What should I know about moving from Austin to Boerne?
Boerne is in Kendall County, not Travis County: a different appraisal district (Kendall Appraisal District), a different school district (Boerne ISD), and a different water picture. It sits about 31 miles northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10, a 30 to 45 minute drive downtown depending on traffic.
Everything administrative changes
An Austin-to-Boerne move is not a move across town. It is a move into a different county, which means a different set of institutions handles everything you have gotten used to.
Appraisal district. Boerne property is appraised by Kendall Appraisal District, not Travis CAD. That is where the homestead exemption is filed, where the appraisal notice comes from, and where a protest is heard. A homestead exemption does not follow you from a Travis County property. It is filed fresh, on the new address, with the new district.
School district. Boerne is served by Boerne ISD, and part of the county is served by Comfort ISD. Neither is an Austin-area district and neither shares Austin-area boundaries, calendars or bond history.
City. Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County. It is not in the City of San Antonio and not in Bexar County — San Antonio ordinances do not apply here, which matters if you are researching anything on a San Antonio city page and assuming it carries over. The City of Boerne is at 201 East San Antonio Avenue, Boerne, TX 78006, 830-249-9343. ZIP codes are 78006 and 78015.
The tax bill is built differently, and you have to read the entity list
A Kendall County property tax bill stacks every taxing entity whose boundary touches the parcel. The entities that appear on Kendall County bills include Boerne ISD, Comfort ISD, the City of Boerne, Kendall County, Kendall County MUD, Miralomas MUD, the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, and Kendall County WCID #1 (Kendall AD).
For a home inside the Boerne city limits, in Boerne ISD, the 2025 stack was, per $100 of taxable value:
| Entity | 2025 rate |
|---|---|
| Boerne ISD | 1.0109 (M&O 0.6969 + debt 0.3140, up from 0.9909 in 2024) |
| City of Boerne | 0.4716 (unchanged from 2024) |
| Kendall County | 0.377 (M&O 0.317976 + debt 0.059024) |
| Combined | 1.8595 |
Sources: Boerne ISD rates, City of Boerne rates, Kendall County rates.
That combined figure is before any special district on the parcel and before exemptions. Part of the county is in Comfort ISD, whose 2025 rate was 0.9328 (Kendall County). Kendall County's 2026 adopted rate is 0.373, continuing a downward drift from 0.3827 in 2024 and 0.412700 in 2021 — which does not mean a falling bill, because values are reappraised annually.
Rates change each fall. Pull the current set from Kendall County Tax Rate Information before you build a payment estimate on them, and pull the entity list for your specific parcel from Kendall AD.
The line worth checking on any specific address is the MUD or WCID line. A newer subdivision can carry a district rate that an older in-town property does not, and it will not show up in a generic "Boerne tax rate" number.
Schools
Boerne ISD earned an "A" rating from the Texas Education Agency for six consecutive years, including the 2024 and 2025 rating years, and scored 92 points in the 2024-2025 ratings with 20 distinction designations (Boerne Star; TEA).
Not every campus rated A. The Boerne Star reported that Viola Wilson, Currington, Herff and Kendall elementaries received lower grades. A parent moving from an Austin-area district should look at the specific campus that serves the specific address rather than the district-level letter, because attendance zones in a growing district move.
The orientation flips toward San Antonio
Boerne runs on Interstate 10 and faces San Antonio, roughly 31 miles southeast, a 30 to 45 minute drive to downtown San Antonio depending on traffic (city-data).
That is the practical reorientation of the move. Medical centers, the airport, professional services and most big-ticket shopping are a San Antonio trip, not an Austin trip. Anyone who needs to be in Austin regularly should drive the route at the hour they would actually drive it, on a weekday, before committing — that is a real number you should measure yourself rather than take from any page.
Water is the structural difference, and it deserves an hour of your time
This is the part Austin transplants underestimate.
Boerne's drinking water comes from three sources: Canyon Lake surface water purchased through the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, Boerne City Lake, and local wells in the Trinity Group aquifers (City of Boerne). That is a genuinely different supply structure from a large municipal system, and it is diversified precisely because no single source is abundant.
Groundwater in Kendall County is regulated by the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, which sets drought stages using data from roughly 42 monitor wells, stream gauges on Cibolo Creek and the Guadalupe River, and more than 100 rain gauge sites. Cow Creek is also a taxing entity on Kendall County bills.
Drought stages move. Do not take a stage from any article, including this one — check ccgcd.org for the current stage and the restrictions attached to it before you plan a lawn, a pool or livestock.
Two address-specific questions follow from this and both belong in the option period:
- Is this property on city water or on a well? Outside the city limits, many are on wells, and a well is a private water system you own and maintain.
- Is it on sewer or on septic? Outside the city, septic is common. Septic condition, capacity and permitting are inspection items, and a failing system is expensive.
The county is growing fast
Kendall County grew 20.3% between 2020 and 2025, from an estimated 44,568 to 53,289, driven mostly by domestic migration (Community Impact).
Growth is why the water conversation is live, why school attendance zones move, and why annual reappraisal shows up as a real number on year-two tax bills.
What this page deliberately does not tell you
It does not compare median home prices between Austin and Boerne. Those figures vary widely by source, by ZIP code and by month, and a stale one is worse than none. Ask for current MLS numbers for the specific neighborhoods you are considering, dated, from an agent who can pull them.
Who answers which question
- Kendall Appraisal District — homestead exemption, appraised value, protest, which districts a parcel sits in.
- City of Boerne Planning Department — zoning, permits, ETJ status, short-term rental rules.
- Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District — well permitting and current drought stage.
- A licensed inspector and a septic specialist — well and septic condition on a specific property.
- A CPA — what the move does to your tax picture overall.
Related questions
- Is Boerne, Texas a good place to live?
- Are Boerne ISD schools good?
- Does Boerne have enough water?
- How far is Boerne from San Antonio?
- What are property taxes like in Boerne?
Questions about a specific property?
Call or text 830-446-3847 · Email heath.shepard@kw.com
This page describes how Boerne and Kendall County are organized. It is not legal or tax advice. Confirm exemptions and valuations with Kendall Appraisal District, zoning and permits with the City of Boerne Planning Department, and groundwater rules with the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District.