Five taxing units set a 2026 rate for a house inside the City of Austin, Travis County and Austin ISD. Added together they come to $2.121064 per $100 of taxable value, up from $2.046485 a year ago. That is a 3.6 percent rise in the combined rate. Two of the five lines went up by double digits, one went down, and the county's own estimate says the median homestead's county bill still fell.
Bills can be mailed starting October 1, so this is the week the numbers start arriving in mailboxes. Here is what each line did and how to read it. We covered the city's line in an earlier piece; this one puts all five side by side.
The five lines
The table shows each unit's 2026 rate, what it works out to per $100,000 of taxable value, and how it moved. The 2025 rates for Central Health and Austin Community College come from the Texas Comptroller's property tax rate series as loaded in our Zabalist research database (tax year 2025 is the latest vintage there, and the table does not carry a sync timestamp). The other 2025 rates come from the units' own adoption records.
| Taxing unit | 2025 rate | 2026 rate | Change | Per $100,000 taxable | Share of the stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin ISD | $0.9252 | $0.9184 | -0.7% | $918.40 | 43.3% |
| City of Austin | $0.524017 | $0.579948 | +10.7% | $579.95 | 27.3% |
| Travis County | $0.375845 | $0.386210 | +2.8% | $386.21 | 18.2% |
| Central Health | $0.118023 | $0.132863 | +12.6% | $132.86 | 6.3% |
| Austin Community College | $0.1034 | $0.103643 | +0.2% | $103.64 | 4.9% |
| Combined | $2.046485 | $2.121064 | +3.6% | $2,121.06 | 100% |
The sources: the City of Austin tax rate page lists $0.579948 against $0.524017 the year before. The Travis County taxpayer impact statement gives $0.386210 against $0.375845. Austin ISD's $0.9184 and ACC's $0.103643 are reported in Community Impact's October 9 breakdown, which also lists the county and Central Health rates; the 2025 Austin ISD rate of $0.9252 is in its report on the board's September 2025 vote. Central Health's 13.2863 cents also appears in KUT's coverage, which describes an effective increase of 6 percent. The county's own rates page says the county adopted a rate that raises more maintenance and operations tax than last year's; we could not open the rate sheet it links, so the $0.386210 figure rests on the county's impact statement and the Community Impact table.
Why a rate can rise while a bill falls
A tax bill is a rate times a taxable value. The rate is set by each board or court. The value is set by the appraisal district and then reduced by exemptions. When values fall, a unit can raise its rate and collect the same money or less.
Travis County's impact statement puts numbers on this. It offers a 20 percent homestead exemption, the maximum, and reports that the median taxable homestead fell 4.71 percent, from $391,064 to $372,633. The county rate rose from $0.375845 to $0.386210. The statement's estimate for the county's portion of a median-valued homestead bill:
| Measure | Last year | This year |
|---|---|---|
| Median taxable homestead value | $391,064 | $372,633 |
| County rate per $100 | $0.375845 | $0.386210 |
| County portion of the bill | $1,469.79 | $1,439.15 |
| Change | -$30.64 | |
For the average-valued homestead the same statement shows a $6.19 increase, from $1,936.40 to $1,942.59, because the average taxable value fell by a smaller 2.37 percent. Same county, same rate, opposite signs. Your own line depends on what happened to your own taxable value, which is why the number on the notice matters more than any headline rate.
The county's statement is for one unit only. We have not seen a published total for all five, so we are not adding up a "typical Austin bill." The combined rate is a rate, not a bill.
Taxable value is not one number
The $2,121 per $100,000 in the table assumes the same taxable value on every line. On a real homestead it is not the same. The county takes 20 percent off the value for a homestead. For school district taxes, the Comptroller's exemptions page lists a $140,000 residence homestead exemption, with an additional $60,000 for homeowners 65 or older or disabled. Other units set their own exemptions, and a homestead exemption has to be applied for through the appraisal district rather than arriving on its own.
That is why the same house can show a different taxable value under each unit on its notice, and why multiplying one value by $2.12 will not reproduce your bill. If you want a version that does the work on a specific address, our property tax analyzer reads the county record.
The line that is not in the table
The table covers a house with no special district. Many Austin-area addresses add a sixth line: a municipal utility district, a water district or an emergency services district. Those rates are set separately and can be much larger than the college's. We looked at the range for MUDs in our MUD piece. If an address sits in one, it will show up as another row on the bill.
What this means if you're buying, selling or already own here
- Owners: bills can be mailed from October 1. The Travis County Tax Office lists January 31 as the usual due date. Check each line's taxable value against last year's notice before you look at the total.
- Buyers: a seller's current bill shows the seller's exemptions. Ask which units appear on the bill for the address, including any district line like the one above.
- Sellers: the bill for the year of the sale gets split at closing. Our piece on the 2026 bill at closing walks through the math.
This is general education, not tax advice. For your own exemptions, protest rights or a payment plan, contact the Travis County Tax Office or Travis Central Appraisal District, or a licensed tax professional.
If you are weighing a move in Austin and want the tax lines for a specific street checked against the county record before you make an offer, talk to one of our local agents through the buying page.