Harris County property tax calculator
- $140 flat.
- A person at your hearing
- A service of The Ambrose Group
This calculator estimates a yearly Harris County property tax bill. You enter the appraised value and pick your taxing units. Each taxing unit uses its tax year 2026 rate where we could read one, and its tax year 2025 rate otherwise. Exemptions come from Harris Central Appraisal District public data. The result is an estimate. It is not a bill.
Example estimate
Estimate, not a bill, at tax year 2025 and 2026 rates. 1.267% of the appraised value across 6 taxing units.
$5,068.52
How the estimate adds up
At these rates, $10,000 more of appraised value adds $165.81 a year to the estimate.
This is arithmetic: the estimate for a value $10,000 higher, minus this estimate. It is not a prediction of any change in value or tax.
| Taxing unit | Rate per $100 | Exemption | Taxable value | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris CountyCountywide | 0.4175Tax year 2026 | $80,000 | $320,000 | $1,336.00 |
| Harris County Flood Control DistrictCountywide | 0.05266Tax year 2026 | $80,000 | $320,000 | $168.51 |
| Port of Houston AuthorityCountywide | 0.00603Tax year 2026 | $80,000 | $320,000 | $19.30 |
| Harris County Hospital DistrictCountywide | 0.19528Tax year 2026 | $80,000 | $320,000 | $624.90 |
| Harris County Department of EducationCountywide | 0.004798Tax year 2025 | $80,000 | $320,000 | $15.35 |
| Katy ISDSchool district | 1.1171Tax year 2026 | $140,000 | $260,000 | $2,904.46 |
| Estimated total for the year | $5,068.52 | |||
This is an estimate of a yearly property tax bill. It is not a bill.
The homestead answer adds the standard homestead exemption. With a homestead, the over-65 or disability answer adds each unit's own exemption of that kind. Veteran and other exemptions are not in this estimate.
5 of the 6 lines use a tax year 2026 rate. The other line uses a tax year 2025 rate. The county tax office table showed no tax year 2026 rate for it on October 13, 2026, and we did not confirm one on its own site.
Each line names the tax year of its rate. A unit uses its tax year 2026 rate where we could read one that the unit has adopted, in the Harris County Tax Office table or on an official page. Every other unit uses its tax year 2025 rate from the district file. A unit that has adopted a tax year 2026 rate we could not read is on its tax year 2025 rate here. For 36 small districts, the tax year 2025 rate in the file could not be confirmed with the county tax office's tax year 2025 rate. The line for each says so.
Tax year 2025 rates come from Harris Central Appraisal District public data, files dated September 20, 2026. The district's data page is https://hcad.org/hcad-online-services/pdata/.
Tax year 2026 rates for some units come from the Harris County Tax Office table of adopted rates, read October 13, 2026. The table is at https://www.hctax.net/Property/JurisdictionTaxRates.
Exemption amounts come from the same district files.
Your actual bill comes from the county tax office. Some taxing units send their own bill.
This estimate leaves out veteran and other exemptions, tax ceilings, special assessments and fees, penalties and interest, and rates adopted after the files were read. See what this leaves out
Join the 2027 list
Texas Property Protest is a flat-fee property tax protest service for Texas homeowners. It is provided by The Ambrose Group, a Houston firm. No contingency. No cut.
The Ambrose Group files the protest with HCAD and sends a person to the hearing. The fee is $140 a year paid upfront, or $15 a month on a 12-month plan ($180 in total), and it renews each year. Monthly is a 12-month plan: cancel early and the months left on it are still due.
Ambrose Tax Consulting, Inc. (DBA The Ambrose Group) is licensed by TDLR to provide property tax consulting services. Daniel M. Ambrose is a licensed senior property tax consultant with TDLR, number 10992. Check it at www.tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch.
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About this estimate
It starts with the appraised value you enter. It subtracts the homestead exemptions shown in the table. A unit's exemption cannot take the taxable value below $0, so the table shows no more than the appraised value for it. Then it multiplies by each unit's rate. Countywide units cover the whole county, so they are added for you. Each unit's tax is rounded to the cent. The total is the sum of those amounts.
