Choose Westlake for a shorter commute, Lake Austin, and scarce low-density land; choose Lakeway for newer homes and Lake Travis at well under half the price. The median homestead appraises at $1,989,530 in West Lake Hills and $759,604 in Lakeway (TCAD, 2026). Average trips to work run 16.6 versus 28.8 minutes (Census ACS 2020-2024).

Westlake or Lakeway is one of the most common questions we field from buyers relocating to Austin. We are Ross Speed and Lindsay Neuren, the founders of The Speed & Neuren Group at Compass (Lindsay is a third-generation Austinite), and we work in both areas. This guide lays out the comparison the way we walk our own clients through it, using public data you can check: price, taxes, commute, housing stock, the two lakes, and how to decide.

Westlake vs Lakeway: how do they compare side by side?

Westlake costs more, commutes shorter, and is older and more built out; Lakeway costs less, commutes longer, and is newer with Lake Travis access. The table below puts the measurable differences in one place.

Factor	Westlake (City of West Lake Hills)	Lakeway (City of Lakeway)
Median homestead market value (TCAD 2026)	$1,989,530	$759,604
Average homestead market value (TCAD 2026)	$2,487,860	$897,086
Combined 2026 tax rate per $100	$1.6543	$1.8157 (plus $0.0531 in the Lakeway MUD)
Tax per $1M taxable value, before exemptions	$16,543	$18,157 to $18,688
Average travel time to work (ACS 2020-2024)	16.6 minutes	28.8 minutes
Median year built (ACS 2020-2024)	1992	2004
Housing units (ACS 2020-2024)	About 1,353	About 8,561
School district	Eanes ISD	Lake Travis ISD (most of the city)
Fire and EMS district	Travis County ESD No. 9 (Westlake Fire Department)	Travis County ESD No. 6 (Lake Travis Fire Rescue)
Lake	Lake Austin, a pass-through lake operated within a small range	Lake Travis, a reservoir designed to fluctuate

Sources: Travis Central Appraisal District, 2026 certification totals (July 18, 2026); Travis County Tax Office, 2026 adopted tax rates; City of Lakeway Ordinance No. 2026-09-21-04; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Lower Colorado River Authority; Westlake Fire Department; Lake Travis Fire Rescue.

Which is more expensive, Westlake or Lakeway?

Westlake is more expensive: at the median, a West Lake Hills homestead appraises at about 2.6 times a Lakeway homestead, $1,989,530 against $759,604, according to Travis Central Appraisal District’s 2026 certification totals. Rollingwood, the other small city in the Westlake area, is higher still at a $2,394,584 median.

These are appraised market values of owner-occupied single-family homes as of January 1, 2026, not sale prices. For a live search, we pull closed sales for West Lake Hills and Lakeway from the MLS directly. For context, the Travis County median sale price in September 2026 was $497,400, up 2.6 percent from a year earlier.

The mechanism behind the gap is supply and location. West Lake Hills is built out and zoned for low density, and it sits closer to central Austin. Lakeway has more land, more recent construction, and more housing units, so homes there are newer on average (median year built 2004 vs 1992) and appraise lower.

Which has lower property taxes, Westlake or Lakeway?

Westlake has the lower tax rate, but most Lakeway owners pay a smaller bill because Lakeway values are much lower. Using 2026 adopted rates, a West Lake Hills address totals about $1.65 per $100 of taxable value and a Lakeway address about $1.82.

Taxing unit (2026 rate per $100)	West Lake Hills address	Lakeway address
School district	Eanes ISD $0.8254	Lake Travis ISD $1.0329
City	West Lake Hills $0.174896	Lakeway $0.170076
Travis County	$0.386210	$0.386210
Travis Central Health	$0.132863	$0.132863
Emergency services district	ESD No. 9 $0.0779	ESD No. 6 $0.093639
Water control district	WCID No. 10 $0.057	None
Lakeway MUD (parts of Lakeway only)	None	$0.0531
Combined	$1.654269	$1.815688 to $1.868788

Source: Travis County Tax Office, 2026 adopted tax rates; City of Lakeway Ordinance No. 2026-09-21-04. Rates are before homestead and other exemptions. Travis County WCID No. 10 appears on nearly all West Lake Hills single-family parcels (Travis Central Appraisal District). Neither West Lake Hills nor Lake Travis ISD is inside the Austin Community College taxing district (Austin Community College).

