Denton TX Property Tax Rate: How Your Bill Is Built
A Denton property tax bill is the total of several overlapping local rates, not one city rate. This guide shows which taxing units set each part and how to estimate your own bill.
Your Denton TX property tax rate is the combined rate of every local taxing unit that serves your address. One published example totals $2.298612, made up of City of Denton $0.590454, Denton County $0.224958, and Denton Independent School District $1.483200 [1]. Those figures come from different years, so treat the total as an example, not as your bill. To go further, see Is Denton TX a Good Place to Live? Costs and Trade-Offs.
The county rate shows how much these numbers move. Denton County's adopted FY 2025-2026 rate is $0.185938, down from $0.187869 in the prior year [2]. Your own total depends on which city and school district your address falls in.
For a current estimate, open the Tax Estimator and select the tax year, county, and city. The rest of this article explains each piece and shows what a typical bill looks like at different home values [3].
Which local taxing units set your Denton rate?
Your Denton property tax bill is the sum of rates set by each taxing unit that covers your home, so no single rate shows the full cost. To go further, see Cost of Living in Denton, TX: Housing, Rent and Everyday Costs.
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The school district carries the largest rate by a wide margin. Denton ISD's example rate is $1.483200, against $0.224958 for Denton County and $0.590454 for the City of Denton [1]. In other words, the school line is the piece to watch most closely when you compare homes.
Older figures show the same pattern. Denton ISD's published rate for 2021 was 1.3620, which was far above the county's example rate today [4]. Compare rates only within the same tax year, because the figures come from different years.
If your home is outside Denton city limits, the City of Denton line does not apply, so the total changes. If you live in a different school district, that district's rate replaces Denton ISD's, and your total will not match the example above.
Because each unit sets its own rate, a change in one unit moves your bill even when the others stay the same.
What does a typical Denton property tax bill look like at different home values?
The combined Denton rate is $2.298612 per $100 of value, and every bill is built from that figure [1]. To estimate a bill, divide the home's value by 100, then multiply by the rate. Three example values show how the math works.
At $250,000, you divide by 100 to get 2,500 units. Multiplying 2,500 by $2.298612 gives $5,746.53 [1]. At $350,000, the same method gives $8,045.14, and at $500,000 it gives $11,493.06 [1].
These are illustrations, not assessed values. The appraisal district sets the actual value for your home, and the Denton Central Appraisal District site lists property values and tax information [5]. Swap in your own value from that site to get a closer figure.
The bill is not split evenly across the three taxing units. At $250,000, the Denton Independent School District rate of $1.483200 per $100 comes to $3,708.00 [1]. The City of Denton's $0.590454 comes to $1,476.14, and Denton County's $0.224958 comes to $562.40 [1].
That makes the school portion the biggest driver of your bill.
Can exemptions or a protest lower your Denton tax bill?
The Denton Central Appraisal District website is where you find out whether your home has an exemption. The site lists property values, ownership details, tax information, and exemptions [5]. Start there before you assume your bill reflects any savings.
Look up your own property record
Search the site by your address to open your own record. The record shows the value on file and the exemptions tied to that property. Each property has its own record, so an exemption a neighbor or a previous owner had does not carry over to your home.
Homestead and other exemptions are listed on the appraisal district site, so that is where you confirm whether you qualify [5]. For example, suppose you bought a Denton home last year. The seller may have had an exemption that does not transfer to you automatically. If your record shows no exemption, you know to raise it with the district.
Why the total can still change
A lower county rate in the newest adopted budget is one reason your total can change from year to year. For FY 2025-2026, the county rate drops from $0.187869 to $0.185938 [2].
Other taxing units set their own rates, so a smaller county rate does not always lower your bill. Compare the total on each year's statement rather than one rate alone.
Why do published Denton tax rates differ from one source to another?
Published Denton rates often differ because they cover different years or measure different things. Before you use any figure, check which tax year it covers and whether it comes from a taxing authority.
The school district figures are older
The Denton ISD page lists rates only from 2018 through 2021, and the last year shown is 2021 with a rate of 1.3620 [4]. Mixing it with a county rate from a newer year gives a total that matches neither year.
The 1.66% to 1.99% range is a third-party figure
You may also see Denton County described as having rates from 1.66% to 1.99% [6]. That range comes from a property tax protest company's blog, not from a taxing authority. It spans taxing entities rather than giving one rate you can apply to your home, so it is not an official rate and should not replace the rates for your address.
Each tax year has its own rates
Rates change from year to year, so the same address can show different totals in different years. The county's Tax Estimator asks you to choose a tax year, such as 2026, along with the county and city [3]. Pick the year that matches the bill you expect to receive.
Start with the tax year and the taxing units that apply to your address. Then add the county, city, and school rates for that same year, and ignore any figure that has no year attached.
How should you estimate your own Denton property tax?
Start with the Tax Estimator on the Denton County site. It asks you to pick a county, a city and a tax year before it runs an estimate [3]. Then work through your own address in three steps:
- Add the rate for each taxing unit that covers your address, such as the city, the county and your school district.
- Add those rates together to get the total.
Recheck the numbers every year. Adopted rates change, and the county's FY 2025-2026 budget lowered its rate [2]. Use the newest tax year on the estimator for your next estimate.