Cost of Living & Housing in Kerrville
Kerrville runs modestly below the national cost-of-living average with housing that continues to appreciate at an above-national pace even after the catastrophic July 2025 flood -- but the single most important cost fact for this market is not on any cost-of-living index at all: standard homeowners insurance here is comparatively cheap precisely because it excludes flood coverage, which only about 2.5% of Kerr County homeowners carried at the time of that disaster.
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Learn moreA below-national cost of living, with real appreciation continuing
BestPlaces cites a cost-of-living index of 92.3 (100 = national average) for Kerrville -- about 7.7% below the national average, though about 2% above the Texas state average (base record). Housing continues to appreciate at a real, above-national pace: Redfin's June 2026 snapshot puts the median sale price at $373,797, up 11.6% year over year, following an even sharper 17.0% year-over-year increase reported in a November 2025 reading -- notable because this appreciation continued well after, not despite, the July 2025 flood.
Property taxes: a county-only rate plus a higher city-specific effective rate
Kerr County's adopted no-new-revenue rate for 2025-2026 is $0.4024 per $100 of valuation -- the county-only portion of a bill. Separately, Ownwell's effective-rate methodology (based on actual sales) puts Kerrville itself at about 1.02%, among the highest within the county, against a county-wide median of about 0.92% (base record). Confirm the full combined rate, including city, school district, and any special districts, directly with the Kerr Central Appraisal District for a specific property.
Standard homeowners insurance is cheap here -- and that number is genuinely misleading on its own
Average standard homeowners insurance runs about $1,763/year, below the disclosed Texas statewide average of $2,400-$4,800/year (base record). That figure covers only fire, wind, and liability -- it excludes flood, as standard policies do nationwide. Before the July 2025 flood, only about 2.5% of Kerr County homeowners carried separate flood insurance; federal NFIP flood coverage in Texas averages about $779/year on top of a standard policy. Treat the low headline homeowners-insurance number as incomplete, not as evidence that insurance costs here are genuinely low for a property near the Guadalupe River or its tributaries -- budget for flood coverage as a real, separate, essential line item, not an optional add-on.
The July 2025 flood is directly relevant to what "cost of living" means here
In the early morning of July 4, 2025, the Guadalupe River rose roughly 26 feet in about 45 minutes. Governor Abbott confirmed 135 deaths statewide, 116 in Kerr County, and 135 Kerr County homes destroyed or heavily damaged (base record) -- among the most serious natural-disaster costs a market in this dataset carries. Recovery funding has been substantial but incomplete: the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country raised roughly $150 million, with about $82 million distributed toward rebuilding by mid-2026, and many riverfront households remain not fully whole more than a year later. A second, much smaller flash flood on July 16, 2026 killed one additional Kerrville-area resident, though Kerr County's newly installed flood-warning sirens performed as intended that time, with no missing-persons reports afterward.
Key takeaways
- Cost of living runs about 7.7% below the national average (BestPlaces index 92.3), and housing continues appreciating at an above-national pace ($373,797 median sale price, up 11.6% year over year as of June 2026) even after the 2025 flood.
- Only a county-only property tax rate ($0.4024/$100 for 2025-2026) plus a separately cited city-specific effective rate (~1.02%) were confirmed -- get a combined-rate confirmation for any specific property.
- Standard homeowners insurance is cheap ($1,763/year average) precisely because it excludes flood coverage -- and only about 2.5% of Kerr County homeowners carried flood insurance at the time of the catastrophic July 2025 flood. Treat separate flood insurance as essential, not optional, near the Guadalupe River or its tributaries.
- The July 4-5, 2025 flood killed 135 people statewide (116 in Kerr County) and destroyed or heavily damaged 135 Kerr County homes -- the single most important real cost this market carries, with recovery still incomplete for many households more than a year later.
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