San Antonio Neighborhoods
Boerne,
Texas Hill Country
The county seat of Kendall County, about 31 driving miles northwest of downtown San Antonio on I-10, with Boerne ISD, a walkable historic downtown, German-Texan roots that go back to the 1850s, and JBSA-Camp Bullis down the interstate toward San Antonio.
Questions about Boerne? Call me at (919) 800-9870
Boerne is the county seat of Kendall County, about 31 driving miles northwest of downtown San Antonio on I-10. It's served by Boerne ISD. You'll find historic homes near Main Street, newer subdivisions inside the city, and acreage and golf communities just outside it. Inside city limits, the average homestead taxable value for 2026 is $495,167. Camp Bullis's main gate, the closest JBSA entry point, is about 16 driving miles from City Hall.
Tiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP · Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: City of Boerne · City of Boerne 2026 tax hearing notice · Boerne ISD- Older homes near Main Street and newer subdivisions such as Herff Ranch and Champion Heights are all inside the city and in Boerne ISD, so you can pick a home's age without changing districts.
- Boerne ISD has 14 campuses and more than 11,200 students, and it covers most of Kendall County plus parts of Bexar and Comal counties. Each address is zoned to one of two high schools, Boerne High School or Champion High School.
- A Boerne mailing address doesn't tell you the city or the county. Esperanza, Cordillera Ranch and Tapatio Springs sit outside the city limits, and Napa Oaks is in Bexar County.
- Boerne's four taxing units add up to a 2026 combined tax rate of $1.8635 per $100 of taxable value inside the city. Neither the city nor Kendall County has a general homestead exemption; Boerne ISD's is $140,000.
- Full VA entitlement means the VA puts no cap on the loan amount for a Boerne home; your lender sets what you qualify for.
Comparing Boerne with neighborhoods closer to San Antonio? The decision usually comes down to Boerne ISD and the drive down I-10.
About the NeighborhoodWhat makes Boerne
different?
Boerne had a history of its own long before I-10 tied it to San Antonio. German colonists from Bettina camped on the north side of Cibolo Creek in 1849, and local tradition says they called the settlement Tusculum, after Cicero's home. In 1852 John James and Gustav Theissen platted the townsite and named it for Karl Ludwig Börne, a German author who died in 1837 without ever setting foot in America. When Kendall County was formed in 1862, Boerne won the vote for county seat by 67 votes. The town voted to incorporate in 1909.
Some of that early town is still in daily use. The Kendall County courthouse, built in 1870, still serves the county, and the city's history calls it the second-oldest courthouse in Texas. German clubs, music and festivals carried on for generations, and a few still do (they're listed under daily life below).
Growth has picked up. Boerne's population was 10,471 in the 2010 census and 17,850 in 2020. Today you can choose a brand-new house or one built generations ago and stay in Boerne ISD either way, while living roughly 31 road miles from downtown San Antonio.
One honest note: Boerne is its own town of about 18,000 people, not a corner of San Antonio. Downtown is walkable, but most other errands mean a drive, and big-city amenities are a trip down I-10. If being close to central San Antonio is the priority, look at neighborhoods inside Loop 1604 alongside Boerne.
Relocating to San Antonio and weighing the Hill Country suburbs?
The free San Antonio Relocation Guide gives you a wider view of areas around the city, so you can see where Boerne fits before you plan tours.
Get the Free Relocation GuideIs Boerne a good fit for you?
Boerne is a good fit if you want:
- Boerne ISD, where the high school depends on the address and incoming ninth graders can request the other campus
- Camp Bullis as your installation, with its main gate about 16 miles from City Hall (the full table is below)
- A walkable historic downtown with creekside trails and parks close to Main Street
- The choice of new construction or an older home, in the same school district
- Acreage, golf or resort-style communities just outside the city limits
- A Hill Country setting, and you're comfortable with about 31 miles to downtown San Antonio
What are the main communities
in and around Boerne?
Boerne isn't one neighborhood. Some communities are inside the city and pay city tax. Others share the Boerne mailing address but sit in unincorporated Kendall County, or across the line in Bexar County. Knowing which is which before you tour keeps the tax bill and the utility setup from surprising you.
Historic downtown
The original town around Main Street and Cibolo Creek. The city's free self-guided walking tour covers more than 100 historic properties here, and the streets around them mix older houses with later ones, close enough to walk to shops and restaurants. Older houses come with older systems, so the age of the roof, HVAC and water heater counts for more here than in the newer subdivisions.
