What are the property taxes in Plano, TX?

The combined property tax rate for the Collin County portion of Plano is 1.710713% for fiscal year 2025-26, which equals $1.710713 per $100 of assessed value (City of Plano adopted budget FY2025-26; Collin Central Appraisal District). On a $500,000 home without any exemption applied, that produces an annual tax bill of approximately $8,554. With the mandatory homestead exemption applied to the school district portion, the same $500,000 home drops to approximately $7,099 per year, or $592 per month in escrow.

That 1.71% figure is often cited without its fine print, and the fine print is what matters for buyers. First, it applies specifically to properties in the Collin County portion of Plano. Second, it represents a combined levy from four separate entities, each of which sets its own rate independently, and any of those rates can change in a future budget cycle. Third, what you actually pay is calculated not on your purchase price but on the Collin Central Appraisal District’s assessed value of your property, which may differ from what you paid, particularly in the first year after a purchase at a price above or below the prior year’s assessed value.

The short answer to the question “what are my property taxes in Plano?” is: roughly 1.71% of your home’s assessed value, reduced by the homestead exemption once you claim it, and potentially higher if your home sits in the Denton County portion of western Plano. Everything that follows explains those three layers in detail.

How Does the Plano Tax Rate Break Down by Entity?

The 1.710713% combined rate is not one entity’s decision. It is four separate taxing jurisdictions billing you on the same assessed value, each with its own budget and its own rate-setting process. Here is how those pieces stack up for the Collin County portion of Plano (City of Plano adopted budget FY2025-26; Plano ISD; Collin County; Collin Central Appraisal District):

Source: City of Plano adopted budget FY2025-26; Plano ISD adopted tax rate; Collin County tax rate; Collin Central Appraisal District FY2025-26.

A few things stand out in that table. The Plano ISD rate at $1.03955 per $100 is by far the largest single component, accounting for just over 60% of your total tax bill. This is typical across Texas: school districts carry the heaviest levy, which is also why the state’s mandatory homestead exemption is applied to the ISD portion and produces the most meaningful savings. The City of Plano rate at $0.4406 is the second largest piece, and the Collin College District rate is the smallest. Understanding which entity drives your bill tells you which part of your tax is most likely to shift in a future budget year, and which exemptions have the greatest impact.

That rate compression also explains why property taxes in Plano are lower than they once were at the ISD level. Plano ISD has seen rate compression in recent years partly due to state recapture formulas and compression mandates under Texas House Bill 3, which tied additional state funding to reductions in local school district tax rates (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2026). The combined rate today reflects that compression, though the ISD portion is still the dominant driver of your annual bill. Homeowners who owned property in Plano a decade ago would have seen significantly higher ISD rates at that time.

“Buying a house is a lot like eating an elephant. You do it one step at a time.”

Understanding each line in your tax rate is one of those steps. When you know that 60% of your bill comes from Plano ISD and that there is a mandatory $140,000 exemption on that portion for your primary residence, the math becomes concrete and actionable, not overwhelming. The next step after understanding the combined rate is figuring out which county your property actually sits in, because not all Plano homes use the Collin County rate shown above.

Why Does Your ZIP Code Matter for East Plano vs. West Plano Taxes?

The county line is the part most buyers and many agents miss. Plano is not uniformly in Collin County. Parts of western Plano, including portions of ZIP codes 75093 and 75024, fall within Denton County rather than Collin County. The boundary does not follow any street grid that is obvious on a map; it cuts through subdivisions and sometimes splits parcels that appear side by side. When your home sits in the Denton County portion of Plano, the Collin County rate shown above does not apply. Instead, you pay the Denton County rate in place of the Collin County rate, and the difference is not trivial (Denton County Tax Office; Collin Central Appraisal District).

