Is Protesting Worth It? A Decision Framework — Harris County Property Tax Guide

1

Do You Have a Homestead Exemption?

If NO: Stop here.

Getting your homestead exemption is almost certainly a bigger win than any protest. Do that first.

A homestead exemption does two things for you:

Caps your annual assessed value increases at 10%. Without it, HCAD can raise your assessed value by any amount in a single year. With it, even if the market jumps 30%, your assessed value can only climb 10% per year.
Provides a $140,000 exemption on school district taxes. This exemption was raised from $40,000 to $100,000 in 2023 (Proposition 4), then increased again to $140,000 in November 2025 (Proposition 13). For a home assessed at $300,000, that means you only pay school taxes on $160,000. For homeowners 65 and older or with disabilities, the total school tax exemption is now $200,000.

The homestead exemption is free to file and available to any Texas homeowner who uses the property as their primary residence. You can apply through the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) website. If you haven't done this yet, it should be your first move — not a protest.

One more thing: Some homeowners worry that protesting will "flag" their property and cause their value to go up next year. This is the #1 myth in Texas property tax. State law prohibits raising a property's value solely because the owner filed a protest. The worst possible outcome is that the value stays the same.

If YES: Continue to Question 2.

2

How Much Is Your Home Assessed For?

Your assessed value determines the rough scale of potential savings. Based on aggregate Harris County data, here is what homeowners who successfully protest typically see:

Assessed Value Range	Typical Annual Savings	Is It Worth the Effort?
Under $150K	$50 – $150	Still worth filing — it's free — but don't rearrange your schedule for it
$150K – $300K	$150 – $500	Worth 30 minutes of effort
$300K – $500K	$300 – $800	Definitely worth it
Over $500K	$500 – $1,500+	This is a no-brainer

These ranges are based on the median successful reduction in Harris County of $21,416 (roughly 6% of assessed value) applied at the county's combined tax rate of approximately 2.3%. Your actual result depends on your specific property and the evidence you bring.

In 2025, 56% of Harris County homes saw their appraised value increase — meaning more than half of homeowners are facing potentially higher assessments this year. For context, the Harris County median home value is $282,269. If your home is near that median and you win a typical reduction, you are looking at roughly $493 per year in savings. That adds up — over five years, it is nearly $2,500 back in your pocket.

Key point: Even at the lower end, there is no cost to file a protest. The question is not "can I afford to protest" — it is "is the potential savings worth my time."

3

Have You Protested in the Last 2 Years?

Your protest history tells you how much room you have to work with.

If you protested and won:

Your assessed value may already be competitive with comparable homes in your area. That is a good position to be in. But values change every year — HCAD reappraises annually, and new sales data can shift the landscape. It is still worth checking whether your assessment has drifted upward since your last win.

If you protested and lost:

Look at why. Did you have weak comps? Were your comparable properties not similar enough? Were you arguing market value when an equity argument would have been stronger? New sales data becomes available every year, and the comp landscape may have shifted in your favor. A case that was hard to make last year might be straightforward this year.

If you have never protested (or haven't in several years):

You likely have the most room for reduction. Properties that go unprotested tend to drift above comparable neighbors over time. HCAD appraises over a million properties using mass appraisal models — they are not doing a detailed analysis of each one. When no one pushes back, assessments can quietly creep higher than the data supports.

In Harris County, the overall protest success rate is 88% (including iSettle offers). Homeowners who have never protested often find the most significant adjustments available to them.

4

Is Your Neighborhood Seeing Rapid Value Changes?

The pace of value change in your area affects both the likelihood and the size of a potential reduction.

If values are rising fast:

Your appraisal may have overshot. This is common in hot neighborhoods where HCAD tries to keep pace with rapid sales activity. Mass appraisal models can overcorrect, pushing values above where they should be — especially if your specific home did not benefit from the same upgrades or features driving neighborhood sales. This is often a strong protest opportunity.

If values are stable:

Fewer wild swings, but inequities still exist between individual properties. Even in flat markets, some homes are assessed higher than their neighbors for no clear reason. The equity argument — that your home is assessed above comparable properties — works regardless of whether the overall market is moving.

If values are declining:

This is where it gets tricky. In 2025, nearly one in three Harris County homes (31.8%) saw a value decrease. But many of those homeowners will still see their tax bills rise if the cap-gap hasn't fully closed. Your appraised value might be dropping, but if you have a homestead exemption, your assessed value (the number your taxes are calculated on) may still be rising due to the cap gap. If your assessed value was well below your appraised value in prior years, the 10% annual cap can keep pushing your assessed value up even while the market softens. See the cap-gap guide for a full explanation of how it works.

5

Do You Know How Your $/sqft Compares to Your Neighbors?

This is the most important question on the list. Dollar per square foot is the single best metric for determining whether your assessment is fair relative to comparable homes.

If you know your $/sqft and you are above the neighborhood average:

You have a strong case. An above-average $/sqft means HCAD is valuing your home more aggressively than similar properties nearby. This is the foundation of an equity argument — the most common and most successful type of protest in Harris County.

If you know your $/sqft and you are at or below the neighborhood average:

You are probably in a fair position this year. Protesting when your $/sqft is already competitive is unlikely to produce a meaningful reduction, and you risk drawing attention to an assessment that is already favorable.

If you do not know your $/sqft:

This is the key number. You cannot make a good decision about protesting without it. Before you decide anything, look up how your property's assessed $/sqft compares to similar homes in your area.

Key point: This is exactly what our scorer tool does. It pulls your property's data, compares your $/sqft to comparable homes, and tells you whether you are likely over-assessed — in about 30 seconds.

The Decision Matrix

Here is a quick-reference summary. Find the row that best describes your situation:

Your Situation	Verdict
Homestead + assessed above $200K + never protested	Strongly worth it
Homestead + assessed above $200K + protested recently	Check your comps — may still be worth it
Homestead + assessed under $150K	Worth filing (it's free) but expect small savings
No homestead exemption	Get your exemption first — bigger immediate impact
Large cap gap (assessed value well below market value)	Probably not worth it this year
$/sqft above neighborhood median	Strong case — file
$/sqft at or below neighborhood median	Weak case — skip this year

Most Harris County homeowners fall into the "worth checking" category. With a median home value of $282,269 and an 88% success rate on protests, the odds and the math are in your favor — but only if the specifics of your property support it.

What To Do Next

The fastest way to answer these questions for your property is to look it up. Our scorer tool pulls your HCAD data, calculates your $/sqft, compares it to your neighbors, and gives you a clear answer: protest or skip.

It takes about 30 seconds. No signup required.

Check your property now

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