What is the property tax rate in Texas?
The Texas property tax rate averages 1.40% of a home’s value, the Tax Foundation’s 2026 effective rate based on 2024 Census data for owner-occupied homes. Of the 47 states this site covers, only six are higher, led by New Jersey and Illinois at 1.88%.
That average understates what an apartment owner pays. It is measured on homes that get the $140,000 school district homestead exemption, and rental property gets no homestead exemption at all. An apartment building pays the full combined rate of every taxing unit it sits in, which in the big metros is often above 2% of appraised value.
Texas has no state property tax. Every dollar goes to local units: the county, the city, the school district, and special districts such as a hospital district, community college or flood control district. The school district is usually the largest piece of the bill.
How Texas property tax rates work
Texas rates are stated in dollars per $100 of taxable value, not in mills. A rate of $2.29 per $100 means a building with a $2,000,000 taxable value owes about $45,800.
Each taxing unit adopts its own rate every fall. Under the truth-in-taxation rules, most cities and counties need voter approval to raise operating revenue more than 3.5% over the prior year, and special taxing units have an 8% limit. School districts have their own voter-approval formula. Because rates are adopted after the appraisal roll is certified, your bill for the year is not final until the fall, and taxes are due by January 31 of the following year to avoid penalty and interest.
Texas property tax rates by county
The county government’s own rate is only one slice of a Texas tax bill, so the table shows it next to its source. The five largest counties’ 2025 rates run from $0.1862 per $100 in Tarrant County to $0.38096 in Harris County.
- A county rate is not the rate you pay. Add the city, school district and special districts for the parcel. In Bexar County, a building inside San Antonio and Northside ISD carried a combined 2025 rate of $2.290174 per $100 across seven units.
- Rates for the 2026 tax year are now set. Tarrant County adopted $0.186000, Harris County approved $0.41750 in September 2026, up from $0.38096, and Bexar County has posted its 2026 rates, so use the current year before you underwrite.
- The Texas Comptroller publishes every county’s rates and the combined rates of cities, schools and special districts in its annual Tax Rates and Levies files.
| County | Main city | 2025 county rate per $100 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | Houston | $0.38096 | Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector, Truth in Taxation summary |
| Travis | Austin | $0.375845 | Travis County Planning and Budget, FY 2026 adopted rate |
| Bexar | San Antonio | $0.276331, plus $0.023668 for road and flood | Bexar County, 2025 Official Tax Rates |
| Dallas | Dallas | $0.215500 | Dallas County, Notice of Adopted Tax Rate, tax year 2025 |
| Tarrant | Fort Worth | $0.186200 | Tarrant County, Truth in Taxation summary |
How Texas appraises an apartment building
The county appraisal district sets the market value of every property as of January 1 each year, and the taxable value is 100% of that market value less any exemptions or limits. There is no fractional assessment ratio in Texas.
For apartments, appraisal districts usually lean on the income approach: rents, vacancy, expenses and a cap rate drawn from the local market. You will receive a notice of appraised value in the spring. Rendering business personal property, such as appliances and furniture, is a separate yearly filing due April 15.
Does a sale trigger a reassessment in Texas?
No, a sale does not by itself trigger a reassessment in Texas, because every property is reappraised at market value every year whether it sells or not. There is no Prop 13 style freeze for a buyer to lose.
Two things still change for a buyer. First, the sale price is strong evidence of market value, so the next year’s value can move toward the price paid, and a buyer who protests will have a hard time arguing for less than that price. Second, any 20% circuit breaker limit the seller enjoyed ends on January 1 of the first tax year the seller no longer owns the property. The buyer starts over at full market value until the buyer qualifies.
The 20% circuit breaker cap on apartments (2024 to 2026)
The circuit breaker limits the yearly increase in appraised value on qualifying non-homestead real property, including apartment buildings, to 20% over the prior year plus new improvements. It comes from Tax Code Section 23.231 and is authorized only for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 tax years.
- You must have owned the property on January 1 of the prior tax year to get the limit. A building bought during 2026 does not qualify until later.
- Buildings above the threshold have no cap, so most larger complexes are fully exposed to value increases.
