Westlake is the address that comes up first when a buyer relocating to Austin asks where large Hill Country lots and a short downtown drive meet. We are Ross Speed and Lindsay Neuren, the founders of The Speed & Neuren Group at Compass, and Westlake is the market we know street by street.

This guide is written the way we talk to our own clients: the public-record prices, the school district that serves the area, the enclaves and what separates them, the property-tax tradeoff that surprises newcomers, and the honest caveats that most listing sites leave out. If you are buying or selling in Westlake in 2026, this is the full picture.

West Lake Hills, commonly just called Westlake, is a small city in the Hill Country immediately west of downtown Austin, inside the 78746 ZIP code, and the name is often stretched to cover Rollingwood and the surrounding unincorporated hills. The area is served by Eanes Independent School District. In TCAD’s 2026 certification totals, Rollingwood and West Lake Hills have the two highest average homestead market values of any city on the Travis County roll.

Why Buyers Choose Westlake

Westlake does not lead the market by accident. A rare combination of location, terrain, land supply, and tax structure creates demand that very few areas in Texas can match.

Which School District Serves Westlake?

West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, and the surrounding unincorporated Westlake area are served by Eanes ISD, and so are portions of the City of Austin in the 78746 ZIP code. The district lists eight campuses: Barton Creek, Bridge Point, Cedar Creek, Eanes, and Forest Trail elementary schools, Hill Country and West Ridge middle schools, and Westlake High School. Campus assignment follows the address, so verify any home with the district’s boundary tool before you buy. Eanes ISD’s 2025 tax rate of 0.8322 per $100 is also part of the tax picture covered below.

No State Income Tax

Texas has no state income tax. For a household relocating from California, where 2025 brackets run to 12.3 percent plus 1 percent on taxable income over $1 million, or from New York, that alone can mean tens of thousands of dollars a year staying in the household budget. High earners can redirect that money toward a larger mortgage, which is part of why the upper end of the Westlake market stays competitive.

Ten Minutes to Downtown, Worlds Away in Feel

West Lake Hills is 4.3 miles and about 10 minutes free-flow from Congress Avenue at 6th Street (OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data, computed September 28, 2026), and the Census puts mean travel time to work for West Lake Hills residents at 16.6 minutes (American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024). Yet it feels like the Hill Country: wooded lots, long ridge views, winding roads, and Lake Austin and Barton Creek nearby. That blend of proximity and privacy is a core driver of demand.

Limited Supply

Westlake is essentially built out. There is very little new construction, lots are large (the median single-family lot in West Lake Hills is 1.00 acre in TCAD parcel records, and the city’s master plan calls for one-acre minimum lots in its residential area), and turnover is modest, so well-priced homes in strong locations move quickly. Scarcity is a structural feature of this market, not a temporary condition.

Westlake Home Prices in 2026

The appraisal roll gives the clearest area-level view of Westlake values; for a specific street, we price from closed MLS sales. TCAD’s 2026 certification totals, with values as of January 1, 2026, put the median single-family homestead market value at $1,989,530 in the City of West Lake Hills (average $2,487,860), $2,394,584 in Rollingwood (average $2,850,683), and $1,445,338 across Eanes ISD (average $1,916,612). These are appraised values, not sale prices. For market direction, Unlock MLS reported a September 2026 median sale price of $497,400 for Travis County, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier.

Those medians hide enormous variation. Two homes a quarter mile apart can differ widely in price based on Lake Austin frontage, Hill Country views, lot size, and condition. This is where Ross’s training as an appraiser matters: pricing a Westlake home off a generic per-square-foot average is how sellers leave money on the table and how buyers overpay. We price off the right comparables, not the easy ones.

The Enclaves of Westlake

Westlake is not one neighborhood. It is a collection of enclaves, each with its own price band, character, and buyer. Knowing the differences is half of buying well here.

Davenport Ranch

Larger homes near Lake Austin, including some of the area’s water-access properties, minutes from downtown.

Rob Roy

An enclave in unincorporated Travis County, served by the Westlake Fire Department (Travis County ESD No. 9).

Seven Oaks

A smaller pocket of established homes close to downtown, for buyers who want Westlake without a long drive.

