A fresh national ranking is giving Texas homeowners one more reason to flinch when the mail shows up. Multiple cities land near the top of a new U.S. list for property tax burden, with some residents paying more than 5% of their income just to cover yearly property tax bills. The report arrives right as appraisal notices start hitting mailboxes and only months after state leaders pushed through major tax relief measures.
SmartAsset Snapshot: Four Texas Cities In The Top 20
According to a report by SmartAsset, analysts looked at 343 U.S. cities and ranked them by property tax burden. Four Texas communities landed in the national top 20: Edinburg at No. 14, Georgetown at No. 15, Conroe at No. 16 and Grand Prairie at No. 18.
SmartAsset measures how much of a homeowner’s income goes to annual property taxes, not just the dollar amount on the bill. That approach helps explain why smaller, lower income Texas suburbs can climb high on the list even if their nominal tax rates are not the steepest in the state. In the study, those Texas cities carry burdens just above 5% of homeowner income, while the very highest ranked cities nationally are approaching double digits.
Local Reaction And The Numbers Behind The Headline
As reported by Spectrum News, 45 Texas cities show up somewhere on the broader ranked list, and many residents say the bills are squeezing already tight household budgets. The outlet highlighted Grand Prairie homeowner Maria Morales and others who say that even with exemptions on the books, their property tax bills remain stubbornly high.
Spectrum News also cited statements from Fort Worth officials pointing to local exemptions and rate reductions meant to soften the blow. The coverage stressed that the study is comparing property taxes to income rather than looking only at raw tax dollars. SmartAsset defended that method in comments to reporters, arguing that the percentage of income captures how heavy the tax load actually feels to families.
What State Law Changed And Who It Helps
State leaders answered long running complaints about property taxes with a sizable relief package last year, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed off on measures that raise homestead exemptions along with the business personal property exemption. As outlined in legislative analyses on the Texas Legislature website, Senate Bill 4 would increase the mandatory school district homestead exemption to $140,000. Senate Bill 23 boosts the additional exemption for homeowners who are 65 and older or disabled to $200,000. House Bill 9 raises the business exemption.
State analysts say those changes are expected to trim several hundred dollars from many homeowners' school tax bills. At the same time, they caution that the relief will not land evenly everywhere, since local conditions and tax structures vary widely from community to community.
How Homeowners Can Respond
When appraisal notices arrive this spring, homeowners are being urged to double check that their exemptions are correctly applied and consider filing a protest if they believe the appraised value overshoots reality. The Texas Comptroller's guide explains that the standard deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever date comes later.
The Comptroller also provides protest forms, tips on what kind of evidence to bring to an Appraisal Review Board hearing and an explanation that exemptions already on file typically carry forward under the new laws. Local advocates say the SmartAsset rankings help explain why some owners show up to those hearings ready for a fight. A lower taxable value can amplify the benefit of statewide exemptions and translate directly into real savings on the tax bill.
In the end, the SmartAsset snapshot underlines how heavily Texas leans on local property taxes and how sharply the impact can differ from one neighborhood or suburb to the next. Lawmakers’ recent reforms are set to cut bills for many households, but this appraisal season and the protests that follow will be a crucial test for homeowners in the cities where the study shows the pressure is highest.
