Property Tax in Tarrant County, Texas
Homeowners in Tarrant County, Texas pay a median of $5,211 a year in real estate taxes, on a median home value of $294,100. Those are the Census Bureau's published medians for the county (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023) — the typical bill and the typical home value for owner-occupied households.
What the Tarrant County numbers mean
The median is the midpoint of the county's actual bills: half of Tarrant County homeowners pay more than $5,211 a year and half pay less. The exact bill for any one home depends on its assessed value, exemptions, and which school, municipal and special districts cover it.
Set against the median home value of $294,100, the median bill works out to a derived effective rate of 1.77%. That rate is an estimate computed from the two medians — no county publishes a rate calculated this way — but it adjusts for home prices, which makes comparisons between counties more meaningful.
Tarrant County by the numbers
| Measure | Tarrant County | Texas | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid | $5,211 | $4,111 | $2,969 |
| Median home value | $294,100 | $260,400 | $303,400 |
| Derived effective rate* | 1.77% | 1.58% | 0.98% |
| Median tax per month | $434 | $343 | $247 |
*Estimate derived from Census medians (tax ÷ value), not an official rate.
Tarrant County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Texas: #10 of 250 counties
- Median home value rank in Texas: #17 of 250
- Population rank in Texas: #3 of 250 (2,135,743 residents)
- Population density rank: #3 of 250 (2,468 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Texas: #177 of 250 (865 sq mi, 0.3% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $434; per $1,000 of home value: $1.77
How Tarrant County compares
Set against its state, Tarrant County's median bill of $5,211 is about 27% higher than the Texas median ($4,111). Against the country as a whole it is about 76% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #10 of 250 Texas counties ranked by median taxes paid.
Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Tarrant County's median home, at $294,100, ranks #17 by value in Texas, while its derived rate of 1.77% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Tarrant County: the median bill works out to about $434 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,772 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 2,135,743 people — the #3 most populous county in Texas, spread over 865 square miles, a density of about 2,468 people per square mile. Its median home value, $294,100, ranks #17 among the state's 250 counties with data.
Nationally, Tarrant County's median bill of $5,211 ranks #116 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 4% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 7.2% of Texas's population, its median home value is about 13% above the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 17.72% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Tarrant County to the most expensive county, Travis County ($7,487), is $2,276 a year.
Counties nearest Tarrant County in the Texas ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kendall County, TX | $5,890 | $489,800 | 1.20% |
| Montgomery County, TX | $5,237 | $317,500 | 1.65% |
| Kaufman County, TX | $5,036 | $290,800 | 1.73% |
| Parker County, TX | $4,978 | $343,600 | 1.45% |
How the tax is worked out
The bill is built in stages. First the assessor puts a market value on the property. Exemptions — a homestead exemption above all — then reduce the taxable amount. Finally the combined local rate is applied. To see the scale: at the county's derived rate of 1.77%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $1,772 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $7,088. Real bills use the official assessment and district rates, not this derived figure, so treat the example as a sense of scale only.
Checking your assessment in Tarrant County
Believe your assessment is too high? The practical order of attack is: obtain your record card and audit it line by line; collect comparable recent sales in Tarrant County; ask the assessor's office to correct anything plainly wrong; and, if the value still seems off, lodge a formal appeal ahead of the deadline printed on your assessment notice. Windows are short — often 30 to 90 days — and late appeals are usually rejected outright, however strong the case.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Tarrant County, Texas?
The median real estate tax paid in Tarrant County, Texas is $5,211 per year, on a median home value of $294,100 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Tarrant County, Texas?
On a derived basis, 1.77%: the county's median tax bill of $5,211 divided by its median home value of $294,100. Because it is calculated from two survey medians, read it as a comparison estimate rather than an official rate.
How does Tarrant County compare with the rest of Texas?
By median taxes paid, Tarrant County stands at #10 among the 250 Texas counties the Census publishes figures for. Its $5,211 median bill is about 27% higher than the state median ($4,111), and 9 counties in the state record a higher median.
How are property taxes calculated in Tarrant County, Texas?
The assessor estimates your property's market value; exemptions (such as a homestead exemption) reduce the taxable amount; and the result is multiplied by the combined rates of the local taxing districts — county, municipality, school district and any special districts. In Tarrant County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $5,211 on a median home value of $294,100.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Tarrant County, Texas?
You can. Pull your property record card from the Tarrant County assessor, verify its details, and compare the assessed value against similar homes that sold recently. If the value still seems too high, submit a formal appeal to the board named on your notice before the stated deadline — usually a 30-to-90-day window.