Lost Creek

Set around a golf course in unincorporated Travis County and served by the Westlake Fire Department (Travis County ESD No. 9).

Westlake Highlands and Cuernavaca

Established neighborhoods with good value, mature trees, and a range of original and updated homes. Strong options for buyers prioritizing location over square footage.

Rollingwood (Adjacent Sister City)

Technically its own small city between Westlake and Zilker, Rollingwood sits about 4.2 miles and 9 minutes free-flow from downtown, next to Zilker Park and Barton Springs, with a 2025 combined tax rate of about 1.6039 per $100. We cover it in its own dedicated guide.

Westlake vs Lakeway: A Side-by-Side

The most common comparison relocating buyers ask us to make is Westlake against Lakeway. They are not the same.

Factor	Westlake (West Lake Hills)	Lakeway / Lake Travis
Location	4.3 mi, about 10 min free-flow west of downtown	21.1 mi, about 32 min free-flow west, on Lake Travis
School district	Eanes ISD	Lake Travis ISD (most of the city)
Median homestead value (TCAD 2026)	$1,989,530	$759,604
2025 combined tax rate	About 1.6379 per $100	About 1.7936 per $100 (1.8467 in Lakeway MUD)
Inventory	Built out, limited supply; median year built 1992	More new construction; median year built 2004
Lifestyle	Hill Country close to the city	Lake life, golf, resort amenities
Best for	Short drive, larger lots	Lake, newer homes, space

Drive figures: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data from a point in each city (Lakeway: City Hall) to Congress Avenue at 6th Street, computed September 28, 2026; peak-hour trips take longer. Values: TCAD 2026 certification totals (appraised, not sale prices). Rates: Travis County Tax Office 2025 adopted rates, before exemptions. Year built: Census American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024.

Property Taxes and the Texas Tradeoff

The flip side of no state income tax is higher property taxes, and Westlake buyers should plan for it. A typical West Lake Hills address carries six taxing units: Travis County (0.375845 per $100), Travis Central Health (0.118023), the City of West Lake Hills (0.176783), Eanes ISD (0.8322), Travis County ESD No. 9 (0.0758), and Travis County WCID No. 10 (0.0592). Together that is about 1.6379 per $100 of taxable value before exemptions, using the Travis County Tax Office’s 2025 adopted rates. Rollingwood addresses run about 1.6039, and Eanes ISD addresses inside the City of Austin about 1.9535, because they add the City of Austin and Austin Community College.

At 1.6379 per $100, every $1,000,000 of taxable value is about $16,379 a year before exemptions, so it belongs in your budget from day one. Two things soften it: the homestead exemptions on a primary residence, including the $140,000 school district exemption, and the right to protest your appraised value every year. We help clients with both, and Ross’s training as an appraiser is useful when a protest comes down to defensible comparable values.

What No One Tells You About Westlake

We would rather you hear the caveats from us than discover them after closing.

Traffic on Loop 360 and Bee Caves

The same Hill Country geography that makes Westlake beautiful funnels traffic onto a few roads. Loop 360, the Pennybacker bridge area, and Bee Caves Road can back up at rush hour. The downtown commute is short, but it is not always fast.

Hilly Lots and Older Systems

Many Westlake homes sit on steep, wooded lots, which is part of the charm and also a maintenance and renovation consideration. Some properties are on septic rather than sewer, and a few on well water, especially on larger lots, so the water and wastewater setup is always worth verifying.

Flood and Wildfire Awareness

Lots along Barton Creek, Eanes Creek, and other drainages can fall in FEMA flood zones, and wildfire exposure is set property by property. The City of Austin reports that more than half of Austin falls in one of three wildland-urban interface (WUI) code zones, and its 2024 WUI code took effect July 10, 2025 (City of Austin). Check the FEMA map, the wildfire code zone where it applies, and the insurance picture on any specific property.

Lifestyle in Westlake

Living in Westlake means Lake Austin afternoons, Barton Creek greenbelt trails, and an off-peak drive of about 10 minutes to the restaurants and music of downtown. The area is residential by design, with shopping and dining concentrated along Bee Caves Road and a short hop to the Westlake and downtown scenes.

Frequently Asked Questions About Living in Westlake