Reading a Property Tax Bill in Austin
How the rate is assembled, what the 10 percent cap does and does not protect, and how to compute your real first-year bill.
Gray Adkins · REALTOR®, Broker Associate, GRI · TREC #629086-B
Two markets, one standard.
If you’re buying or selling in Kingwood or Austin, or moving between them, I can help.
- 14 yrs in real estate
- Broker associate
- 100+ closed transactions
Most people in this business work one city. I ended up with two, and it turns out that’s the useful part. People leave Austin for Houston and Houston for Austin every week, and almost nobody helping them knows both ends. I do, because I’m living it.
Guides
Reading MUD Taxes in the Lake Houston Area
What a municipal utility district is, what the state makes a seller disclose, and how to read the rate on one specific address.Texas Buyer Glossary
Definitions of the terms a Texas buyer meets in a contract, a title file and a tax bill, sourced to the form or statute that defines them.Reading Flood Risk in the Lake Houston Area
FEMA maps, what changed after Harvey, how the reservoirs actually work, and how to read the risk on one specific address.
About
I’m Gray. I’m a licensed real estate broker associate with 14 years in Texas real estate. My business runs on people coming back and sending their friends. My family and I live in Kingwood, and I’m in Austin about once a week. Honestly, I love it.
What buyers ask
Are property taxes higher in Houston or Austin?
On the two stacks I've worked out, Kingwood in Houston carries a higher total rate than a City of Austin address. For tax year 2025, Kingwood's Harris County villages total 2.359318 per $100 across eight taxing units. A house inside the City of Austin and Austin ISD totals 2.046485 per $100 across five. The rate is only half of it. Exemptions differ by jurisdiction, and a house outside a city or inside a MUD sits on a different stack entirely.
Do you help people moving from Austin to Houston?
Yes, I help people moving between Austin and Kingwood, and I work both markets. People leave Austin for Houston and Houston for Austin every week, and almost nobody helping them knows both ends. I do, because I moved from Austin to Kingwood myself. The map shows both markets and the road between them.
Tell me what you’re working on.
You’ll hear back from me.