Cordillera Ranch
A community about 10 driving miles east of City Hall on State Highway 46, outside the city limits. It covers about 9,100 acres, with a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course and member clubs that include equestrian, river, and rod and gun clubs. Before you write an offer, ask how club membership works for that lot and request any owner association documents.
Esperanza
A subdivision along Esperanza Boulevard on the east side of town, north of State Highway 46. Its homes sit outside the city limits; only the stretch of the boulevard nearest the highway is inside. Dr. Ferdinand L. Herff Elementary, a Boerne ISD campus, sits on Esperanza Boulevard. Because it's outside the city, check the property's Kendall Appraisal District record to see exactly which taxing units it pays.
Tapatio Springs
Homes around Tapatio Springs Hill Country Resort and its golf course, about 6 driving miles west of City Hall by way of Johns Road. It's outside the city limits and in Boerne ISD.
Herff Ranch and Champion Heights
Two in-town choices east and southeast of downtown. Homes along Herff Ranch Boulevard are inside the city, with Cibolo Creek Elementary at 300 Herff Ranch Boulevard. Champion Heights is also inside the city, near Champion High School on Charger Boulevard. Being inside the city means paying the full city tax rate shown below.
Napa Oaks
A subdivision in unincorporated Bexar County that's still in Boerne ISD. Bexar County homes are appraised by Bexar Appraisal District and pay Bexar County's taxing units instead of Kendall County's, so search the address on bcad.org rather than Kendall's site.
Fair Oaks Ranch
Fair Oaks Ranch is a separate city southeast of Boerne along I-10, with land in Bexar, Comal and Kendall counties. Most of its addresses are in Boerne ISD, but some on the Comal County side are in Comal ISD. By road, its City Hall is about 6 miles closer to downtown San Antonio than Boerne's. Its 2026 average homestead taxable value is $720,128, compared with Boerne's $495,167.
How much do homes cost
in Boerne?
Inside the city, the average homestead taxable value is $495,167 for 2026, up about 2% from $485,421 in 2025. Keep in mind what that figure is. It's the average value the city taxes on owner-occupied homes inside the city limits, after the state's cap on yearly homestead increases, so it can run below what homes sell for. It also leaves out everything outside the city, including Cordillera Ranch, Esperanza and Tapatio Springs. For actual sale prices, I've included live Boerne listings and recent sales right below this section, so you can see what homes are going for right now.
Age, lot size and which side of the city line a home sits on all move the price. If Boerne is near the top of your list, get pre-approved before you start touring, so an offer can go in as soon as the right house turns up.
How much are property taxes in Boerne?
A typical home inside Boerne's city limits is taxed by four units. Their 2026 rates total $1.8635 per $100 of taxable value, so each $100,000 of value adds roughly $1,864 to the yearly bill before exemptions.
| Taxing unit | 2026 rate per $100 | General homestead exemption |
|---|---|---|
| Boerne ISD | $1.006500 | $140,000 (plus $60,000 if 65 or older or disabled) |
| City of Boerne | $0.479000 | None; tax ceiling for 65 or older or disabled |
| Kendall County | $0.373000 | None; $10,000 if 65 or older or disabled, plus a tax ceiling |
| Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District | $0.005000 | None |
| Combined 2026 rate, all four units | $1.863500 | Exemptions apply unit by unit |
Step outside the city limits, staying in Kendall County and Boerne ISD, and the city's rate drops off the bill, leaving a combined $1.3845. Two municipal utility districts (MUDs) in the county add their own rate on top of that: Kendall County MUD #1 at $0.65 and Miralomas MUD at $1.00. A MUD is a local district that pays for water, sewer or drainage in a development through property taxes. Homes on the Bexar or Comal County side pay that county's units instead. To see the exact units for a Kendall County property, search it on Kendall Appraisal District's site (kendallad.org).
Once the home is your principal residence, apply for the homestead exemption with the appraisal district for its county. April 30 is the general filing deadline for the year you're applying. Buy after January 1 and the exemption still covers the months you own the home that year, as long as the seller didn't claim the same exemption on it. April 30 isn't the last chance. Under Section 11.431, a late application still counts if it reaches the appraisal district no more than two years after that year's tax bill turned delinquent; for a disabled veteran, Section 11.439 extends the window to five years.
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: City of Boerne, Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase (2026) · Kendall Appraisal District, 2026 Adopted Tax Rates and Exemptions · City of Boerne, Current Tax Rates · City of Fair Oaks Ranch 2026 tax notice · Texas Comptroller, Form 50-114.
