Austin Property Tax by Neighborhood: What 442,000 Properties Tell Us About 2026

Every spring, Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) mails out property tax notices that make Austin homeowners wince. But here is the thing most people miss: how much you pay depends enormously on where you live—not just because of your home's value, but because of school district tax rates, assessment growth patterns, and how likely your neighbors are to protest.

We pulled 2026 TCAD assessment data for all 442,007 residential properties in Travis County. We also analyzed 27,850 protest outcomes from recent ARB (Appraisal Review Board) hearings and tax rates for every school district in the county. The results reveal dramatic differences between neighborhoods just a few miles apart.

Here is what we found—and what it means for your 2026 tax bill.

The Most Expensive Neighborhoods by Price Per Square Foot

The most commonly cited number is average home value, but that can be misleading. A 3,500-square-foot house in 78746 (Westlake) is going to be worth more than a 1,400-square-foot bungalow in 78704 (South Austin)—but the South Austin bungalow might cost more per foot. Assessed value per square foot cuts through the size differences and shows where land and location carry the biggest premium.

Downtown (78701) leads at $714 per square foot, driven by high-rise condos where TCAD assessments reflect premium finishes and location in one of the most walkable parts of the city. The average assessed value across its 5,602 residential properties is $4.56 million—though that is skewed by luxury condos; the median is considerably lower.

Tarrytown (78703) and Westlake (78746) follow at $650 and $598 per square foot respectively. These are established neighborhoods with large lots, top-ranked schools, and almost no undeveloped land left. Value here is increasingly in the dirt, not the house on it.

The surprise in the top 10 is 78756 (Rosedale/Brentwood) at $536/sqft. This area has seen an explosion of new construction replacing older homes. A 1960s ranch on a $900K lot gets scraped and replaced by a modern build assessed at $1.2M+, pulling up the per-square-foot average for the whole ZIP.

At these rates, assessment accuracy matters. On a 2,000-square-foot home at $650/sqft, even a 5% over-assessmentmeans $65,000 in excess assessed value—which at the 2.19% combined tax rate translates to $1,424 per year in extra taxes.

Where Assessments Are Rising Fastest (2024 to 2026)

We compared 2026 TCAD assessed values to 2024 values for every property with historical data. The differences across ZIP codes are staggering.

The numbers are clear: Austin's southeast and eastern corridors are where assessment growth is most aggressive.

78615 (the Coupland/Manor fringe) saw the largest percentage increase at 66.5% over two years. This area has been absorbing new development as Austin expands east along SH-290, and TCAD appears to be catching assessed values up to market reality.

78742 (East Riverside) jumped 36%—unsurprising given the massive redevelopment along Riverside Drive, where apartment complexes are being replaced by high-density mixed-use projects. Even single-family homes nearby are getting pulled up in the assessment tide.

Del Valle (78617) at +26.9% deserves special attention. With an average assessed value of $522,130, a 26.9% increase means roughly $110,000 in added assessed value per property. At a 2.19% tax rate, that is $2,409 more per year in taxes. If your home is in this ZIP, you should be protesting.

Even the more established neighborhoods saw meaningful increases. UT/West Campus (78705) went up 10.5%, and Downtown (78701)rose 7.4% on an already-enormous base—an average increase of $280,885 per property.

Where Property Tax Protests Work Best

Across all 27,850 ARB hearings in our dataset, 68.2% resulted in a settlement (a reduction in assessed value). But that countywide average obscures enormous variation by neighborhood.

Tarrytown/78703 leads with an 89.3% protest success rate. Out of 750 protests, 670 resulted in a reduction. This is not surprising—these are high-value properties with sophisticated owners (many hire agents), and the wide variety of lot sizes, home ages, and renovation levels in the area means TCAD's mass appraisal model often misses the mark on individual properties.

Westlake (78746) comes in at 85.7% with the highest volume of any top-10 ZIP—971 protests. Westlake homeowners clearly know the game. With an average assessed value of $2.65 million and a combined tax rate over 2%, even a modest 5% reduction saves $2,900 per year.

