Eight communities along the I-35 corridor and into the Hill Country, compared on verified home prices, population growth, property tax rates, school ratings, and live drive times to both downtowns.
How we built this guide. Every figure below comes from a primary source: the U.S. Census Bureau, Redfin's city-level market data, county appraisal district adopted rate rosters, the Texas Education Agency, and live Google Maps routing. We do not use demographic aggregator sites, and we tell you when a number carries a caveat.
This guide is written for three groups: people relocating to Central Texas who are still narrowing the map, homeowners tracking what their market is doing, and residents who want to know how their community compares to the one down the highway.
The short answer
There is no single best town between Austin and San Antonio, because the corridor is not one market. Median home prices range from $240,846 in Lockhart to $631,822 in Wimberley — a 2.6× spread across roughly 80 miles. What separates these communities is not quality; it is the trade among price, commute direction, tax rate, and school district.
If you want the geographic midpoint, it is San Marcos. If you want the shortest drive to Austin, it is Buda at 34 minutes. If you want the shortest drive to San Antonio, it is New Braunfels at 35 minutes. If you want the lowest tax rate, it is Wimberley at roughly 1.37%. If you want the lowest entry price, it is Lockhart.
The corridor at a glance
This is the comparison most guides skip. Eight communities, five measures, one table. Every cell is sourced and every caveat is stated below the table rather than buried.
Swipe or scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Community | Median sale price | YoY | Population (2024) | Drive to Austin | Drive to San Antonio | Core tax rate | School district (TEA 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buda | $410,754 | −1.1% | 16,090 | 34 min | 1 hr 3 min | 1.87% | Hays CISD — B (80) |
| Kyle | $301,819 | −3.3% | 65,833 | 40 min | 55 min | 2.11% | Hays CISD — B (80) |
| San Marcos | $314,812 | −11.0% | 74,316 | 47 min | 49 min | 2.02% | San Marcos CISD — C (76) |
| New Braunfels | $339,797 | −1.5% | 116,477 | 1 hr | 35 min | 1.79% | New Braunfels ISD — B (81) |
| Seguin | $284,686 | +1.8% | 38,789 | 1 hr 8 min | 39 min | 1.93% | Seguin ISD — D |
| Lockhart | $240,846 | −19.6% | 17,166 | 40 min | 1 hr 5 min | 1.93% | Lockhart ISD — C (73) |
| Dripping Springs | $514,692 | −4.9% | 10,165 | 42 min | 1 hr 21 min | 1.69% | Dripping Springs ISD — B (89) |
| Wimberley | $631,822 | −26.7% | 2,889 | 58 min | 1 hr 4 min | 1.37% | Wimberley ISD — B (86) |
Sources. Home prices: Redfin city-level median sale price, all home types, three-month period ending May 2026. Population: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024 (July 1, 2024). Drive times: Google Maps live traffic, approximately 9:09–9:19 a.m. CDT, July 22, 2026, measured to the Texas State Capitol and to The Alamo. Tax rates: Hays CAD 2025 all-jurisdiction adopted roster, Caldwell CAD 2025 entity rates, Comal County, Guadalupe County. School ratings: Texas Education Agency 2025 A–F accountability.
Three things this table is not telling you.
The tax column is a core rate, not your tax bill. It combines city, county, and principal school district only. A specific property may also owe emergency services district, road district, community college, MUD, WCID, or PID levies. In newer master-planned areas those additions can be substantial.
Wimberley's price and change are volatile by nature. Redfin recorded nine sales in May 2026. In a market that small, a handful of high-end transactions moves the median sharply. Treat the direction as indicative, not precise.
Drive times are a snapshot, not a promise. These were captured on a single Wednesday morning in live traffic. Construction, incidents, your exact origin within the city, and whether you take a toll road all change the result.
What city is halfway between Austin and San Antonio?
San Marcos is the midpoint. It sits 31.3 miles from the Texas State Capitol and 48.3 miles from The Alamo, with live morning drive times of 47 minutes north and 49 minutes south. No other community on this list comes as close to splitting the difference in both directions.
That balance is the whole argument for San Marcos, and it is why it appears in nearly every list of corridor towns. It is also the community with the sharpest price correction in this guide, down 11.0% year over year.
Five things the corridor data contradicts
Most guides to this region describe a single booming market with a handful of interchangeable suburbs. Read the table across rather than down and a different picture emerges — one where the assumptions buyers arrive with are frequently backwards.
Finding 1 — The corridor is correcting, not booming
Seven of the eight communities show a year-over-year decline in median sale price. Only Seguin is positive, at +1.8%. Most guides to this region are still written in the language of a seller's market. The Redfin data for the period ending May 2026 does not support that framing.
