that $100,000 reduction saves roughly $907 per year on your school district line item alone. The City of Austin and Travis County also offer their own homestead exemptions, typically 20% of assessed value for the city portion.

To claim the homestead exemption, you must own and occupy the home as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year. Beginning in 2022, Texas law allows buyers to file mid-year for a prorated exemption in the year of purchase, so you no longer have to wait until the following January 1 to start benefiting. File with TCAD as soon as you close and move in.

Over-65 and Disability Exemptions

Homeowners who are 65 or older, or who qualify as disabled under Texas law, receive an additional $10,000 exemption on top of the standard homestead exemption for school district taxes. More significantly, the over-65 exemption also freezes the school district portion of your tax bill at the level it was in the year you turned 65 or first qualified. That freeze means the school district line item on your bill cannot increase, even if your assessed value rises. On a $500,000 home, this freeze can represent thousands of dollars in cumulative savings over a decade.

The freeze is attached to the property, not the person. If you sell and buy another home, you must re-apply for the freeze at the new address. The freeze does not transfer automatically.

Veteran Exemptions

Texas offers partial and full property tax exemptions for veterans with service-connected disabilities. A veteran with a 100% disability rating from the VA qualifies for a full property tax exemption on their primary residence, meaning a $0 annual tax bill regardless of the home's value. Partial exemptions scale with the disability rating: 10% to 29% disability produces a $5,000 reduction in assessed value; 30% to 49% produces $7,500; 50% to 69% produces $10,000; and 70% to 99% produces $12,000. Surviving spouses of veterans who died in the line of duty may also qualify for a full exemption.

5. How to Protest Your Property Tax Assessment in Travis County

If TCAD's assessed value on your $500,000 home seems higher than what comparable homes are actually selling for, you have the right to protest, and doing so successfully lowers your bill for that tax year. Protests are common in Austin. Many homeowners file every year as a matter of routine, and a meaningful percentage succeed in getting their assessed value reduced.

Grounds for a Protest

The most common and effective grounds for protest is that the assessed value exceeds the home's actual market value. To support this argument, you need evidence: recent sales of comparable homes in your immediate area that closed below your assessed value, or a licensed appraisal showing the home's value is lower than what TCAD has on file. You can also protest on the grounds of unequal appraisal, meaning your home is assessed at a higher percentage of market value than similar properties in your neighborhood, even if the dollar amount seems reasonable.

The Protest Timeline

TCAD mails appraisal notices in April each year. The protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice date, whichever is later. You can file online through the TCAD portal, by mail, or in person at the appraisal district office on Ohlen Road in North Austin. After filing, TCAD may offer an informal settlement before your formal Appraisal Review Board hearing. Many cases resolve at the informal stage without ever reaching a hearing.

What Happens After You File

If the informal settlement does not produce a satisfactory result, your case goes to an Appraisal Review Board panel, which is an independent body separate from TCAD. The panel hears both sides and issues a determination. If you are still unsatisfied, you can appeal further to district court or through binding arbitration, though most homeowners stop at the ARB stage. Property tax protest services are widely available in Austin and typically charge a contingency fee of 30% to 40% of the first year's tax savings, with no upfront cost.

Understanding how property taxes affect your total cost of ownership is an important part of evaluating any Austin home. If you want to see how taxes fit into the broader picture of the Austin market right now, the Austin real estate market overview covers current pricing trends, inventory levels, and what buyers and sellers are navigating in September 2026.