Mortgage Calculator Texas

Texas has no state property tax — which is why the rate is high

The Texas Comptroller is blunt about it: Texas has no state property tax. Every dollar is levied by a local taxing unit — counties, cities, school districts and special districts, more than 4,796 of them statewide — and each sets its own rate. There is no statewide rate to look up, only your own bill.

That structure is why Texas sits near the top of the national rankings on effective property tax rate. The median effective rate on owner-occupied housing is 1.40%, the highest of the three states covered here and the seventh highest in the country. On a $450,000 home that is $6,300 a year before any exemption, and it is money that never stops: unlike a fixed-rate mortgage, the levy is re-set every year.

The trade-off is the one Texas buyers know well — no state income tax, and property tax as the funding mechanism for schools and local services instead.

The homestead exemption only cuts part of the bill

Texas raised the school-district homestead exemption to $140,000 starting with the 2025 tax year, up from $100,000. The critical detail, and the one most calculators get wrong: that exemption reduces school-district taxes only. It does not reduce the county, city or special-district portion of your bill.

So the honest way to value it is per unit of school rate. At $140,000 of exempted value, every 0.10% of school-district rate is worth $140 a year. Look at last year's tax statement, find the school district line, and multiply. This page deliberately does not subtract the exemption from the total rate — doing so would flatter the number and understate your payment.

The same home at four tax rates

Same $450,000 price, 20% down, 6.5% and 30 years throughout. A quarter-point of levy is worth $93.75 a month — the kind of difference buyers spend weeks negotiating for on the interest rate.

What insurance adds here

The Texas Department of Insurance puts the average annual homeowners premium at $3,506 (2025 preliminary figure). Texas is one of the most expensive states in the country for home insurance because it carries almost every kind of catastrophe exposure at once: hail across the central and northern parts of the state, tornadoes, and hurricane risk on the coast. Two things to check that the average does not tell you:

• A separate wind or hail deductible. Many Texas policies write storm damage under a percentage deductible rather than a flat dollar one, so the out-of-pocket on a roof claim can run into the thousands.
• Coastal wind coverage. In the fourteen coastal counties and parts of Harris County, wind and hail may be written through TWIA rather than the standard policy, which changes both the price and the claims process.

What else moves the number

• Protests. Texas sends an appraisal notice each spring and gives you a window to protest it. A successful protest lowers the value the whole levy is applied to — the single biggest lever a Texas homeowner has.
• Which taxing units you are in. Two houses a mile apart can sit in different school districts or a different city, and those differences show up directly in the rate.
• The conforming limit. Texas counties use the $832,750 baseline in most places; above that a loan is jumbo, which the jumbo mortgage calculator prices separately.
• HOA dues. Lenders count them in your housing ratio even though they are not escrowed.

How to use this calculator

1. Enter the purchase price and your down payment.
2. Enter the rate and term you were quoted.
3. Replace the tax rate with the total of the levies on the home — last year's statement or the appraisal district's rate lookup, not a statewide figure.
4. Work out your homestead saving: school-district rate × $140 per 0.10%.
5. Read the monthly payment and the share that is tax and insurance, not the loan.

Frequently asked questions

Does Texas have a state property tax?

No. Property tax is levied entirely by local taxing units — counties, cities, school districts and special districts — each of which sets its own rate. The Comptroller's office does not set rates or collect the tax.

How much is the homestead exemption worth?

The school-district exemption is $140,000, and it applies only to school-district taxes: worth $140 a year for every 0.10% of your school-district rate. Check the school line on your statement.

Why is my neighbor's tax bill so different from mine?

Different taxing units, different exemptions, and different protest outcomes. Two homes with the same market value can carry different assessed values if one owner protested and the other did not.

Is Texas property tax really among the highest?

On effective rate — tax as a share of home value — yes: the median is 1.40%, seventh highest nationally. It is the funding mechanism that replaces a state income tax.

How does Texas compare with Florida on the same house?

At the same $450,000 price and the same loan terms, the Florida payment comes out at $2,848.53 against $3,092.61 here — Florida's 0.78% median levy is the main reason, though its insurance average is higher than Texas's.

Data sources: "Texas has no state property tax" and the role of local taxing units come from the Texas Comptroller's Property Tax System Basics (comptroller.texas.gov, checked 2026-10-23). The median effective rate of 1.40% is Tax Foundation's Property Taxes by State and County, 2026, calculated from US Census Bureau ACS 2024 data (B25082/B25090). The $140,000 school-district homestead exemption is the constitutional amendment approved by Texas voters in November 2025 (Proposition 13 / SB 4), effective with the 2025 tax year. The $3,506 average annual homeowners premium is the Texas Department of Insurance homeowners market overview (2025 preliminary figure). The $832,750 conforming baseline is FHFA's 2026 announcement. Payments use the standard amortizing loan formula at the rate you enter; property tax is the rate applied to price, because the homestead exemption reduces only the school-district share. Not modeled: appraisal protests, local optional exemptions, senior and disability exemptions, TWIA coastal wind pricing beyond the figure you enter, closing costs, lender fees and mortgage insurance — every figure here is an estimate rather than an offer or financial advice, so compare written Loan Estimates before you commit. All calculations run in your browser. For the escrow breakdown see the taxes and insurance calculator; for the other two states, the California and Florida versions.