Finding 2 — Buda is the corridor's affluent outlier, not its budget commuter town
Buda has the shortest drive to Austin at 34 minutes, which is why it gets described as the commuter pick. But it also has the corridor's highest median household income at $123,766, the highest homeownership rate at 76.6%, and one of its slowest growth rates at +6.5% since 2020. It is a small, largely built-out city with a $410,754 median price — more expensive than New Braunfels, which is more than seven times its size.
Finding 3 — The lowest tax rate belongs to the most expensive town
Wimberley has the corridor's highest median sale price and its lowest core tax rate, at roughly 1.37%. The reason is structural: the City of Wimberley levies no municipal property tax at all, so the core rate reflects only Hays County and Wimberley ISD. Kyle, at 2.11%, pays the highest core rate on some of the corridor's least expensive homes.
Finding 4 — The shortest Austin commute is not where you would guess
Kyle is frequently described as an Austin commuter town, but its residents report the corridor's longest average commute at 36.4 minutes, and the live morning drive to the Capitol measured 40 minutes. Buda, six miles closer to Austin, measured 34 minutes with a 29.0-minute reported average.
Finding 5 — Buda and Kyle cannot be separated on schools
Both are served by Hays CISD, rated B (80) by the Texas Education Agency in 2025. The district rating is identical, so the decision between these two communities comes down to price, commute, and campus attendance zone rather than district performance.
Home prices across the corridor
The price spread is the single most important fact about this region. Lockhart's median sits at $240,846; Wimberley's at $631,822. Both are within an hour of Austin. They are not competing for the same buyer.
| Community | Median sale price | Year over year | Relative to Texas ($343,779) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wimberley | $631,822 | −26.7% | +83.8% |
| Dripping Springs | $514,692 | −4.9% | +49.7% |
| Buda | $410,754 | −1.1% | +19.5% |
| New Braunfels | $339,797 | −1.5% | −1.2% |
| San Marcos | $314,812 | −11.0% | −8.4% |
| Kyle | $301,819 | −3.3% | −12.2% |
| Seguin | $284,686 | +1.8% | −17.2% |
| Lockhart | $240,846 | −19.6% | −29.9% |
Source. Redfin city-level median sale price, all home types, three-month period ending May 2026. Texas statewide median sale price of $343,779 for May 2026 used as the comparison baseline. Percentages relative to the state figure are calculated by Texas Home Talk.
Population and growth since 2020
Growth rates in this corridor vary more than almost any comparable stretch in Texas. Kyle added more than 20,000 residents in four years. Wimberley added fifty.
| Community | 2020 Census | 2024 estimate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dripping Springs | 4,650 | 10,165 | +118.6%* |
| Kyle | 45,697 | 65,833 | +44.1% |
| Seguin | 29,433 | 38,789 | +31.8% |
| New Braunfels | 90,403 | 116,477 | +28.8% |
| Lockhart | 14,379 | 17,166 | +19.4% |
| San Marcos | 67,553 | 74,316 | +10.0% |
| Buda | 15,108 | 16,090 | +6.5% |
| Wimberley | 2,839 | 2,889 | +1.8% |
* Dripping Springs requires an asterisk. The +118.6% figure is the literal change between the 2020 enumerated population and the 2024 estimate, but Dripping Springs saw significant boundary and annexation activity during this period. A meaningful share of that increase reflects the city's footprint expanding rather than households arriving. It should not be read as a like-for-like growth rate against Kyle or Seguin.
Sources. 2020 figures: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data, Table P1. 2024 figures: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024, Texas subcounty place file (July 1, 2024 estimate). Percentage change calculated by Texas Home Talk.
Property taxes across five counties
Eight communities in this guide sit across four counties — Hays, Comal, Guadalupe, and Caldwell — and the core rate spread runs from roughly 1.37% to 2.11%. On a $350,000 home, that difference is approximately $2,590 per year.
| Community | County | City | County rate | School district | Core combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wimberley* | Hays | $0.0000 | $0.3573 | $1.0099 | 1.37% |
| Dripping Springs | Hays | $0.2267 | $0.3573 | $1.1052 | 1.69% |
| New Braunfels | Comal | $0.4089 | $0.3410 | $1.0377 | 1.79% |
| Buda | Hays | $0.3576 | $0.3573 | $1.1546 | 1.87% |
| Seguin | Guadalupe | $0.5135 | $0.3304 | $1.0828 | 1.93% |
| Lockhart | Caldwell | $0.5541 | $0.4390 | $0.9396 | 1.93% |
| San Marcos | Hays | $0.6515 | $0.3573 | $1.0152 | 2.02% |
| Kyle | Hays | $0.5957 | $0.3573 | $1.1546 | 2.11% |
Read this before comparing tax bills. The combined column includes city, county, and principal school district only. It is not a total tax rate. Individual properties frequently owe additional levies from emergency services districts, road districts, community college districts, municipal utility districts, water control and improvement districts, or public improvement districts. In newer subdivisions those additions can push an actual rate well above the figures shown.