- Unless the Legislature extends it, the limit ends after the 2026 tax year. The next regular session starts in January 2027, so watch for a bill before you count on the cap in a 2027 budget.
| Tax year | Value threshold for the 20% limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $5,000,000 or less | Set by the Legislature (Harris Central Appraisal District) |
| 2025 | $5,160,000 or less | Bexar Appraisal District |
| 2026 | $5,320,000 or less | Bexar Appraisal District |
HB 9 and other exemptions for apartment owners
The exemption most apartment owners can use is the new HB 9 business personal property exemption, which exempts up to $125,000 of income-producing personal property per location starting January 1, 2026. It covers items such as appliances, furniture and equipment that the appraisal district values as personal property. Related businesses at the same address share one $125,000 exemption.
If you believe your personal property at a location is worth $125,000 or less, Dallas Central Appraisal District guidance says you can elect not to render by filing a rendition or report by April 15 with a certification. That election lasts until ownership changes, the value goes over $125,000 or the chief appraiser asks for a rendition, so a buyer needs to file again.
The large homestead exemptions do not reach rental buildings. The $140,000 school district exemption and the extra $60,000 for owners who are 65 or older or disabled apply only to a residence homestead. Charitable and affordable housing exemptions exist for qualifying owners and are outside the scope of this page.
Texas property tax protest deadline
You must file a protest with the appraisal review board by May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district delivered your notice of appraised value, whichever is later. Miss it and you generally lose the right to contest that year’s value.
You can protest the market value, unequal appraisal compared with similar properties, errors in the records, and denied exemptions or circuit breaker limits. Owners of multifamily property appraised at $62,883,169 or more in 2026 can ask for a special ARB panel. After the ARB rules, you have 60 days to file in district court or request binding arbitration (available for property appraised at $5 million or less), and 30 days to appeal to SOAH if the value is over $1 million. Owners who protest every year usually bring a rent roll, a trailing 12-month operating statement and repair bids.
Worked example: Texas property tax on a $2 million apartment building
A 20-unit building in San Antonio, inside the city and Northside ISD, has a 2025 combined rate of $2.290174 per $100. At a $2,000,000 appraised value with no exemptions, the yearly tax is $45,803.
- Say the seller won a protest and the building carries a $1,700,000 value, while the buyer pays $2,000,000. If the district moves the value to the price paid, the buyer’s tax rises by $6,871 a year, which comes straight off NOI.
- At a 6% cap rate, $6,871 of lost NOI is worth about $114,509 of value. That is why buyers underwrite Texas deals at the post-sale tax figure, not the seller’s current bill.
- The circuit breaker gap is smaller, $1,832 a year here, but it disappears for the buyer either way.
- Our property tax calculator runs the same math on your own rate and value.
| Scenario | Taxable value | Yearly tax at $2.290174 |
|---|---|---|
| Full market value | $2,000,000 | $45,803 |
| Seller held at the 20% circuit breaker limit | $1,920,000 | $43,971 |
| Seller’s protested value | $1,700,000 | $38,933 |
Texas property tax compared with other states
Texas sits near the top of the national ranking on property tax, which offsets its lack of an income tax. On the Tax Foundation’s 2026 effective rates, Texas at 1.40% compares with 0.78% in Florida, 0.79% in Oklahoma, 0.70% in California, 0.55% in Louisiana and 0.48% in Arizona.
For an apartment owner, that gap shows up in underwriting. Two buildings with the same rents and the same price can produce very different NOI once taxes come out, and a Texas buyer will apply the local combined rate to the purchase price, not the seller’s historic value. Owners trading out of Texas through a 1031 exchange often find a lower tax line on a replacement in Florida or Arizona. Owners trading in from California give up Proposition 13 style base values and take on annual reappraisal.
Inside Texas, the spread between neighboring parcels can be large too. A building in one school district or special utility district can pay a noticeably different combined rate than a building a mile away, so pull the rate for the exact account number from the appraisal district before you compare deals.
Selling a Texas apartment building
Property tax is often the largest expense line on a Texas apartment building, and a buyer will price the reset into the offer. Knowing your combined rate and the value a buyer is likely to carry helps you judge offers.
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Texas. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. If you are weighing a sale, our Texas capital gains tax page and the 1031 exchange in Texas guide cover what happens to the gain.
