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How are property taxes calculated in Harris County?
Answered by Allen Markel, REALTOR®, Texas Premier Realty ·
Short answer
A Harris County tax bill is taxable value times each taxing unit's rate, added across the units that cover the address. The Harris Central Appraisal District sets the appraised value as of January 1, exemptions reduce it, and each unit (county, school district, college, hospital and flood-control districts, and any MUD or city) applies its own rate per $100. Across 18,290 active Harris County listings with a complete 2025 stack, the median total rate is 2.25%, about $7,210 a year on a $320,000 home before exemptions.
What are the steps from value to bill?
Step one: HCAD appraises every property as of January 1 and mails a notice of appraised value in the spring. Step two: exemptions such as the homestead exemption come off, and a homestead's appraised value increase is capped at 10% a year. Step three: each taxing unit adopts a rate in late summer or fall. Step four: the tax office bills each unit's rate times the taxable value for that unit, and the sum is the bill, which goes out in October or November and is due by January 31. Taxable value can differ by unit because exemptions differ, so the same house can have a different taxable value for the county, the school district and the college. One more distinction: the appraised value is HCAD's estimate of market value on January 1, while the taxable value is what remains after the cap and exemptions. A home can therefore have a market value of $320,000 and a school taxable value of $180,000 once the $140,000 exemption is applied. Bills are prepared by the tax office from the rolls the appraisal district certifies, so a change in value must be corrected through a protest, not with the tax office.
What does that look like in dollars, and what changes each year?
At the Harris County median sale price of $320,000 and the median total rate of 2.254%, the bill is $7,213 a year, or $601 a month, before exemptions. The middle half of Harris listings have total rates between 2.125% and 2.503%, which is $6,800 to $8,010 on the same price. Ten percent of homes with a complete stack are at or above 2.865%, about $9,170. Homes in MUDs sit at the high end: 37.6% of the homes in our data (6,877 of 18,290) carry a MUD line with a median of $0.591 per $100. A homestead exemption lowers the bill; state law requires school districts to give a $140,000 homestead exemption (Tax Code 11.13(b)). Two things: the appraised value and the rates. Values reflect market value as of January 1, capped for a homestead. Rates change every fall; from 2023 to 2025 the Harris County Hospital District rate rose from $0.14343 to $0.18761 per $100 and the flood control rate from $0.03105 to $0.04966, while the county rate rose from $0.35007 to $0.38096. School rates are also set locally within state limits; Cypress-Fairbanks ISD's rate fell from $1.0811 in 2023 to $1.0669 in 2025. Check your appraisal notice in the spring and the rate notice in the fall.
Amounts and rules change every year. For the most current and accurate answer, contact the county office directly: the Harris Central Appraisal District (hcad.org, 713-957-7800) for values, exemptions and protests, and the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector (hctax.net, 713-274-8000) for tax bills and payments.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Active listings with a complete rate | 18,290 of 20,471 (89.3%) |
| Median total rate | 2.254% |
| 25th - 75th percentile | 2.125% - 2.503% |
| 90th percentile | 2.865% |
| Homes with a MUD line | 6,877 (37.6%); median MUD line $0.591 |
| Annual tax at $320,000 median price | $7,213 |
Common follow-up questions
How do I calculate my Harris County property tax?
Taxable value times the total rate per $100 divided by 100, summed across the units that cover your address.
What is the median Harris County property tax rate?
2.254% of taxable value on active listings with a complete 2025 stack.
When are Harris County taxes due?
Bills are due when received and become delinquent after January 31.
Sources
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Related questions
What taxing units make up a Harris County tax bill and what does each charge?
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