Property tax across DFW suburbs, and why the rates differ so much
Texas has no income tax and makes up the difference here. For anyone moving from out of state, this is the single largest cost surprise — and the rate varies by more than half a point between suburbs twenty minutes apart.
The number on a listing is the city rate. It is not what you pay. Your bill is the sum of the city, the county, the school district, the community college district, the hospital district, and — in a newer subdivision — a MUD or PID assessment that appears on no comparison site. Add them up and the effective rate across the suburbs in this index spans more than half a percentage point.
On a $600,000 home, that spread is thousands of dollars a year. It is the difference between two suburbs that look identical on a listings site, and it is almost entirely explained by two things: how much of the district's debt was issued recently, and how fast the place is growing.
Why the fast-growing suburbs charge more
A district that built four schools in the last decade is paying for them now. Prosper ISD and Celina ISD carry recent bond debt against a tax base that is still filling in, so the rate is high and the service is new. Highland Park's rate is among the lowest in the index for the opposite reason: an established base, no recent expansion, and property values high enough that a low rate still funds the district.
Two suburbs with the same median home value can differ by $4,000 a year in tax. Nobody sees it until the closing statement.
The practical advice is narrow. Get the actual rate for the specific parcel from the county appraisal district, not the city website. Ask directly whether the property sits in a MUD or PID. And if you are comparing monthly costs between two suburbs, run the tax line at the real rate before you decide one is cheaper.