Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Travis County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Travis County pays $7,727 a year, an effective rate of 1.48%, far above the U.S. average.
- $7,727
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.48%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +288%
- vs U.S. average
- #50 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Travis County pay a median $7,727 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.48%, more affordable than 12% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $7,727
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.48%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2774 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +288%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($523,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 1,330,015. Owner-occupied homes: 304,165.
The median annual property tax in Travis County is $7,727, which is 83% higher than the Texas state average and 288% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.48% on a median home value of $523,000. Property taxes represent 7.8% of the median household income in this county.
Why Travis County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Travis County pay a median annual property tax of $7,727, far above the national median and far above the Texas state median. On a $523,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.48% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Travis County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 7.8% of the $99,611 median household income.
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Travis County's 1.48% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 12%).
Decision signal 4
Low among Texas counties by effective rate
Travis County ranks #50 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (80% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Travis County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
A falling rate took the edge off
Travis County's effective rate fell 16.6% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 50.4%, leaving the median bill 25.5% higher at $7,727. That rate move is larger than the one in 71% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 25% from $6,157 to $7,727. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 256,524 of 304,165 owner-occupied homes (84.3%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 7.8% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Travis County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Travis County homeowners, 256,524 of 304,165 owner-occupied homes (84.3%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 3.0% (9,216)
- $800 to $1,499 2.8% (8,388)
- $1,500 to $1,999 1.9% (5,631)
- $2,000 to $2,999 4.6% (13,937)
- $3,000 or more 84.3% (256,524)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
10,469 homes here (3.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Travis County, mortgaged homeowners pay 22% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Travis County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Travis County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Travis County's median bill is 83% above the Texas median and 288% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Travis County moved from $6,157 in the 2020 release to $7,727 in 2024, a change of about 25%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Travis County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Travis County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 7.8% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Travis County's $7,727 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Travis County's $7,727 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $773/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
Travis County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $7,727 +3.2% | 1.48% |
| 2023 | $7,487 +4.6% | 1.54% |
| 2022 | $7,160 +9.9% | 1.61% |
| 2021 | $6,517 +5.8% | 1.77% |
| 2020 | $6,157 | 1.77% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Travis County: tax takes 7.8% of income
Counties near Travis County's median bill
On effective rate, Travis County sits nearest Scotts Bluff County (NE), Wilson County (KS), Madison County (IA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Boone County (MO), Wayne County (GA), Cass County (MI).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Travis County: only 11% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 68,540 of 639,430 returns from Travis County reported real estate taxes, averaging $14,459 - 50% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Texas
Travis County bill FAQs
- How does Travis County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Travis County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.48% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Travis County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Travis County is $7,727, an effective rate of 1.48% on a $523,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Travis County?
- Property taxes in Travis County run well above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 7.8% of the $99,611 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Travis County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Travis County jumped 25.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $6,157 to $7,727, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
- What is the tax affordability score for Travis County?
- Travis County, Texas scores F (4/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is rate relief at F (1.48%). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
What to do with Travis County's SPIKE bill
Travis County's $7,727 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 7.8% of Travis County's $99,611 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Travis County's SPIKE median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 1.48%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $7,727/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Travis County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Travis County (STEEP · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP SPIKE
Kendall County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,651/yr (lower bill ABS $76); rate 2.37% vs Travis County 1.48%.
Rockingham County, NH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,839/yr (higher bill ABS $112); rate 1.58% vs Travis County 1.48%.
Dutchess County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,562/yr (lower bill ABS $165); rate 1.89% vs Travis County 1.48%.
Collin County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $7,521/yr (lower bill ABS $206); rate 1.58% vs Travis County 1.48%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Travis County stamps STEEP · SPIKE - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Travis County (STEEP · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.