Cameron County, TX property tax rates (2026 adopted)

Countywide taxing units

These units tax every home in Cameron County on the sampled records. City, school district and special district lines are added on top.

Every Cameron County city on this site

School districts

The school district is the biggest line on most bills. These are the districts that reach the cities above, with each one's share of the city's homes (2020 Census).

• Brownsville ISD: Brownsville (about 91.0%)
• Los Fresnos CISD: Brownsville (about 9.0%), Los Fresnos (all)
• Harlingen CISD: Harlingen (about 98.9%)
• La Feria ISD: Harlingen (about 0.7%)
• San Benito CISD: Harlingen (under 0.5%), San Benito (all)
• Rio Hondo ISD: Harlingen (under 0.5%)
• Point Isabel ISD: South Padre Island (all), Port Isabel (all)

Units that tax only some areas

Outside city limits

Homes outside city limits pay no city tax. Cameron County ESD #1 (0.062736 in 2025) and the drainage and water districts in the table above tax many unincorporated areas.

Estimate your Cameron County property tax

Annual tax only. Choose the city and school district, then your value and exemptions.

Homestead, 65+ and veteran exemptions in Cameron County

• Homestead, $140,000 off school district value (Tax Code 11.13(b), from tax year 2025). It applies to school district taxes only, so cities, counties and special districts tax the full value unless they adopt a local option.
• South Texas ISD gets only $5,000 off. South Texas ISD (the countywide magnet district, 0.0492) falls under the 11.13(b) exception, and every sampled 2025 Hidalgo CAD homestead showed $5,000 off that line.
• 65 or older, or disabled: $60,000 more off school district value (11.13(c)), plus a school tax ceiling (11.26) that usually holds the school tax at the amount from the first year you qualify. The ceiling is why many 65+ bills are lower than the examples here. On the sampled 2025 Hidalgo CAD accounts with a 65+ exemption, South Texas ISD took only its $5,000 homestead amount, so the 65+ figures on these pages do the same; Tax Code 11.13(c) does not repeat the 11.13(b) exception, so ask the appraisal district if that line matters to you.
• Local options. Each unit can add its own homestead exemption (up to 20% of value, Tax Code 11.13(n)) or a 65+ and disability exemption (at least $3,000, 11.13(d)). Cameron County units' local options were not sampled, so the examples and estimator leave them out; they can only lower the bill.
• Disabled veterans. A VA disability rating takes $5,000 (10% to 29%), $7,500 (30% to 49%), $10,000 (50% to 69%) or $12,000 (70% or more) off every unit's value (11.22); $12,000 at 65 or older with a 10% or higher rating. A 100% rating, or individual unemployability, makes the homestead fully exempt (11.131), and the exemption can pass to a surviving spouse who does not remarry. See the disabled veteran exemption guide.
• The 10% homestead cap (Tax Code 23.23). The appraised value of a homestead can rise at most 10% a year plus new improvements, starting the year after your first homestead year. A newly built home is often taxed on a partial value the first year and its full value the next, before the cap starts.

There is no fee to apply for a homestead exemption. File with your appraisal district by April 30 for the year; the homestead exemption guide has the forms and county links.

Protest deadline

Who sends the bill, and when it is due

The Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector collects for every unit in the table above: (956) 544-0800, cameroncountytx.gov.

When it is due. Bills for 2026 go out in October and November 2026. Taxes are due by Jan. 31 and are delinquent if not paid before Feb. 1 (Tax Code 31.02). Jan. 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so a payment made on Monday, Feb. 1, 2027 is on time (Tax Code 1.06); penalty and interest start after that. Confirm the date on your statement with your tax office. If you are 65 or older, disabled, or a disabled veteran with a homestead, you can ask about paying in four installments (Tax Code 31.031) before the first one is due.

Questions

Next steps

• Protesting your value? Ask Amy for recent comparable home sales before your hearing: book a call or call (956) 238-3688. Single-family homes only; not farms, ranches, duplexes, multifamily or commercial property.
• Living in Cameron County: the Cameron County guide.
• Compare with the rest of the Valley: all 20 cities.
• Exemptions and protests: Homestead exemption guide, Property tax protest guide, Disabled veteran exemptions.
• Mortgage and affordability math: calculators.

From Amy

Amy Herrera, REALTOR®, RE/MAX Elite

Protesting your home's value? I can pull recent sales of comparable homes near yours from the MLS for your hearing. I help with single-family homes only, not farms, ranches, duplexes, multifamily or commercial property, and I do not file protests for you. Book a call. I work in English and Spanish.

Sources and method

How these numbers were built. Each 2025 rate is the unit's adopted rate from the Texas Comptroller's 2025 rate files and the appraisal district's adopted-rate sheet, cross-checked against 2025 appraisal roll records, and every rate was checked again on Oct 16, 2026. Where the Comptroller's file differs from the unit's own adopted rate (McAllen's city rate, the Willacy County rows and a Cameron County road and bridge line that is not on the roll), the unit's own figure is used. A 2026 rate is shown only where an adopted 2026 rate was confirmed: Cameron Appraisal District's 2026 adopted-rate sheet and the City of McAllen's rate history. Which units apply inside each city comes from 2025 roll records sampled Oct 14, 2026 (250 Hidalgo and 191 Cameron homes, and 2 Starr and 2 Willacy records). School district shares come from 2020 Census housing counts. The examples and the estimator apply state-required exemptions only. Data file: tax-rates-2025.json.

Amy Herrera, REALTOR® and Texas real estate sales agent (TREC #808068) with RE/MAX Elite, is not a tax adviser, appraiser or property tax consultant. General information, not tax advice; your tax office has the exact amount.