How much are property taxes in Central Texas?

Property taxes in Central Texas run between about 1.48% and 2.43% of a home’s value per year before exemptions, depending on which city and school district the address falls in. On a $300,000 home that is roughly $371 to $606 a month. Bell County and Williamson County both sit well above the national average because Texas has no state income tax and funds schools, counties and cities through property tax instead.

The number that matters is not the county rate. It is the combined rate of every taxing unit that touches your specific address, and in Central Texas that is usually four to six separate units.

What is the property tax rate in Temple, Belton and Salado?

For the 2026 tax year, the combined rates are 2.3877 per $100 in Temple, 2.0068 in Belton, and 1.9249 inside the Village of Salado. On a $400,000 home, that is $796 a month in Temple, $669 in Belton and $642 in Salado, before any exemption.

Temple is the highest-rate city in Bell County because a Temple address pays seven separate units: Temple ISD at 1.1372, the City of Temple at 0.6999, Bell County at 0.3128, Temple College at 0.2017, the Bell County Road District at 0.0199, the Temple Health & Bio District at 0.0139, and the Clearwater Underground Water Conservation District at 0.0022.

What is the property tax rate in Georgetown and Round Rock?

In Williamson County, the combined rate is 1.6789 per $100 in Round Rock with Round Rock ISD, and roughly 1.8174 in Georgetown ⚠. On a $400,000 home that is about $560 a month in Round Rock and $606 in Georgetown.

Round Rock sits lower than most of Central Texas largely because Round Rock ISD’s rate of 0.8931 is one of the lowest school rates in the region — more than 20% below Temple ISD or Belton ISD.

Why is my property tax bill actually five or six separate bills?

Your Texas property tax bill is the sum of four to seven independent taxing units, each with its own rate and its own exemptions, and each one calculates against a different taxable value. The county does not set the school district’s rate, and the school district does not set the city’s.

This is why a single “county tax rate” tells you almost nothing. Two houses a mile apart, in the same county and the same price range, can differ by hundreds of dollars a month because one is inside city limits and one is not, or because they feed different school districts.

What is the Clearwater Underground Water Conservation District, and why is it on my bill?

Clearwater UWCD is a groundwater conservation district that taxes every property in Bell County at 0.0022 per $100, which on a $400,000 home is about 73 cents a month. Its jurisdiction covers all of Bell County, so it appears on every Bell County tax bill whether you are in a city or not.

It is the smallest line on the bill and the one most often left off third-party tax estimates. It does not change anyone’s affordability, but if you are reconciling an estimate against a real tax statement and the numbers are off by a rounding error, this is usually why.

Why does my bill have a line the calculator doesn’t show?

Watershed, emergency services and water control districts are drawn by parcel, not by city, so two neighbors can pay different ones. In Bell County the common extras are Elm Creek Watershed (0.0228), Donahoe Creek (0.0224), Bell County ESD #1 (0.1000), and Bell County WCID #3 (0.0358) or #6 (0.0243).

None of these are large on their own, but they are the reason a city-level estimate and an actual tax statement rarely match to the dollar. The only way to know which ones touch a specific address is to look the parcel up on the appraisal district site.

How much does the homestead exemption actually save?

On a $400,000 home in Temple, the general residence homestead exemption cuts the tax from $796 a month to $603 — a saving of $193 a month, or $2,313 a year. In Belton the same home drops from $669 to $535, and in Georgetown from $606 to $471.

The saving is that large because the school district grants the biggest exemption by far — $140,000 off the taxable value — and the school district is also the biggest line on the bill. Texas subtracts each unit’s exemption before applying that unit’s rate, so the exemption that matters most is the one granted by the unit charging the most.

The exemption is for a primary residence only. An investment property or a second home does not qualify.

What does the over-65 exemption add?

Owners 65 and older get an additional exemption from most units on top of homestead, which on a $400,000 home in Temple takes the payment from $603 to $529 a month. Bell County school districts add $60,000 to $66,670 of exemption, the county adds $16,670, and cities range from nothing at all up to $50,000 in the Village of Salado.

Texas also applies a school tax ceiling for owners 65 and older, which freezes the school portion of the bill. That ceiling is not modeled in the calculator above.

Which Central Texas city has the lowest property taxes?

Among Bell County jurisdictions, unincorporated land in the Academy ISD boundary carries the lowest combined rate at 1.4838 per $100, followed by unincorporated Belton ISD at 1.4843 and Salado outside the village limits at 1.5018. Among incorporated cities, Troy is lowest at 1.5845.

The spread is not small. On a $400,000 home, the difference between the highest rate in the area (Rogers, at 2.4251) and the lowest is about $314 a month — roughly what another $42,000 of purchase price adds to a payment.

Why does a brand-new subdivision cost so much more?

A MUD or PID can add $0.25 to $1.00 per $100 on top of the normal rate, which on a $400,000 home is between $83 and $333 a month. Municipal Utility Districts and Public Improvement Districts are how the water, sewer and roads in a new development get financed, and the bonds are repaid by the people who buy the houses.

Bell County MUD #1 is currently at 0.7830, MUD #2 at 0.9500, and River Farm MUD #1 at 1.0000. None of them appear in a generic city tax estimate, and most listing sites will not show them. Whether one touches a given lot is parcel-specific, which is why the only reliable answer comes from looking up the actual address on the appraisal district site.

How do property taxes change what I can afford?

Property taxes are escrowed and collected monthly as part of your mortgage payment, so a higher tax rate reduces your purchase price at the same monthly budget. At a $2,800 monthly ceiling with 20% down, moving from a 2.43 rate to a 1.48 rate is worth close to $40,000 of additional house.

This is also why two lenders can quote the same rate and produce different payments. If one used a county average for taxes and the other used the actual taxing units at that address, the payments will not match — and the one that looks better is usually the one that is wrong.

When are Texas property tax rates set, and when is the bill due?

Texas taxing units adopt their rates in late August and September, appraisal districts mail bills in October, and payment is due by January 31 of the following year. Appraisal notices go out in the spring, the homestead application deadline is April 30, and the deadline to protest your appraised value is May 15 or 30 days after your notice, whichever is later.

Because rates are re-adopted every September, any tax figure you find online is good for one tax year only. The figures on this page are for tax year 2025.

Where these numbers come from

Bell County rates and exemptions are taken from the Bell County Appraisal District’s own 2026 Tax Rate Chart and its Exemptions Granted by Entity table. Williamson County figures marked with a question mark come from a single secondary source and should be confirmed with WCAD.

Every rate and exemption on this page is published as a free spreadsheet you can download and use. It is updated each September when new rates are typically adopted.

This is an estimate compiled from public records. It is not a tax bill, a loan estimate, or tax advice. Confirm with the appraisal district before you rely on it.