Harris County Property Tax Rates by City & School District (2026)

Every Harris County homeowner pays property tax at a total rate that is the sum of several taxing districts at once — your county, your city (if you're inside one), your school district (ISD), and a set of special districts (flood control, hospital, ports, and municipal utility districts / MUDs). That total is what actually produces your bill.

Because those districts layer differently in different parts of the county, the rate two neighbors pay can be surprisingly different. This page shows the 2026 rates by major district — pulled from HCAD's own bulk tax-rate data — explains the difference between a nominal rate and the effective rate your tax bill is built on, and shows you how to get the number that applies to your parcel.

If you just want your own combined rate, check your property free — it reads the same HCAD data and computes the blended effective rate for your specific address.

Quick recap if you're new here: your bill comes from a rate × taxable value. This page is the rate side. Our values explainer covers the value side (market vs. appraised vs. taxable), and our 10% cap page covers the cap that limits value growth. This page is about the rate and the data behind it.

How a total property tax rate is built

Texas property tax is not one flat statewide rate. Your total rate is the sum of the per‑$100 rates set by each taxing district that covers your property. A typical single‑family home sits under three to seven (or more) districts. The big ones:

• County — e.g. Harris County.
• City / municipality — only if the property is inside a city limit (much of unincorporated Harris County has no city rate).
• School district (ISD) — every parcel is in one; this is usually the largest single slice of your bill.
• Special districts — flood control, hospital districts, ports, and (very common in newer subdivisions) municipal utility districts (MUDs) that cover water/sewer/drainage and levy their own tax.

The "rate" you see labeled vs. the "effective rate" that actually produces your bill

Two terms get confused, and the free check's numbers depend on one of them:

• Nominal labeled rate — the per‑$100 figure a district advertises (e.g. "Houston ISD $0.8783 per $100"). These are what the table below shows.
• Effective rate — the actual percent of your value that you pay in tax once all your districts are summed. For a given parcel it's roughly: effective rate ≈ (total taxes due) ÷ (assessed taxable value). Your bill is: taxable value × effective rate.

Because the effective rate blends every district that covers your parcel, no single "Harris County rate" is correct for everyone — it depends on your ISD and whether you're in a city and which MUDs you sit in.

How the free check computes your effective rate (HCAD's own data)

The free check doesn't guess. It reads HCAD's bulk tax-rate file (the same official data HCAD publishes) and, for your parcel, computes the blended effective rate this way:

This is our estimate, labeled clearly as such — the values and proposed rates come from HCAD's own files, and the result is a rate estimate, never a promise. Across the ~1.5 million Harris accounts with computable rates, the average effective rate is about 1.8%, and most homes land in the 1.5%–2.5% range depending on districts. The free results page shows your own parcel's figure with RES-homestead context.

Honest caveats we keep on the results page: what the product shows is an estimate from official public records — it is "appraised, not sale," it uses proposed 2026 rates (HCAD certifies final values later in the year), and it can change. It's a planning number, not a tax bill.

2026 total tax rates for major Harris County districts

The rates below are the 2026 per‑$100 tax rates from HCAD's bulk tax-rate file (downloaded 2026-08-09; these are proposed 2026 rates, subject to change when HCAD certifies). To get a given parcel's total, sum the rates of every district that covers it (see the examples after the table).

Source: HCAD 2026 bulk tax-rate file (`jur_tax_dist_exempt_value_rate.txt`), stored at `/srv/hcad/hcad.db`. These are the per‑$100 rates only — the true total for a parcel is the sum over all districts covering it. Verify the rates for your specific parcel before relying on them.