Dripping Springs has a large extraterritorial jurisdiction. Many properties with a Dripping Springs mailing address sit outside city limits and pay no municipal rate at all. Confirm jurisdiction before assuming the city rate applies.
* Wimberley's zero does not mean a low bill. The city levies no property tax, but Hays County, Wimberley ISD, and other applicable entities still do.
Sources. Hays County: Hays Central Appraisal District 2025 all-jurisdiction adopted rate roster. Caldwell County: Caldwell Central Appraisal District entity tax rate information. Comal and Guadalupe County rates from previously verified county rosters. City of Wimberley confirms it does not levy a municipal property tax. Note: a proposed Hays CISD rate of $1.2746 appeared in pre-election material; the November 2025 tax ratification proposition failed and the adopted rate is $1.1546.
Schools by district
Five of the eight communities are served by districts rated B by the Texas Education Agency in 2025. Two are rated C. One is rated D.
| Community | Primary district | TEA 2025 rating |
|---|---|---|
| Dripping Springs | Dripping Springs ISD | B (89) |
| Wimberley | Wimberley ISD | B (86) |
| New Braunfels | New Braunfels ISD | B (81) |
| Buda | Hays CISD | B (80) |
| Kyle | Hays CISD | B (80) |
| San Marcos | San Marcos CISD | C (76) |
| Lockhart | Lockhart ISD | C (73) |
| Seguin | Seguin ISD | D |
District ratings are not campus ratings. A district rating is an average across every school in the system. Individual campuses within any of these districts perform above and below the district figure, sometimes substantially. Parts of New Braunfels are served by Comal ISD, rated B (87) rather than New Braunfels ISD. If schools are a deciding factor, verify the specific attendance zone for the address you are considering, not the district as a whole.
Source. Texas Education Agency, 2025 A–F accountability ratings, published via the Texas School Report Cards at txschools.gov.
Income, homeownership, and commute
| Community | Median household income | Homeownership | Mean commute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buda | $123,766 | 76.6% | 29.0 min |
| Dripping Springs | $109,364 | 48.8% | 27.4 min |
| Kyle | $90,323 | 67.1% | 36.4 min |
| New Braunfels | $86,021 | 65.3% | 27.1 min |
| Wimberley | $80,362* | 67.0% | 26.0 min |
| Lockhart | $68,400* | 67.0% | 28.6 min |
| Seguin | $64,861 | 65.2% | 24.7 min |
| San Marcos | $51,281 | 30.8% | 24.0 min |
San Marcos looks like an outlier because it is a university town. Texas State University enrolls roughly 40,000 students, and Census methodology counts students living off campus in apartments and rental houses as their own households. Those households have student-level incomes and, almost by definition, do not own their homes. That is what produces San Marcos's 30.8% homeownership rate — less than half the rate of every other community in this guide — and its $51,281 median household income, the lowest here by a wide margin.
Neither figure describes what a working household in San Marcos earns or whether families there buy homes. It describes the arithmetic of averaging a large student renter population into a mid-sized city. If you are evaluating San Marcos as a place to buy, the median sale price of $314,812 and the 47-minute drive to Austin are the meaningful numbers; the income and homeownership figures are not comparable to Buda's or New Braunfels's without that adjustment.
* Small-place estimates carry wide margins of error. Wimberley's median household income estimate is $80,362 with a margin of error of roughly $31,678 — about 39% of the estimate itself. Lockhart's margin of error is approximately 16.7%. Treat both as directional rather than precise.
Sources. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 five-year estimates. Median household income from table B19013. Homeownership calculated from table B25003 as owner-occupied units divided by occupied housing units. Mean commute calculated from tables B08013 and B08012.
The eight communities
Grouped by what they actually offer rather than ranked, because the right answer depends on which direction you commute and what you are willing to trade.
Best for the Austin commute
Buda
Thirty-four minutes to the Capitol and the corridor's highest household income and homeownership rate. Buda is small, largely built out, and growing slowly — which is precisely why it holds its price. Onion Creek runs through town and the historic downtown along Main Street anchors a walkable core that most corridor suburbs do not have.
