How Houston's 8.25% rate is built
At the Texas statutory cap: 6.25% state + 1.00% City of Houston + 1.00% METRO transit. Harris County itself levies no sales tax. Groceries are exempt in Texas.
What you pay in Houston — worked examples
| Purchase | Tax at 8.25% | Total |
|---|---|---|
| $25 | $2.06 | $27.06 |
| $100 | $8.25 | $108.25 |
| $500 | $41.25 | $541.25 |
| $1,000 | $82.50 | $1082.50 |
| $10,000 | $825.00 | $10825.00 |
Houston vs the Texas average
The average combined rate across Texas is about 8.2%, so Houston at 8.25% is above the state norm by roughly 0.05 percentage points. On a $30,000 car (where vehicle tax rules allow the general rate), that gap alone is about $15 — one reason big purchases are planned around exact addresses, not state averages.
Houston vs other Texas cities
Combined rates for the Texas cities we track, highest first. The spread inside one state is set entirely by local layers — the state base rate of 6.25% is the same in every row.
| City | Combined rate | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Houston (this page) | 8.25% | $82.50 |
| San Antonio | 8.25% | $82.50 |
| Dallas | 8.25% | $82.50 |
| Austin | 8.25% | $82.50 |
| Fort Worth | 8.25% | $82.50 |
| Texas statewide average | 8.2% | $82.00 |
What this means in Houston
The rate bites hardest on large, planned purchases. At 8.25%, a $10,000 purchase carries $825.00 of tax — $5.00 more than the same purchase at the Texas average rate of 8.2%, and $164.00 more than at the all-state average of 6.61%. On everyday spending the difference is cents; on vehicles, appliances and furniture it decides where people choose to buy.
Day-to-day, the grocery exemption keeps the weekly food shop outside this rate in Texas — the 8.25% applies to general merchandise, electronics and prepared food. Budget the rate into non-food spending, not the food bill.
Calculate with your exact rate
District boundaries inside Houston can shift the rate street by street. For an exact figure — or to extract tax from a tax-inclusive total — use the full calculator with your precise local rate: