Texas · Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area

Buying a home in Round Rock, Texas

In Round Rock, the median value of owner-occupied homes is $418,600, Williamson County's effective property tax rate is 1.61%, a purchase mortgage carried a median $7,926 in total loan costs in 2025, and median gross rent is $1,763 a month.

Data as of : Census ACS 2020-2024, Census Vintage 2024, HMDA 2025, HUD FY 2027. Sources

Round Rock home costs, fact by fact

About Round Rock

Located in Williamson County, Round Rock is a city in Texas, within the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area, which ranks 25th nationally. 55.5% of its homes are owner-occupied.

Reading the Round Rock figures

Round Rock reports a median home value of $418,600, above the Texas median of $318,100 and above Dallas, which reports $320,700. McKinney reports $471,800. Plano reports $465,900. Allen comes to $464,100, and Richardson to $431,400, so every one of these sits above it. Sugar Land is at $430,200, Georgetown just behind at $429,100, still higher. Carrollton comes to $381,000, and Lewisville to $378,500, lower. Owners supplied these values rather than buyers, but they place Round Rock in the upper part of the 45 covered Texas cities.

The county tax read is the first thing to check. Williamson County taxes at 1.61% of value and posts a median annual bill of $7,205, on county homes valued at a median of $447,000. Round Rock's median is lower than the county's, so a home at the city median would be taxed at the same rate on a lower base. Still, the rate leaves a sizable annual bill, and a buyer who compares Round Rock with cities in other counties should compare rates and not just prices.

Renting costs $1,763 a month at the median. Carrollton sits lower, at $1,735. Lewisville charges $1,670 in rent, Dallas $1,472. Richardson runs higher, at $1,857. McKinney reaches $1,901, and Allen $1,932. HUD's Fair Market Rent for the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX MSA is $1,817 for a 2-bedroom home, with the larger home type listed at $2,292. The census median sits just under the HUD figure for a 2-bedroom home, which is a benchmark for rental assistance rather than a market median, and the census rent covers every unit size.

Ownership reaches 55.5% of households. McKinney shows 63.8%. Allen shows 69.4%, and Georgetown 69.5%, all higher. Richardson reports 50.7%. Lewisville falls to 46.3%, and Dallas to 42.4%. Owner shares are 74.7% in League City and 76.2% in Pearland. So Round Rock sits in the middle: neither as renter-heavy as Dallas nor as owner-heavy as the Houston-area suburbs.

Loan costs are the lowest side of the picture. In Williamson County, lenders reported 10,111 loans in the 2025 HMDA data, and the median loan cost stood at $7,926. The middle band ran from $5,401 to $12,417. The city belongs to the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX metro area, ranked 25th nationally with 2,550,637 residents, and the city itself counts 135,359 people across 2 counties. A buyer should set the lower loan costs against the higher tax bill, then ask a lender for a written estimate that includes both. Williamson County's median value, $447,000, is higher than the city's own, which is a reminder that the county bill describes a somewhat costlier set of homes than a typical Round Rock purchase.

Calculate for Texas

If you buy

Texas state transfer tax

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Change the price: the amount is recalculated instantly.

Price$318,100
State transfer tax$0
Share of the price—

Default price: the Texas median value of owner-occupied homes, $318,100 (Census ACS 2025). Rule: No transfer tax exists. Buyers pay county recording fees and a state-set title insurance premium. Who pays: No transfer tax to assign. Recording fees and the title insurance premium appear on the closing statement. Not included: county and city transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and lender charges. Texas transfer tax guide · all 50 states.

If you sell

Capital gain and the federal tax on it

Same federal rule in every state: Section 121 of the Internal Revenue Code excludes up to $250,000 of gain on a main home ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly).

Capital gain$350,000
Section 121 exclusion$250,000 (limit $250,000)
Taxable gain$100,000
Type of gainLong-term (owned over 1 year), 15% chosen
Federal tax on the gain$15,000

Section 121 excludes $250,000; the rest is taxable.

Gain = sale price minus your adjusted basis (purchase price, buying costs and improvements); selling expenses reduce it (IRS Publication 523). Long-term rates for sales in 2026, by taxable income including the gain (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.03): 0% up to $49,450 single or $98,900 married filing jointly, 15% up to $545,500 single or $613,700 jointly, 20% above. Not included: Texas state income tax on the gain (not computed), the net investment income tax, depreciation recapture on a rental or home office, and the reduced exclusion for an early sale. Agent commissions are negotiated and never set by law. Capital gains on a home sale.

Questions about buying a home in Round Rock

How much is property tax in Round Rock?

Homeowners in Williamson County pay a median $7,205 a year in property tax, 1.61% of the county median home value of $447,000 (Census ACS 2020-2024). Your bill depends on your assessed value and local rates.

What are closing costs on a mortgage in Round Rock?

Home-purchase mortgages in Williamson County carried median total loan costs of $7,926 in 2025; half of the 10,111 loans fell between $5,401 and $12,417 (HMDA). Total loan costs are the lender and settlement-service charges of the Closing Disclosure; transfer taxes and prepaid items come on top.

Is there a transfer tax when you buy a home in Round Rock?

Texas has no real estate transfer tax. Article VIII, Section 29 of the Texas Constitution, added November 3, 2015, says no law enacted after January 1, 2016 may impose a transfer tax on a transaction that conveys fee simple title to real property.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy in Round Rock?

It depends on your mortgage rate, down payment and how long you stay. As a benchmark, the median value of owner-occupied homes in Round Rock ($418,600) equals 19.8 years of the median gross rent ($1,763 a month), both from Census ACS 2020-2024.

What natural hazards affect home insurance in Round Rock?

Across Texas, the main hazards for home insurance are flood, tornado, wind and hail, and the insurer of last resort is Texas FAIR Plan Association (TFPA). Texas gets more tornadoes than any other state, according to the Texas Department of Insurance; on the coast, windstorm coverage comes from a separate policy, often from TWIA, in 14 coastal counties plus part of Harris County.

Run your own numbers: rent vs buy calculator · closing costs calculator.

Texas rules that apply in Round Rock

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Sources

Texas · All states · Federal guides