The most interesting finding may be Pflugerville (78660)—2,092 protests with a 76.3% win rate. This is the highest-volume ZIP in our dataset by a wide margin, and the strong success rate suggests TCAD is systematically over-assessing this area. If you live in Pflugerville, the data strongly suggests you should protest.

By contrast, 78653 (Manor/Elgin corridor) had 1,542 protests but only a 49.7% win rate—well below average. And 78645 (Lakeway) saw 2,529 protests (the highest count of any ZIP) but only 63.1% won. In these areas, TCAD's assessments are closer to reality, so evidence needs to be stronger.

The School District Tax Gap: Where You Live Matters More Than You Think

Your school district tax rate is the single largest component of your property tax bill, and the differences between districts in Travis County are significant. Here are the current rates:

The spread is enormous. Manor ISD charges 1.34% while Eanes ISD charges 0.8322%—a difference of more than half a percentage point on the school portion alone.

Let's make that concrete. On a $500,000 home, the school district tax in Manor ISD is $6,700 per year. In Eanes ISD, it is $4,161. That is a $2,539 annual difference —just from the school district rate, before you add county, city, or any other levies.

Over a typical 7-year homeownership period, that gap adds up to $17,773 in extra taxes for the Manor ISD homeowner. And on higher-value homes, the numbers get even more dramatic: on a $750,000 home, the gap is $3,809 per year, or $26,660 over seven years.

This is worth considering when buying a home. A house priced $20,000 less in Manor ISD might actually cost you more over time than a comparable home in Eanes or Austin ISD once you factor in the ongoing tax difference.

It is also worth noting that Austin ISD at 0.9252% falls toward the lower end of the range, despite being the largest district. Homeowners inside AISD boundaries sometimes assume they are paying more for schools than surrounding areas—in most cases, they are actually paying less than Manor, Pflugerville, or Del Valle ISD.

Putting It All Together: The Neighborhoods That Should Protest

When we combine high assessment growth, high absolute values, and strong protest success rates, several neighborhoods stand out as having the most to gain from filing a protest in 2026:

• 78703 (Tarrytown): Average value of $2.1M, $650/sqft assessments, and an 89.3% win rate. If TCAD over-assessed you by even 5%, that is $2,314 per year.
• 78746 (Westlake): Highest average value in the county at $2.65M with an 85.7% win rate. Nearly 1,000 of your neighbors protested and most won.
• 78617 (Del Valle): Assessments up 26.9% in two years. That kind of jump almost certainly includes over-assessments. With a 63.6% win rate on protests, the odds are in your favor.
• 78660 (Pflugerville): The highest protest volume in the county (2,092 cases) with a 76.3% success rate. Pflugerville homeowners are already protesting en masse, and they are winning.
• 78704 (South Austin): Over 14,000 residential properties assessed at $507/sqft. The mix of old bungalows and new construction creates the kind of inconsistency in TCAD's mass appraisal model that makes protests effective.

What This Means for Your 2026 Tax Bill

TCAD notices go out in early April 2026. The deadline to file a protest is May 15, 2026—and missing it means living with whatever TCAD decided for another year.

Here is what we recommend, based on the data:

1. Check your assessment as soon as you get your notice. Compare it to the neighborhood averages above. If you are above the per-square-foot average for your ZIP, you likely have grounds to protest.
2. If your assessment increased more than 5-8%, protest. Rapid increases are a sign of mass appraisal adjustments, which frequently overshoot on individual properties.
3. Check your exemptions. Over 20% of Travis County homeowners are missing exemptions they qualify for. The homestead exemption alone saves $100,000 off your school district taxable value.
4. Use comparable sales data, not vibes. TCAD responds to evidence—recent sales of similar homes nearby that sold for less than your assessed value. That is what wins protests, as the 89.3% success rate in 78703 shows.

We built TaxProtest.ai to make this process simple. Enter your address and we will pull your TCAD data, find the best comparable sales in your neighborhood, generate an evidence packet, and file the protest for you. You pay nothing unless we win you a reduction.