Houston sales tax rate (TX)

8.25% in Houston — high. It ranks 36 of 94 covered metros, +0.3 pts against the 7.95% median. On $26,000 of taxable household spending that is $2,145 a year, $78 above it.

Local government sets 2% of the total, 24% of the bill; the state takes 6.25%. 3 layers stack: Texas state 6.25%, City of Houston 1%, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County 1%. The City of Houston increment at 1% is the largest local piece — 50% of everything local, worth $260 a year on its own.

1 of 7 covered Texas metros, level with the 8.25% state median. The in-state spread runs 8.25% in Arlington to 8.25% in Houston — 0 points wide. Houston is the cheapest covered metro in Texas; no in-state line is worth crossing.

Same bracket nationally: Bakersfield, CA (8.25%); Reno, NV (8.265%); Dallas, TX (8.25%). A household relocating between Houston and any of them sees no meaningful change in sales tax.

Scale: 2,314,157 residents, roughly 925,663 households. At $26,000 of taxable spend each, the 2% local share pulls about $481,344,760 a year from residents alone — before any visitor or business spending, which in a metro this size is where the rest comes from.

Texas caps combined local rates at 2%, and Houston uses all of it — 1% city plus 1% METRO — so no additional district can be layered on.

Rates move when a district measure passes or a local option expires. Confirm the current figure with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts before filing or quoting it to a customer.