The school district levy drives the difference: Lake Travis ISD’s 2026 rate is about 21 cents higher per $100 than Eanes ISD’s, partly offset by the WCID No. 10 levy in West Lake Hills. On equal taxable value, the combined rates work out to about $1,610 more per $1 million per year in Lakeway, or about $2,150 inside the Lakeway MUD. Applied to the median homestead values, though, the Westlake bill is still the larger one. Always check the Travis Central Appraisal District record for the exact taxing units on a specific address.

How far is each from downtown Austin, and how long is the commute?

Westlake is the shorter commute: West Lake Hills residents average 16.6 minutes to work and Rollingwood residents 16.7 minutes, compared with 28.8 minutes in Lakeway, according to Census ACS 2020-2024 estimates. That is about 12 minutes more each way for the average Lakeway commuter, or roughly two hours a week on a five-day, round-trip schedule.

The Census figure is the average trip to wherever residents work, not a downtown drive time. Westlake trips into central Austin usually run on Bee Caves Road, Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway), or MoPac (Loop 1). Lakeway trips usually run on RM 620 and SH 71. For a remote worker the gap matters little; for a daily downtown commute it is often the deciding factor. Drive both at the hour you would actually make the trip.

Which school district serves Westlake and which serves Lakeway?

Eanes ISD serves Westlake, and Lake Travis ISD serves most of Lakeway. Eanes ISD lists eight K-12 campuses: Barton Creek, Bridge Point, Cedar Creek, Eanes, and Forest Trail elementary schools, Hill Country and West Ridge middle schools, and Westlake High School. Lake Travis ISD assigns Lakeway addresses to campuses by attendance zone.

Attendance boundaries follow streets, not neighborhood names, and they can change. Before you write an offer, enter the exact address in the district’s boundary tool and confirm the assigned campuses.

How different are the homes in Westlake and Lakeway?

Lakeway homes are newer on average: the Census ACS 2020-2024 median year built is 2004 in Lakeway, 1992 in West Lake Hills, and 1984 in Rollingwood. Westlake is an established market where new construction mostly means rebuilding on an existing lot.

City rules explain part of that. The City of West Lake Hills calculates new subdivision density at 0.67 lots per acre of total subdivision area (subdivision checklist, section 36.01.008) and caps impervious cover at 25 percent on single-family lots of half an acre or more. Much of Westlake is steep, wooded limestone terrain, which raises the cost of additions, driveways, and drainage. Lakeway has more recent subdivisions, golf course frontage in parts of the city, and Lake Travis waterfront, and it has about six times as many housing units as West Lake Hills.

What is the difference between Lake Austin and Lake Travis?

Lake Austin is a pass-through lake held within a small operating range, while Lake Travis is a reservoir designed to rise and fall, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority. That difference shapes what waterfront means in each area.

LCRA describes Lake Austin as one of four pass-through lakes with no extra capacity to hold floodwater, generally operated within a small range, though it can fluctuate during floods; LCRA also states that none of the Highland Lakes are constant-level. Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan are the water supply reservoirs: they capture water in wet periods and release it for use in dry ones. For a Lakeway waterfront buyer, the shoreline, dock depth, and view can change with the reservoir level. For a Westlake buyer on Lake Austin, the shoreline changes far less.

Which is right for you, Westlake or Lakeway?

Choose based on the trade you want to make: Westlake trades house for location and land, and Lakeway trades commute time for newer homes, lower appraised values and Lake Travis access.

Where do Westlake and Lakeway rank among the best luxury neighborhoods in Austin, TX?

Both appear on any list of Austin luxury areas, at different price levels. By average homestead market value on the 2026 Travis County appraisal roll, Rollingwood and West Lake Hills rank first and second among cities, followed by the Village of Volente, Bee Cave, Sunset Valley, and Lakeway (TCAD 2026 certification totals). Inside the City of Austin, central luxury neighborhoods such as Tarrytown sit in the 78703 ZIP code.

We would not pick a winner for you. Visit both at the time of day you would drive, look at real comparables in your budget side by side, and price the annual tax bill on each specific home. That is the comparison we build for every client deciding between these two areas, and Ross’s appraisal training helps on the hard cases, such as view lots and waterfront, where two nearby homes can be priced very differently.

Frequently Asked Questions