(OCT 10, 2026 - NOV 09, 2026)
Which schools serve
Boerne?
Boerne is served by Boerne ISD, which the town set up in 1909, the same year it incorporated. Today the district has 14 campuses and more than 11,200 students, and it covers most of Kendall County along with pieces of Bexar and Comal counties.
The eight elementary schools serve PreK through grade 5: Cibolo Creek, Curington, Fabra, Fair Oaks Ranch, Dr. Ferdinand L. Herff, Kendall, Van Raub and Viola Wilson. Three middle schools serve grades 6 to 8: Boerne Middle School North, Boerne Middle School South and Capt. Mark Tyler Voss Middle School. Two high schools serve grades 9 to 12: Boerne High School and Samuel V. Champion High School. The district also runs Boerne Academy.
High school zones follow the middle schools. The Boerne Middle School South zone feeds Champion, the Boerne Middle School North zone feeds Boerne High School, and the Voss zone is split between the two. Students entering ninth grade, or new to the district, can choose either high school, but the district can deny a transfer once a campus reaches 90% of capacity, and bus service is offered to the zoned campus.
To find the schools for an address, use the InfoFinder lookup on Boerne ISD's attendance zones page. Homes near a boundary line have to be confirmed by the district's Administrative Services Department. For performance data, tea.texas.gov posts a separate report card for each Boerne ISD campus, so read the elementary, middle and high school tied to the address rather than a district-wide number.
For a private option, the Geneva School of Boerne is a classical Christian school for kindergarten through grade 12.
Is there new construction in Boerne?
Yes. Newly built homes added about $66.8 million in value to the city's 2026 tax roll. If new construction is your priority, start with the free new construction guide.
Before you tour Boerne: questions to answer for yourself
Boerne covers a lot of ground, so it helps to know what you want before the showings start.
- What you'll pay each month. The amount a lender approves and the payment you'd actually like to make aren't the same number. Tax bills here depend on the county and the districts on each property, so equal prices can mean unequal payments.
- Boerne ISD and the campus. Decide whether the school district is a deciding factor for you, then confirm the zone for that exact address.
- Living near the creek. Cibolo Creek flooded parts of Boerne in July 2026. If a home is near the creek or its tributaries, think about how you'd feel owning there, and look up the address on the FEMA flood map.
- What you can't live without. List what you need and what would rule a house out: one story, a garage, space for a trailer, a fenced yard, a new build or an older home.
- Rental or sale later. If you'd keep the house as a rental when new orders come, factor that into which homes you tour.
- Commute at your hours. If you already know your gate or office, drive the route from Boerne at the times you'd really make it.
Whether the house is brand-new or a century old, get an independent inspection during your option period.
Can you use a VA loan in Boerne?
Yes. Borrowers with full entitlement face no VA loan limit, though your lender applies its own approval standards. The conforming loan limit matters only if you still have a VA loan out that's using part of your entitlement. FHFA publishes Kendall County's at fhfa.gov each November or December, and a VA-approved lender can confirm your entitlement. The VA loans page and the free VA loan guide go deeper.
How far is Boerne
from JBSA installations?
Boerne sits northwest of San Antonio, which puts Camp Bullis closest and leaves Fort Sam Houston, Lackland and Randolph on the far side of the city. These are approximate driving miles from Boerne City Hall (447 N. Main St.) to each installation's nearest gate.
| JBSA-Camp Bullis | ~16 miles to the main gate via I-10 |
| JBSA-Fort Sam Houston | ~33 miles to the Harry Wurzbach East Gate via I-10 and Hildebrand Avenue |
| JBSA-Lackland | ~35 miles to the Luke East Gate via I-10, Loop 410 and Military Drive |
| JBSA-Randolph | ~39 miles to the Lindsey (Main) Gate via I-10, Loop 1604 and FM 78 |
Housing near the post gets its own page in the Camp Bullis housing guide. If your orders are for Randolph or Fort Sam Houston, the Schertz guide and the military relocation overview cover areas closer to those gates.
What is daily life like
in Boerne?
A normal week in Boerne centers on downtown and the creek. A bakery stop, a pint at a brewery or dinner on Main Street is a short drive from most of town, and from the older streets it's a walk. A paved trail follows the creek and ties several parks to the center of town, and the big grocery and discount stores are within a couple of miles of City Hall.
