Austin-Area Property Tax Agents Compared: 2025 Performance Data

Analyzing 2025 property tax protest data across four Austin-area counties, comparing net savings and success rates between residential tax firms by property value.

Overview: Greater Austin Property Tax Agent Performance Study

With property taxes and home valuations remaining uniquely high across the Austin area, the choice of representation matters more than ever. To understand the real impact of hiring a professional, we analyzed data from the 2025 tax season, comparing results between Central Texas legacy tax firms and the modern approach of Ownwell.

As highlighted in our recent Austin-area market analysis, traditional firms’ high minimum flat charges and contingency percentages leave homeowners with smaller net savings on their tax bills. To see who truly delivers for everyday residents, this study focuses exclusively on residential properties valued at $1M or less.

The data breaks down performance by county and property value, revealing significant variances in success rates and net savings.

Data Source & Scope

The performance data presented below is derived directly from 2025 county appraisal district records for Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop counties.

To ensure accurate net savings calculations and to make this study applicable to the average homeowner, the comparison set is limited to residential properties under $1 million.

Key Insights by County

Travis County

Data as of November, 2025. Assumes Ownwell fee of 25% and a typical agent fee of $50 minimum or 40% contingency.

Williamson County

Data as of August, 2025. Assumes Ownwell fee of 25% and a typical agent fee of $45 minimum or 40% contingency.

Hays County

Data as of August, 2025. Assumes Ownwell fee of 25% and a typical agent fee of $50 minimum or 40% contingency.

Bastrop County

Data as of December, 2025. Assumes Ownwell fee of 25% and a typical 35% contingency agent fee, and $0 minimum fee.

Conclusion: The Bottom Line for Austin Area Homeowners

The 2025 data across Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop counties reveal a clear trend for the Greater Austin area.

For residential properties valued under $1 million, Ownwell consistently outperforms legacy property tax firms, achieving higher success rates and delivering larger net refunds to homeowners.

A major driver in this performance gap is the difference in pricing models. Many traditional tax agents’ fee structures include steep minimum flat charges and high contingency percentages.

Because of these heavy costs, even a successful tax reduction with a legacy firm often leaves the homeowner with a smaller net return.

Methodology

Comparison and Scope:

"Ownwell": Represents all residential property protests under $1M filed by Ownwell in the 2025 tax year.

"The Market" (Traditional Firms): The reported market performance reflects the average results, accounting for typical tax agent fees in each county.

Key Metrics:

Average Net Savings (When Successful): The actual money a residential property owner kept in their pocket per successful protest.

Success Rate: The percentage of filed protests that resulted in a reduction. A higher success rate indicates a greater likelihood that the homeowner will receive savings.

Exclusions: To ensure statistical validity, we excluded market value bands with fewer than 10 properties from the detailed analysis.

Fees:

Percentage-based fees: Applied to traditional firms' contingency rate. We calculated these fees using the combined pricing structure for firms’ published and/or known pricing structures:

• Bastrop: $0 minimum fee | 35% contingency fee
• Hays: $50 minimum fee | 40% contingency fee
• Travis: $50 minimum fee | 40% contingency fee
• Williamson: $45 minimum fee | 40% contingency fee

Why fees matter: Traditional percentage-based contingency and/or minimum fees mean that higher tax savings can result in lower net savings for the homeowner. This study measures what actually ends up in your pocket — the only metric that matters.