Arlington, TX tax rates fall into three big buckets. Property owners pay a combined rate of roughly $2.10 to $2.20 per $100 of assessed value, pooled across five separate taxing jurisdictions. Sales tax runs at 8.25%, the statewide maximum. Hotel guests pay a 15% occupancy tax on the room rate, before sales tax is added on top. Each property tax rate is reset every fall after public hearings, so the exact figure on your bill shifts year to year.
Property Tax Rates by Jurisdiction
Your Arlington property tax bill is actually several bills stacked together. Five jurisdictions each set their own rate:
- Arlington Independent School District — $1.1035 per $100 of assessed value for 2024–2025, split between $0.8128 for maintenance and operations and $0.2907 for debt service. This is by far the largest slice.1Arlington ISD. Learn About School Property Taxes in Arlington ISD
- City of Arlington — $0.5898 per $100 for the 2023–2024 fiscal cycle. The city adopts a new rate each September.2City of Arlington, TX. Understanding the City’s Low Historical Property Tax Rate
- Tarrant County — $0.1862 per $100 for tax year 2025, covering both operations and debt service.3Tarrant County, TX. Property Tax Rate History 2016–2025
- Tarrant County College District — $0.112280 per $100 for 2025.4Tarrant County College. Taxpayer Information
- Tarrant County Hospital District (JPS Health Network) — funds the JPS public hospital system and sets its own rate annually. The rate has historically fallen in the range of $0.17 to $0.23 per $100, depending on the budget year.
Add those up and a typical Arlington homeowner faces a combined rate somewhere around $2.10 to $2.20 per $100 of assessed value.
What You’ll Actually Pay on a Typical Home
On a home appraised at $300,000 with no exemptions, that combined rate works out to roughly $6,300 to $6,600 per year. Exemptions bring it down, often sharply.
Here is how the arithmetic works. The Tarrant Appraisal District sets your market value each spring and mails a Notice of Appraised Value, usually in April or May. Your taxable value is the appraised value minus any exemptions on file. Each jurisdiction then multiplies that taxable value by its own rate.
Say your home is appraised at $350,000 and you have a $140,000 school district homestead exemption and a $40,000 city homestead exemption. School district taxes come to ($350,000 − $140,000) × ($1.1035 ÷ 100) = $2,317.35. City taxes come to ($350,000 − $40,000) × ($0.5898 ÷ 100) = $1,828.38. The county, college district, and hospital district pieces follow the same formula, each with its own exemption and rate. The Tarrant County Tax Office website shows the combined total once all rates are finalized in the fall.
Exemptions That Lower the Bill
The residence homestead exemption is the most valuable break available to Arlington homeowners. If you own and occupy a home as your primary residence, you qualify. You apply once through the Tarrant Appraisal District, and the exemption stays on file until you move or stop using the property as your primary home.
School districts must provide a $140,000 exemption on your residence homestead under Texas Tax Code Section 11.13(b).5Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions At the current AISD rate, that saves roughly $1,545 a year by itself. The City of Arlington and Tarrant County may adopt their own homestead exemptions, though the amounts are smaller and are set during each entity’s annual budget process.
Seniors and Disabled Homeowners
If you are 65 or older or have a qualifying disability, you get an additional $10,000 exemption from your school district taxes on top of the standard $140,000.6State of Texas. Texas Code Tax Code 11.13 – Residence Homestead Other taxing jurisdictions can adopt their own additional exemptions for seniors and disabled homeowners if their governing boards choose to.
The bigger benefit at 65 is the school tax ceiling. Once you qualify, the school district freezes your school taxes at whatever you paid that year, and the bill can never go above that ceiling even if your property value climbs.7Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Exemptions – Section: Age 65 or Older or Disabled Persons Some cities and counties also offer a tax ceiling. If you move to a different homestead within the same jurisdiction, the ceiling transfers proportionally.
Disabled Veterans
Texas provides a separate set of exemptions for disabled veterans based on their VA disability rating:
- 10% to 29% rating: up to $5,000 off assessed value
- 30% to 49% rating: up to $7,500 off assessed value
- 50% to 69% rating: up to $10,000 off assessed value
- 70% or higher rating: up to $12,000 off assessed value
A disabled veteran who is 65 or older with at least a 10% rating, or who is blind or has lost the use of a limb, qualifies for the $12,000 exemption regardless of rating percentage.8State of Texas. Texas Code Tax Code 11.22 – Disabled Veterans Veterans rated 100% disabled, and their unmarried surviving spouses, may qualify for a complete property tax exemption on their homestead under Section 11.131, which eliminates the entire bill.
Sales and Use Tax
Purchases in Arlington carry a combined sales tax rate of 8.25%, the maximum allowed in Texas. The state collects 6.25%, and the remaining 2% is the local share.9Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sales and Use Tax Businesses operating in Arlington collect the full 8.25% and remit it to the Texas Comptroller.
If you buy something online or out of state and the seller does not collect Texas sales tax, you owe use tax at the same 8.25% rate. You report and pay it on Form 01-156 (Texas Use Tax Return) with the Comptroller. If you already paid sales tax to another state on the purchase, Texas gives you a credit for that amount, so you only owe the difference.
Hotel Occupancy Tax
Visitors staying in Arlington hotels pay a total occupancy tax of 15%: a 9% city tax and a 6% state tax.10City of Arlington, TX. General Hotel Charges That 15% is calculated on the room rate before sales tax. Arlington also operates a Tourism Public Improvement District that adds a 2% assessment on hotel room nights within its boundaries.11City of Arlington, TX. Arlington Tourism Public Improvement District (ATPID) Combined with 8.25% sales tax, hotel guests can see total taxes and assessments exceeding 25% of the room rate.
Payment Deadlines and Late Penalties
Property taxes in Texas are due upon receipt of the bill and become delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the following year.12State of Texas. Texas Code Tax Code 33.01 – Penalties and Interest Your last safe day to pay is January 31. The Tarrant County Tax Office handles payments for all five jurisdictions on your bill, and you can pay online by eCheck at no extra charge, by credit card for a 2.15% processor fee, or by debit card for a flat $3.95 fee.13Tarrant County, TX. Make an Online Property Tax Payment Part 3 – Entering Debit/Credit Card Payment Mailed checks count as paid on the U.S. Postal Service postmark date under Texas Tax Code Section 1.08.
Miss February 1 and the penalties stack up fast. The penalty starts at 6% of the unpaid amount in the first month and rises 1% each additional month until it caps at 12% on July 1.12State of Texas. Texas Code Tax Code 33.01 – Penalties and Interest Interest runs separately at 1% per month for as long as taxes remain unpaid. And if your taxes were delinquent before June 1, the taxing unit’s collection attorney can tack on an additional penalty of up to 20% of the total amount owed on July 1.14Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Penalty Tax Bills On a $6,000 bill, that is $1,200 in attorney fees alone, plus the 12% penalty ($720) and accumulated interest.
Homeowners who are 65 or older, disabled, or disabled veterans (or their unmarried surviving spouses) can split the bill into four equal installments without penalty. Pay the first quarter before February 1 along with written notice to the tax office electing installments. The remaining three payments are due before April 1, June 1, and August 1.15State of Texas. Texas Code Tax Code 31.031 – Installment Payments of Certain Homestead Taxes A missed installment picks up a 6% penalty plus 1% monthly interest, but the steeper delinquency penalties do not apply.