Some worked examples, so you can see how the total stacks up (again: rate components only, before special districts):

• A home in Houston, inside Houston ISD and the City of Houston: Houston ISD 0.8783 + City of Houston 0.51919 + Harris County 0.38096 = about 1.78 per $100 (~1.78%) before special districts (flood control, hospital, port, and any MUD) are added — which is why the all-in effective rate for a Houston home typically lands in the ~2% range.
• A home in the City of Katy, in Katy ISD: Katy ISD 1.1171 + City of Katy 0.4250 + Harris County 0.38096 = about 1.92 per $100 (~1.92%) before MUDs — and Katy-area MUDs can add a meaningful amount more.
• A home in unincorporated Katy ISD (no city): Katy ISD 1.1171 + Harris County 0.38096 = about 1.50 per $100 (~1.50%) before the (often sizable) MUD piece.

Honest boundaries on this table: these are Harris County districts. Sugar Land and the rest of Fort Bend County are outside Harris (Fort Bend CAD, not HCAD) — their city and Fort Bend ISD rates do not appear in HCAD's file, and I could not source them here, so I have not listed them. Conroe ISD is likewise primarily Montgomery County and did not appear in the Harris rate file. If you're in a border area, confirm your districts with HCAD's property search.

Why your effective rate matters

Knowing your own effective rate tells you two useful things:

1. What your bill actually is built on. Two houses with the same appraised value can have meaningfully different bills purely because of rate differences in their districts.
2. Whether an appeal could save real dollars. The honest math behind an appeal is: if you can prove your market value is lower than HCAD's, the saving is roughly (proved reduction in value) × your effective rate. A home with a 2.4% effective rate saves about $240 a year for every $10,000 of value you can prove off. That's why the rate matters — it converts a value reduction into dollars. Full step-by-step on the protest side is in our Harris County protest guide.

The honest caveat the product keeps front and center: the free check labels this an estimate and "appraised, not sale." HCAD's bulk data (like most Texas appraisal data) contains no sale prices — so the rate figure is solid and public, while proving a market‑value reduction is a separate, evidence-based step (that's the paid analysis's job; there's no paid content on this page).

What's public vs. confidential in Texas (a free-product advantage)

Texas is unusual: assessed values and tax rates are public, but sale prices are confidential. Under Texas law, the sales prices reported to appraisal districts are not public data — which is why free HCAD lookups show you values and rates but not what homes actually sold for. That's exactly why the free check can confidently show you your values and effective rate (all public), while a true comparable-sales market-value check is a heavier, evidence-based step. Your assessed value and your rate are public — you can check them free, any time.

Practical takeaways

1. Your rate is a sum, not a single number. County + city + ISD + special districts. Don't compare a single "Harris rate" to your bill — compare the sum for your parcel.
2. The ISD is usually the biggest slice. Your school district (e.g. Katy 1.1171, Spring 1.1369, Cy-Fair 1.0669, Houston 0.8783) typically dominates the rate.
3. Know your effective rate, not just the labeled rate. It's what your bill is actually built on — roughly taxes ÷ taxable value.
4. Use the effective rate to estimate appeal value. A $10,000 proved value reduction saves about $200–250 a year at typical ~2%–2.4% rates.
5. Rates are public; sale prices are not. You can check your own values and rate free any time — that's what the free check does.
6. If your appraisal is out of line with the market, that's the appeal case — read our 10% cap and values explainers, and the full Harris County protest guide.

Bottom line: your Harris County property tax rate is the sum of the districts that cover your home, with the school district the biggest piece and a typical all-in effective rate around 2%. It's public data — and knowing your own effective rate is the honest first step to deciding whether an appeal is even worth your time.

Frequently asked questions

Educational information, not legal or appraisal or tax advice. Rates shown are HCAD's proposed 2026 per‑$100 rates from the bulk tax-rate file and can change when HCAD certifies. Your total is the sum of the districts covering your parcel; verify for your own property. The effective-rate figure is an estimate from official public records — never a guarantee and never a tax bill. For your own record, use our free check, which reads official public data — estimates, never guarantees.

Educational information about Texas and Harris County property tax protests. Not legal, tax, or appraisal advice. Savings figures are estimates, not guarantees. Verify deadlines and procedures with HCAD (hcad.org) before acting.

Last updated: August 21, 2026