- Median price$410,754
- Population16,090
- To Austin34 min
- Core tax rate1.87%
- SchoolsHays CISD — B
Kyle
The corridor's fastest-growing city, up 44.1% since 2020, with the volume of new construction to match. Kyle offers the most homes under $300,000 of any Austin-side community here. The trade is the corridor's longest average commute at 36.4 minutes and its highest core tax rate at 2.11%.
- Median price$301,819
- Population65,833
- To Austin40 min
- Core tax rate2.11%
- SchoolsHays CISD — B
Best true midpoint
San Marcos
The only community that genuinely splits the difference — 47 minutes north, 49 minutes south. Home to Texas State University, the spring-fed San Marcos River, and two large outlet centers. It has also corrected hardest of any mid-corridor market, down 11.0% year over year, which makes it the most interesting entry point for a buyer with patience. Note that the city's low reported income and 30.8% homeownership rate reflect its large student renter population, not the earnings or buying patterns of non-student households.
- Median price$314,812
- Population74,316
- To Austin / SA47 / 49 min
- Core tax rate2.02%
- SchoolsSan Marcos CISD — C
New Braunfels
The corridor's largest city at 116,477 residents and its most complete one — the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers, Landa Park, Gruene Historic District and Gruene Hall, Schlitterbahn, and an employment base anchored by Rush Enterprises and Continental. Thirty-five minutes to San Antonio, an hour to Austin. It functions as a destination rather than a bedroom community.
- Median price$339,797
- Population116,477
- To San Antonio35 min
- Core tax rate1.79%
- SchoolsNew Braunfels ISD — B
Best Hill Country lifestyle
Dripping Springs
The corridor's highest-rated district at B (89) and its second-highest home prices. Forty-two minutes to Austin on US-290, but an hour and twenty-one minutes to San Antonio — this is an Austin-oriented community, not a corridor midpoint. Known for distilleries, breweries, and a dense concentration of wedding and event venues.
- Median price$514,692
- Population10,165
- To Austin42 min
- Core tax rate1.69%
- SchoolsDripping Springs ISD — B (89)
Wimberley
A village of fewer than 3,000 residents in the Blanco River valley, and the corridor's most expensive market by median price. The city levies no municipal property tax, giving it the lowest core rate here at roughly 1.37%. Jacob's Well, Blue Hole, and the Wimberley Square define the appeal. Inventory is thin and prices move sharply on few sales.
- Median price$631,822
- Population2,889
- To Austin58 min
- Core tax rate1.37%
- SchoolsWimberley ISD — B (86)
Best value
Seguin
The one community in this guide with a positive year-over-year price change, at +1.8%. Thirty-nine minutes to San Antonio via I-10 and a genuine industrial employment base — Caterpillar, Schaeffler, CMC Steel, Tyson, Alamo Group, and Texas Lutheran University. Seguin is not a bedroom community; people work here. The constraint is Seguin ISD, rated D in 2025.
- Median price$284,686
- Population38,789
- To San Antonio39 min
- Core tax rate1.93%
- SchoolsSeguin ISD — D
Lockhart
The corridor's most affordable market at $240,846, and forty minutes to Austin via TX-130 — a toll road, which is the catch. The Caldwell County seat is best known as the Barbecue Capital of Texas, with Kreuz Market, Smitty's, and Black's drawing visitors from across the country. Lockhart sits east of I-35 rather than on it, which is why it is often left off corridor lists.
- Median price$240,846
- Population17,166
- To Austin40 min (toll)
- Core tax rate1.93%
- SchoolsLockhart ISD — C (73)
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Is Austin or San Antonio better to live in?
This question sits underneath most searches for corridor towns, and the honest answer is that the two metros differ more in cost than in character. San Antonio's median sale price runs meaningfully below Austin's, and the corridor communities inherit that gradient — the San Antonio–oriented towns in this guide, Seguin and New Braunfels, carry lower median prices than the Austin–oriented ones, Buda and Dripping Springs.
The practical version of the question is directional. If your work anchors you to Austin, Buda, Kyle, and Dripping Springs put you within 45 minutes. If San Antonio anchors you, New Braunfels and Seguin put you within 40. San Marcos is the only community here that keeps both options genuinely open, and Lockhart offers the lowest prices at the cost of a toll road.
Frequently asked questions
What city is halfway between Austin and San Antonio?
San Marcos. It sits 31.3 miles from the Texas State Capitol and 48.3 miles from The Alamo, with live morning drive times of 47 minutes to Austin and 49 minutes to San Antonio. New Braunfels is the next closest to a midpoint but leans toward San Antonio at 35 minutes south versus roughly an hour north.
