Harris County, TX: distress report
86,764 of the 1,525,557 properties in Harris County, TX have unpaid property tax: 5.7%, the 15th highest of 87 counties we track. Its LeadCounty Distress Index is 75 out of 100, rank 10. Source: Harris Central Appraisal District and other county offices. Refreshed weekly.
Harris County compared with the rest
| Measure | Harris County | Count | Texas | All counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tax delinquent | 5.7% | 86,764 | 2.6% | 3.0% |
| Foreclosure | 0.3% | 4,583 | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Code cases | 1.9% | 28,980 | 1.1% | 1.9% |
| Inherited (12 mo) | n/a | n/a | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| Absentee | 26.8% | 408,758 | 25.0% | 25.3% |
| Owned 15+ yrs | 34.2% | 522,241 | 27.4% | 23.6% |
| Distress Index (0-100) | 75 | rank 10 | 49 | – |
Download these numbers as a free CSV Counts and shares only, no owner information. Free to use with a link to this page.
Summary in plain English
- 5.7% of properties are tax delinquent, against 3.0% across all counties we cover (15th of 87).
- 26.8% are owned by an absentee owner and 34.2% are owned 15 years or more.
- 4,583 properties (0.3%) are in foreclosure.
Top ZIP codes for tax-delinquent properties
| ZIP | City | Tax delinquent |
|---|---|---|
| 77093 | Houston | 2,583 |
| 77016 | Houston | 2,110 |
| 77028 | Houston | 2,073 |
| 77088 | Houston | 2,003 |
| 77026 | Houston | 1,792 |
Other Texas counties
How the Distress Index is built
For each county we take four distress measures from its official records: the share of properties that are tax delinquent, in foreclosure, have an open code case, or received an inheritance deed in the last 12 months. Each measure is turned into a percentile among the counties that publish it (0 is the lowest share, 100 the highest). The index is the average of the percentiles a county has.
- A county is scored only if the tax-delinquent measure and at least one more are available. A record a county's offices do not publish is left out, never counted as zero.
- Shares use all properties in the county file as the base. Absentee owners, long-held properties and sales are shown for context and are not part of the index.
- Sales are shown only where a county publishes sale dates and prices. Counties that do not (for example Texas) show n/a.
- A state's index is the average of its scored counties, weighted by number of properties.
- The index compares the counties LeadCounty covers. It is not a national ranking and not investment advice.
Edition 1. Counts come from official county records and are refreshed weekly. Full method: methodology, editorial standards, data sources.
Questions
How many properties in Harris County have unpaid property tax?
86,764 of the 1,525,557 properties in Harris County, TX, which is 5.7%. Across all counties we cover the share is 3.0%.
Where do the Harris County numbers come from?
From Harris Central Appraisal District, Harris County / HCAD, City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods / Planning and the other offices listed on our data sources page. LeadCounty joins the records parcel by parcel and refreshes them weekly.
What is the Harris County Distress Index?
75 out of 100, rank 10 of 71 scored counties. It averages how high Harris County sits among counties on the measures its offices publish.
How we make these guides
Written by the LeadCounty editorial and data team from official county, court and state sources and our own weekly counts. We name the office behind every number, say what we cannot see, and fix mistakes when you tell us. See our editorial standards and methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Refreshed weekly.
Find the owners behind these records.
Official county records, scored with reasons, refreshed weekly. 7-day free trial.
- 7 days free
- Explore: no card
- Full access: cancel before day 7, pay nothing
- Max 10 investors per county
