Texas's Tax Landscape and Your Mortgage
Texas is one of nine states with no state individual income tax, so PennyCalc's 2026 wage-income model estimates $0 of state income tax at a $150,000 salary. That can improve household cash flow, but mortgage debt-to-income underwriting generally starts with gross income and separately counts the housing payment and other debts.
At the state's median home price of $315,000, the 1.6% property tax rate adds $420/month to your mortgage payment. That's $5,040/year - well above the national median of ~1.1%.
Property Taxes Across Texas
The 1.6% statewide average masks significant variation. Property tax rates vary widely by school district. 1.0% in some rural areas to 2.5%+ in suburban DFW/Houston ISDs
Price ranges across the state: Austin has a median of $450,000, while El Paso sits at $235,000 - a $215,000 gap that dramatically changes your monthly payment. At 1.6% property tax, that price difference alone means $287/month more in property tax in Austin.
Homebuyer Programs and Exemptions
Texas offers several programs for homebuyers:
- TDHCA My First Texas Home with competitive rates and down payment assistance up to 5%
- My Choice Texas Home for non-first-time buyers
Homestead exemption: General residence homestead: $140,000 off appraised value for school district taxes; homeowners age 65+ or disabled receive an additional $60,000, for $200,000 total, plus the school-tax ceiling rules
Texas-Specific Considerations
- The $140K general school homestead exemption, and $200K total for qualifying age-65-or-older or disabled homeowners, reduces taxable value
- Property tax rates vary widely by school district. 1.0% in some rural areas to 2.5%+ in suburban DFW/Houston ISDs
- Annual property tax protest process allows homeowners to challenge appraisal values
- No state transfer tax
- Texas has unique community property rules that affect mortgage qualification for married couples
- Insurance costs are high due to hail, tornado, and hurricane (coastal) risk
Insurance Costs in Texas
This calculator uses $2,450/year, or $204/month, as a statewide planning estimate. Actual quotes depend on the property, coverage limits, deductible, insurer, and local hazard exposure, so replace the default before relying on the payment result. Insurance costs are high due to hail, tornado, and hurricane (coastal) risk
Transfer Tax and Closing Costs in Texas
Closing costs in Texas typically run 2-5% of the home purchase price, paid at closing on top of the down payment. On the state's median $315,000 home, that's roughly $6,300 to $15,750. The components: origination and underwriting fees (0.5-1% of the loan), title insurance (a one-time charge, varies by county), appraisal ($500-$800), credit report ($30-$50), recording fees ($100-$300), prepaid escrow for property taxes and insurance (typically 2-6 months), and any state or local transfer tax. The transfer tax is the piece that varies most across states - some states have no transfer tax (the buyer or seller just pays a nominal recording fee), while others impose substantial taxes on every recorded deed.
Texas does not impose a state real-estate transfer tax. Buyers and sellers can still owe recording, title, lender, escrow, and other transaction fees; allocation depends on the contract and local practice.
2026 Mortgage Market Context for Texas
The calculator's $315,000 home-price default is a statewide planning value, not an appraisal or a forecast for a particular market. For 2026, the one-unit conforming-loan baseline in most Texas counties is $832,750. Designated high-cost counties can have higher limits, up to $1,249,125 nationally. Check FHFA's county table for the property address. A loan above the applicable county limit is jumbo, but pricing and underwriting depend on the lender and borrower profile. Check a current rate quote, property-specific taxes and insurance, and the FHFA county table before relying on the result.
Step-by-step: budgeting for a Texas home purchase
Working backward from the Texas median home price of $315,000, the cash you need at closing breaks down roughly as follows. Down payment: the lender minimum on a conventional loan is 3-5%, FHA is 3.5%, VA is zero with a funding fee, and the standard "no-PMI" threshold is 20%. At 20% down on the median home, that's $63,000 cash at closing - at 5% down, it's $15,750 but you'll add PMI (typically 0.5-1.0% of the loan annually) to your monthly payment until you reach 78% LTV. Closing costs run another 2-5% of the price, or $6,300 to $15,750 for Texas. Prepaid escrow at closing typically covers 2-6 months of property tax ($840 to $2,520) plus 12 months of homeowners insurance ($2,450). The fully-loaded cash-at-closing number for a 10%-down buyer on the Texas median home is roughly $44,660, give or take depending on lender fees and prepaid count.
The 28/36 ratios are common educational benchmarks, not universal approval limits. In an illustrative scenario using Texas's median home price, 20% down, and a 6.75% 30-year fixed rate, monthly PITI is approximately $2,259. Keeping that amount at 28% of gross monthly income would require roughly $96,799 of annual income. Replace every assumption with the property, quote, debts, and program you are actually considering.
Common Texas homebuyer pitfalls
The most common cash-flow surprise for first-time Texas buyers is escrow accounting in the first 18 months after closing. Lenders typically over-collect the initial escrow cushion to ensure they have funds available when property tax and insurance bills come due, which means your effective monthly payment can be 5-15% higher than the steady-state PITI for the first year. The opposite problem hits in year two: if property tax bills increase or insurance premiums renew higher than expected, the lender will perform an annual escrow analysis and raise the monthly payment to true up the cushion. Borrowers who set up auto-pay at the initial payment amount and never check their statements can fall behind without realizing it. The fix is reading the year-one escrow analysis statement carefully and updating auto-pay when it changes. In Texas's high-property-tax environment, year-over-year tax assessment increases (which can run 5-10% in fast-appreciating areas) materially move the escrow payment - budget for it. A second common pitfall is underestimating maintenance reserves. The rule of thumb is 1-2% of home value annually for maintenance and capital expenditures (roof, HVAC, water heater, appliances) - on the Texas median home that's $3,150 to $6,300 per year, set aside in a separate savings account so it's available when something breaks. Add HOA dues if your purchase is in a planned community or condo, which the mortgage payment estimate typically doesn't include.
Why we built this Texas mortgage calculator
The mortgage calculators on most national sites use the same generic inputs everywhere - national-average property tax around 1.1%, national-average insurance near $1,500/year, no real consideration of state-level differences in transfer tax, homestead exemption, or homebuyer-program eligibility. The result is a payment estimate that's directionally correct in some states and meaningfully wrong in others. Texas is one of the states where the standard estimate breaks down, because the high property tax rate produces a monthly PITI that differs from the national-average estimate by hundreds of dollars per month. This calculator pre-fills with Texas's actual averages from public-data sources (state DOR property tax tables, NAIC homeowners insurance survey, MLS median home price reports), so you start from a credible baseline rather than national defaults. Every assumption is editable - adjust the property tax rate to your specific county, change insurance to a quote you've received, override the median home price with your actual purchase price. The math runs in your browser and updates instantly.