The Denton County rate for FY2025-26 is approximately $0.189 per $100, compared to Collin County’s $0.149343. That gap of roughly $0.04 per $100 means a Denton County Plano homeowner pays more in county taxes than a Collin County Plano homeowner on the same assessed value. On a $600,000 home, that translates to approximately $240 more per year in county tax alone (Denton Central Appraisal District). That is not a catastrophic difference, but it is also not zero, and buyers who budget based on the quoted 1.71% Collin County combined rate and then discover their 75093 home is in Denton County will find their actual bill higher than expected.

The three Plano price zones and their county context

Plano’s residential market divides fairly naturally into eastern, central-west, and far-west pricing tiers that map closely to the county boundary question. Understanding where your target home falls in that geography is part of doing proper due diligence on your purchase.

Median price estimates based on Redfin market data, Plano TX, 2026. County split data: Collin Central Appraisal District; Denton Central Appraisal District.

The practical implication for buyers is straightforward: before you write an offer on a home in 75024 or 75093, confirm which county’s CAD is the appraisal authority for that specific parcel. You can look up any Plano address on the Collin CAD property search at collincad.org or the Denton CAD search at dentoncad.com. If the property comes up in Denton CAD, your county tax rate is approximately $0.189 per $100, not $0.149343. The city, ISD, and college rates are unaffected by which county your parcel sits in; only the county component changes.

Plano property records are handled through Collin CAD for the eastern and central portions of the city and Denton CAD for the western strip (Collin Central Appraisal District; Denton Central Appraisal District). This is not common knowledge, and it is not always flagged by listing agents or disclosure forms. It is, however, a genuine financial variable in any offer you make on a western Plano home, and it deserves a two-minute lookup before you commit.

How Much Does the Homestead Exemption Save on Your Plano Tax Bill?

Texas law requires every ISD in the state to grant a mandatory $140,000 homestead exemption on the assessed value of a property used as a primary residence. This means the school district portion of your tax, which is Plano ISD at $1.03955 per $100, is calculated on the assessed value minus $140,000, not on the full assessed value. The other three taxing entities, City of Plano, Collin County, and Collin College District, each have the option to offer additional exemptions, though the mandatory ISD exemption is the most significant by a wide margin (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2026).

The homestead exemption math on a $500,000 Plano home

Here is how the savings actually work on a $500,000 home in the Collin County portion of Plano. Without any exemption applied, the annual bill at 1.710713% is $8,554 per year, or about $713 per month in escrow. With the mandatory $140,000 ISD homestead exemption applied, the calculation changes:

That $1,455 per year in savings is real money, and it is not automatic. You must file your homestead exemption application with the Collin Central Appraisal District (or Denton CAD if your parcel sits in that county). The application is filed once, and the exemption carries forward in subsequent years unless your residency status changes. The deadline to file for the current tax year is April 30th, though late filings can be accepted under certain circumstances. If you close on a Plano home after January 1st of a given year, your first full benefit will typically show on the following year’s tax bill; the year of purchase often reflects proration based on the prior owner’s exemption status (Collin Central Appraisal District).

The Texas Comptroller’s homestead exemption program also includes an over-65 exemption that removes an additional $10,000 from the school district assessed value, and a 100% disabled veteran exemption that can eliminate property taxes entirely for qualifying households. Buyers who qualify for either of those additional exemptions should confirm the applicable filing requirements with Collin CAD at the time of closing (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2026).

“This is not transactional for us.”

When we walk a buyer through Plano’s tax structure, we are not reading off a rate sheet. We are building a real picture of monthly carrying costs, so the number that shows up in the first year of ownership is the one the buyer planned for, not a surprise in the spring. The homestead exemption conversation is part of every buyer consultation we do in Plano.

What First-Year Tax Bill Surprises Should New Construction Buyers Expect in Plano?

Buyers of new construction in Plano face a tax dynamic that catches many people off guard, particularly those relocating from states where the assessed value follows the purchase price more predictably. In Texas, the Collin Central Appraisal District and Denton Central Appraisal District assess properties based on their estimate of market value as of January 1st of each year. For a newly completed home, that date may precede the completion of the home, creating a situation where the first tax bill is based on an assessment that did not reflect the finished structure.

