Property tax in Hidalgo County, Texas

Who sends the property tax bill in Hidalgo County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Hidalgo County Tax Assessor-Collector. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Hidalgo County Appraisal District, which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.

The Hidalgo County Tax Office collects for the county, Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1, the county's emergency service districts, most cities in the county, the school districts and South Texas College, so one bill covers most homes. The City of McAllen runs its own tax office and bills its city tax separately. Tax statements are mailed in October or soon after; not receiving one does not change the due date. Checks are payable to Pablo (Paul) Villarreal Jr., PCC. In November, December and January, taxes can also be paid at any Lone Star National Bank location in the county with the original statement stub. The appraisal district, not the tax office, sets values and approves exemptions.

When are property taxes due in Hidalgo County?

For the 2026 bill, Hidalgo County has one due date: January 31, 2027. State law makes Texas property taxes due on receipt of the bill and delinquent if not paid before February 1; the county's current pages do not restate the date. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, and under state law a payment made on the next regular business day, Monday, February 1, 2027, is on time. Homeowners who are 65 or older, disabled, or disabled veterans with a homestead exemption may pay homestead taxes in four equal installments by paying the first quarter before February 1 with notice to the tax office (state law also accepts the first quarter and notice as late as the end of February); the rest are due before April 1, June 1 and August 1. In 2027 May 31 is Memorial Day and July 31 is a Saturday, so under state law a payment on June 1 or Monday, August 2 is on time. Taxes not paid on time are delinquent from February 1 (for this bill, a payment made on Monday, February 1, 2027 still counts as on time because January 31 is a Sunday). State law adds a 6% penalty plus 1% interest in February; the penalty rises 1% a month and reaches 12% on July 1, and interest keeps adding 1% a month until the tax is paid. Taxes still delinquent on July 1 can also be charged a collection penalty of up to 20%.

From Hidalgo County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. The county had not posted a calendar labeled for this cycle when we checked, so these dates come from state law and the county's standing schedule; the date on your bill is the one that binds you.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Hidalgo County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Hidalgo County's average effective rate of 1.62% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Hidalgo County at a glance

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

How does Hidalgo County compare in Texas?

Among Texas's 250 counties, Hidalgo County has the 24th highest effective property-tax rate: 23 rank higher and 226 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 249th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Texas county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Hidalgo County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Hidalgo County's 182,271 owner-occupied homes, 37.1% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 51.8% pay at least $2,000, and 15.3% pay under $800. Another 4.6% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $3,527 and owners without one pay $1,610. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.

How does the Hidalgo County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $2,279 is about 3.5% of the median income of Hidalgo County homeowner households, $64,957 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 67.5% of Hidalgo County's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Hidalgo County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,777 in 2015-2019 to $2,279 in 2020-2024, a 28.2% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 61.8%, from $87,100 to $140,900. Bills rose more slowly than values, which is what assessment caps and falling millage rates do: the county is taxing a smaller share of each home's worth.

Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.

Property tax in counties next to Hidalgo County

Hidalgo County borders 5 counties.

How is a home assessed in Hidalgo County?

Texas assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Hidalgo County included. How Texas assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Hidalgo County?

Yes. Texas exempts $140,000 of a home's value from school-district taxes, and local taxing units may add an exemption of up to 20% of value. That is the Texas rule, and it applies in Hidalgo County. Texas's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Texas programs, Hidalgo County runs its own:

• Hidalgo County over-65 exemption and tax ceiling: For county tax, Hidalgo County gives homeowners 65 or older a $15,000 exemption, and it caps the county tax on the homestead of an owner who is 65 or older or disabled at a ceiling (the amounts listed for tax year 2025). The county gives no general homestead exemption of its own. Apply through the appraisal district.

How to appeal your Hidalgo County property assessment

In Hidalgo County you appeal to the Hidalgo County Appraisal District Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The deadline: File a protest with the Appraisal Review Board by May 15, or within 30 days after your notice of appraised value is delivered, whichever is later. This deadline is set by state law for every Texas county. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Hidalgo County does not restate them on its own pages.

How Texas's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

Texas rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Texas page.

Work out your own numbers

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Hidalgo County's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

  Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.

• Texas income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Texas actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Hidalgo County

  The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.