This page gives no tax or legal advice.
What this leaves out
This estimate leaves out:
- Other exemptions. Owners age 65 or older, disabled owners, disabled veterans and surviving spouses can get extra exemptions. None is in this estimate.
- Tax ceilings. For a home with the over-65 or disability exemption, Texas law limits how much the school district tax on the home can go up. A county, city or junior college district can adopt a similar limit. A surviving spouse who was 55 or older when the owner died can have the school district limit too.
- Special assessments and fees. Examples are public improvement district assessments and some street light fees. These are not tax rates.
- Penalties, interest, and discounts. Taxes not paid before February 1 of the next year are delinquent and add penalty and interest. Some taxing units give a discount for paying early.
- Rates adopted after the files were read. A unit can adopt a rate after September 20, 2026, the date of the district file, or after October 13, 2026, the date the county tax office table was read. Some utility districts follow different rules for setting rates.
- Changes during the year. Exemptions are set by who qualifies on January 1, with exceptions for a home bought later in the year.
- Units with no rate in the file. Some districts are not listed because the district file shows no rate for them. A home in one of them may owe a line this estimate does not show.
Use it with an AI assistant
An AI assistant that can connect to an MCP server can use this calculator as a tool. Add the address below, then ask for an estimate in your own words. The assistant gets the same numbers as this page, and no tool asks for a name, an email or a street address. The tool tells the assistant to ask you about an over-65 or disability exemption and never to guess.
MCP server address
https://texaspropertyprotest.com/mcp
The three tools
estimate_property_tax_billEstimates a yearly bill from an appraised value, a homestead answer, an optional over-65 or disability answer and the taxing units on the home.list_taxing_unitsLists Harris County taxing units with their codes, rates and the tax year of each rate, for one place if you like.get_protest_service_infoReads facts about Texas Property Protest. It files nothing.
The same calculator is also a plain web API. Its description is at /openapi.json.
Questions
Which rates does this calculator use?
Each unit uses its tax year 2026 rate where we could read one that the unit has adopted. Every other unit uses its tax year 2025 rate from Harris Central Appraisal District public data, files dated September 20, 2026. Each line of the estimate names its year.
Why is an estimate not a bill?
The estimate leaves out veteran and other exemptions, tax ceilings, special assessments, penalties and interest, and rates adopted after the files were read. It also depends on the units you pick. The notice of appraised value lists the taxing units for a home.
What does a homestead exemption do to the taxable value?
It takes an amount off the appraised value before a unit applies its rate. The $140,000 school district exemption is set by Texas Tax Code Section 11.13(b). A taxing unit can adopt an exemption of up to 20 percent of appraised value, with a $5,000 minimum, under Section 11.13(n).
What does the over-65 or disability answer do?
It adds each unit's own over-65 or disability exemption to the standard homestead exemption. A unit gives one of the two. This estimate uses your one pick for every unit. School district taxes on a home with either exemption are limited by a ceiling (Texas Tax Code 11.26). This estimate shows the tax before any ceiling.
Which number do I type?
Enter the appraised value, not the market value. For a home with a homestead exemption, the appraised value can be lower than the market value because Texas law limits how much it can rise in a year. The notice of appraised value lists it. Not every owner gets a notice each year.
Where does my actual bill come from?
Your actual bill comes from the county tax office. Some taxing units send their own bill. A bill states the values, exemptions and rate it uses and the dates it is due. This page only gives an estimate.
Why are some units not on the list?
The district's file shows no rate for some units, so they are not listed. A home in one of them may owe a line this estimate does not show.
Houston guides
- How to protest property taxes in Harris County
- The Harris County protest deadline
- What happens at a protest hearing
- Protest evidence and comparables
- Should I protest my property taxes?
- Do I need a protest company?
- Market value, appraised value and the homestead cap
- The homestead exemption: amounts and how to apply
- When property taxes are due
- Missed the protest deadline? What Texas law says
Page updated October 13, 2026. Tax year 2025 rates and exemption amounts are from Harris Central Appraisal District files dated September 20, 2026. Tax year 2026 rates were read on October 13, 2026.
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