The partial-year assessment problem

When a new construction home is completed partway through a calendar year, the CAD typically assesses the lot plus whatever structure existed as of January 1st of that year. If the home was framed but not finished by that date, the assessment may be lower than the final purchase price by a meaningful margin. The following year, once the full completed home is on the tax roll for the full calendar year, the assessed value adjusts upward, and the tax bill rises accordingly. Buyers who budget their escrow based on the first year’s bill can be underestimating their second-year liability by several thousand dollars.

The practical guidance for any new construction buyer in Plano: ask your lender to estimate your escrow based on the full assessed value of the completed home, not on whatever partial-year assessment may exist at the time of closing. The Collin Central Appraisal District typically updates assessments in the first quarter of each year, and a new construction home purchased in the second half of the year may not see a full-value assessment until the following January 1st. Your lender’s initial escrow analysis may underestimate this, and a one-time escrow shortage in year two is a common experience for new construction buyers throughout the North Dallas market (Collin Central Appraisal District).

Builder tax caps and what they mean

Some builders in Plano offer incentives that include rate buydowns or closing cost credits, but no builder can cap or modify the property tax rate you will pay as an owner. The rate is set by the taxing entities described above, and it applies to your assessed value regardless of what incentives you received at closing. Buyers who confuse a builder’s closing cost credit with a tax reduction are setting themselves up for a budget mismatch in their first full year of ownership. The tax benefit you receive as an owner is the homestead exemption described above, and that benefit comes from the state and the appraisal district, not from the builder.

For a new construction home in Plano at the $600,000 to $750,000 range, the first full-year tax bill at the combined 1.710713% Collin County rate runs $10,264 to $12,830 before the homestead exemption. With the exemption applied, that range drops to approximately $8,809 to $11,375 per year, or $734 to $948 per month. These are real numbers to build into your monthly budget before you commit to a purchase price, not something to figure out after closing.

What California and out-of-state buyers need to know about Plano taxes

North of 635 is a different world, and that phrase applies to property taxes as much as anything else. Buyers relocating from California, New York, Illinois, or other high-cost states often arrive with a mental framework for property taxes that does not map cleanly onto Texas. Understanding the key differences before you close saves a significant amount of budget miscalculation in the first year.

Texas versus California: what the comparison actually looks like

California’s Proposition 13 caps annual property tax increases at 2% per year and bases assessments on the purchase price at the time of acquisition. That means a California homeowner who bought 10 years ago may pay a fraction of what a new buyer pays on the same home, and the rate itself is constitutionally capped at 1% of assessed value plus voter-approved local levies. The effective tax rate in many California markets where North Dallas buyers originate runs 1.1% to 1.3% of purchase price.

Texas has no Proposition 13 equivalent. Assessments are reset toward market value annually by the CAD, the homestead exemption caps the year-over-year increase in assessed value at 10% per year for a homesteaded property, and the combined rate in Plano at 1.71% exceeds what most California buyers are accustomed to on a rate basis. However, the absence of a Texas state income tax partially offsets this for many households: a California resident paying 9.3% state income tax on a $200,000 household income is paying $18,600 per year in state income tax alone. A Texas resident at the same income pays zero. The full picture of after-tax cost of living in Plano versus a California suburb frequently favors Texas substantially, even accounting for the higher property tax rate (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 2026; U.S. Census Bureau, domestic migration data, 2024).