Which town between Austin and San Antonio has the lowest property taxes?
Wimberley, at a core combined rate of roughly 1.37%, because the City of Wimberley does not levy a municipal property tax. Dripping Springs follows at 1.69% and New Braunfels at 1.79%. Kyle has the highest core rate at 2.11%. These figures cover city, county, and school district only; individual properties may owe additional special district levies.
What is the most affordable place to live between Austin and San Antonio?
Lockhart, with a median sale price of $240,846 for the three months ending May 2026 — about 30% below the Texas statewide median. Seguin is next at $284,686, followed by Kyle at $301,819. Lockhart's trade-off is that the fastest route to Austin uses the TX-130 toll road.
Which corridor community has the best schools?
By 2025 TEA district rating, Dripping Springs ISD scores highest at B (89), followed by Wimberley ISD at B (86) and New Braunfels ISD at B (81). Buda and Kyle share Hays CISD at B (80). District ratings average every campus in the system, so verify the specific attendance zone for any address you are considering.
Are home prices between Austin and San Antonio going up or down?
Down, in seven of the eight communities in this guide. For the three-month period ending May 2026, only Seguin showed a year-over-year increase, at +1.8%. San Marcos fell 11.0% and Lockhart 19.6%. Wimberley's reported 26.7% decline reflects a very small number of sales and should be read as directional rather than precise.
Is Buda or Kyle better for commuting to Austin?
Buda is closer — 15.9 miles and 34 minutes to the Capitol in live morning traffic, versus 22.3 miles and 40 minutes from Kyle. Buda residents also report a shorter average commute, 29.0 minutes against Kyle's 36.4 minutes. Kyle compensates with substantially lower home prices, a median of $301,819 against Buda's $410,754. Both are served by Hays CISD, so schools do not separate them.
Why is the homeownership rate in San Marcos so low?
Because Texas State University enrolls roughly 40,000 students, and Census methodology counts students living off campus as their own households. Those households rent rather than own, which pulls the citywide homeownership rate to 30.8% — less than half the rate of every other community in this guide — and the median household income to $51,281. Neither figure reflects what non-student households in San Marcos earn or whether families there buy homes.
Local professionals serving the corridor
Texas Home Talk features a limited number of vetted local partners in each community. These slots are open.
The free Central Texas relocation guide compares eight communities between Austin and San Antonio on the figures that actually decide a purchase: verified median sale prices, the 2025 property tax stack across four counties, Texas Education Agency school district ratings, and live drive times to both downtowns. It covers Buda, Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Seguin, Lockhart, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley.
Anyone moving to Central Texas quickly discovers that the I-35 corridor is not one housing market. Median prices in this guide range from roughly $240,000 in Lockhart to over $630,000 in Wimberley — a 2.6-times spread across about eighty miles. Seven of the eight communities recorded year-over-year price declines for the period ending May 2026, which is the opposite of how most relocation content describes this region.
The guide gives particular weight to school districts, because in seven of the eight communities the district assignment is not what a buyer would guess from the town name. Seguin addresses span three separate districts with 2025 ratings of D, B, and B, and all four of its active new-construction corridors fall in the B-rated district rather than the city district. San Marcos splits between two districts. Buda and Kyle share one district but split across two high schools by neighborhood.
For buyers weighing Austin vs San Antonio suburbs, the guide includes drive times measured in live morning traffic to the Texas State Capitol and The Alamo, along with a per-city neighborhood guide, the property tax stack broken out by taxing entity, and a plain treatment of the flood history on the Blanco and Guadalupe rivers.
Explore the corridor
Community hubs for each city in the guide: Buda · Kyle · San Marcos · New Braunfels · Seguin · Lockhart · Dripping Springs · Wimberley
Comparing two markets head to head? Our guide to the best places to live between Austin and San Antonio applies the same primary-source method in article form, and the Seguin versus New Braunfels comparison goes deep on a single decision. Ready for the full guide? Download the Central Texas Relocation Guide — free, delivered by email.
Primary sources
Population figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program. Income, homeownership, and commute data come from the American Community Survey. School accountability ratings come from the Texas Education Agency. Property tax rates come from the Hays Central Appraisal District and Caldwell Central Appraisal District 2025 adopted rate rosters, along with Comal and Guadalupe county rosters.
Published by the Texas Home Talk Editorial Team. Data verified July 2026. Market conditions, drive times, and adopted tax rates change; verify current figures for any specific property before making a decision.