New York and Illinois buyers

New York buyers, particularly those coming from Westchester County or Long Island, often discover that Plano’s effective rate of 1.71% is lower than what they paid at home. Effective property tax rates in many New York suburban counties run 2.0% to 2.5% or higher on assessed value. Illinois property tax rates in the Chicago suburbs routinely reach 2.0% to 3.0%. For buyers from those states, Plano’s combined rate is often a favorable comparison on the tax line alone, even before accounting for the absence of state income tax.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s data on domestic migration patterns confirms that Texas has been a consistent net recipient of households from California, New York, and Illinois over the current decade (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That flow is directly visible in the Plano buyer pool, particularly in the 75024 and 75093 west Plano ZIP codes where the median price ranges are most consistent with what relocating buyers are selling in their home markets. If you are one of those buyers, the tax math is worth running explicitly before you decide on a price range. Call 214.429.4907 and we will walk through it with you.

Escrow and impound accounts for out-of-state buyers

Buyers who are financing their Plano purchase should expect their lender to establish an escrow account that collects property taxes and homeowners insurance monthly. Texas taxes are billed in arrears and are due January 31st of the following year. If you close in the middle of the year, your lender will typically collect prorated taxes at closing to fund the escrow account, and then continue collecting monthly tax installments through the remainder of the year. The first full tax bill you receive will cover the entire prior calendar year. This timing can feel confusing if you are used to California’s biannual installment system. For more detail on how escrow and impound accounts work in Texas, visit our Plano home value guide or call 214.429.4907.

How Do I Protest My Collin CAD Appraisal in Plano?

Every Plano homeowner in the Collin County portion of the city has the right to protest their assessed value with the Collin Central Appraisal District each year. If the CAD’s assessed value exceeds what you believe is a fair market value for your property, you can file a notice of protest by May 15th of the tax year, or within 30 days of receiving your assessment notice if that notice arrives after May 1st. The protest process is one of the most underused tools available to Texas property owners, and in years where the market has softened or specific neighborhoods have not appreciated as quickly as the county-wide average, it can produce meaningful reductions in your tax bill (Collin Central Appraisal District; Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts).

What makes a successful Collin CAD protest

The most effective protest evidence is a recent appraisal of your property by a licensed Texas appraiser, or a set of comparable sales from the prior year that support a market value lower than the CAD’s assessment. Comparable sales data is most useful when the comps share your property’s size, age, condition, and neighborhood, and when they closed as close to January 1st of the tax year as possible, since that is the date the CAD uses as its valuation benchmark. Sales from the second half of the prior year are typically the most relevant.

You can also use the CAD’s own iSettle program or informal hearing process to present evidence without a formal appraisal review board hearing. Many Collin County homeowners have succeeded in reducing their assessed values through the informal process alone, particularly when they come prepared with recent comparable sales and documentation of any condition issues that affect the property’s market value. The cost of the process is essentially your time and any appraisal fee you choose to pay, and the potential savings can compound over multiple years if the reduction carries forward.

For Denton County property owners in the western Plano strip, the same protest right exists through Denton Central Appraisal District, with the same May 15th deadline and the same comparable sales evidence standard (Denton Central Appraisal District). The process is parallel to Collin CAD’s, though the forms and online portal are different. Confirm which CAD administers your property before filing to avoid a misdirected protest that misses the deadline.

The price-band tax estimate table

The table below summarizes expected tax costs by Plano price tier, using the Collin County combined rate of 1.710713% and the $140,000 mandatory ISD homestead exemption. Denton County residents in 75024 and 75093 should add approximately $240 to $300 per year to the county tax line.

Tax estimates use Collin County combined rate of 1.710713% (FY2025-26). Median prices from Redfin, Plano TX, 2026. Homestead savings calculated using $140,000 mandatory ISD exemption. Denton County surcharge per Denton County Tax Office and Denton Central Appraisal District FY2025-26 rates.

The price-band figures above are estimates based on the current combined rate and the median prices shown. Your actual tax bill will be based on your home’s specific assessed value as determined by Collin CAD or Denton CAD, not its purchase price. In the year after a purchase at a price above the prior year’s assessed value, a reassessment is possible, and your lender’s initial escrow estimate may need adjustment. For a property-specific estimate on any Plano address, call 214.429.4907 or reach out at kaitlinlovern.com/contact/.

Frequently asked questions