Weekends lean outdoors: trails, a lake for paddling, caves to tour, plus monthly markets and yearly festivals downtown. The trade-off is distance. What you can't find in town, from specialty shopping to the airport, means a drive down I-10 toward San Antonio.
Parks and outdoors
- Boerne City Park, the city's largest park, on Cibolo Creek with paved trails, sports fields and tennis courts; the paved Cibolo Trail runs 1.75 miles from the park to Main Plaza downtown
- River Road Park, with the creekside trail, fishing piers and a 250-foot boardwalk, across the street from restaurants and shops
- Boerne City Lake Park, about a mile northwest of town off Upper Cibolo Creek Road, with an 18-hole disc golf course, kayaking (no motorized boats, since the lake supplies city drinking water) and fishing with a Texas license
- The Cibolo Center for Conservation, about a mile from downtown, protecting more than 160 acres with trails along Cibolo Creek
- Cave Without a Name, 325 Kreutzberg Rd., about 11 driving miles from City Hall, and Cascade Caverns, 226 Cascade Caverns Rd., about 6 miles
Food and drink
- Cibolo Creek Brewing Co., 448 S. Main St., for house-brewed beer and a pub menu
- Dodging Duck Brewhaus, 402 River Rd., for house beer and a varied menu
- Bear Moon Bakery & Cafe, downtown, baking since 1995
- More breweries around town: the Texas Craft Brewers Guild named Boerne its first "Brew City"
Shopping and groceries
- The Hill Country Mile, downtown, with more than 80 shops and restaurants
- H-E-B, 420 W. Bandera Rd., and Walmart Supercenter, 1381 S. Main St.
- The farmers market at the Herff Farm, Saturdays from March through October
Culture and events
- Market Days on Main Plaza, the second Saturday and Sunday of most months, with more than 100 craft and food booths
- Berges Fest, held every year since 1967
- The Boerne Village Band, formed around 1860 and still playing
- Tours of the Kuhlmann-King Historical Complex on the second and fourth Saturdays, and the Old Jail Museum
Data current as of October 2026 · Sources: City of Boerne Parks and Recreation · Visit Boerne · The Cibolo Center for Conservation · Hill Country Mile · Handbook of Texas · each business's own website
What buyers ask about
Boerne.
- What school district is Boerne in?
- Boerne ISD, set up in 1909. It has 14 campuses, including two high schools, and more than 11,200 students across most of Kendall County and parts of Bexar and Comal counties. Use the district's InfoFinder to see the schools for an address, then check those campuses' report cards on tea.texas.gov. A Boerne ZIP code alone doesn't confirm the district.
- How much do homes cost in Boerne?
- Inside the city, the average homestead taxable value was $495,167 for 2026. Treat it as a tax-roll number rather than a sale price; it also leaves out communities beyond the city limits. Current Boerne listings and recent sales are higher on this page.
- How far is Boerne from Camp Bullis and Fort Sam Houston, and is it practical for those assignments?
- From Boerne City Hall, it's about 16 driving miles to Camp Bullis's main gate and about 33 miles to Fort Sam Houston's Harry Wurzbach East Gate, both by way of I-10. Boerne is a practical choice for Camp Bullis if you want Boerne ISD, a Hill Country setting and the option of a newer home or acreage. For Fort Sam Houston, Lackland or Randolph, expect 33 to 39 miles each way. Drive times vary by time of day, traffic, and gate. Check current conditions for your route before deciding.
- Is there new construction in Boerne?
- Yes. For the 2026 tax year, $66.8 million in new single-family value was added inside the city limits. Communities outside the city aren't in that figure.
- What is the property tax rate in Boerne?
- Homes within the city limits pay $1.8635 per $100 of taxable value for 2026, spread across the City of Boerne, Kendall County, Boerne ISD and the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District. Outside the city in Kendall County and Boerne ISD, it's $1.3845, plus any MUD rate. Search the property on kendallad.org to see the units that apply.
- Are Esperanza, Cordillera Ranch and Tapatio Springs inside Boerne city limits?
- No. All three use Boerne mailing addresses and are in Boerne ISD, but they sit outside the city limits, so they don't pay the City of Boerne's tax rate. Some unincorporated areas also pay a municipal utility district (MUD) rate, so check each property's appraisal record.
- How does Boerne compare to Fair Oaks Ranch?
- Fair Oaks Ranch is a separate city next door, southeast along I-10, and most of its addresses are in Boerne ISD too; part of its Comal County side is in Comal ISD. Its City Hall is about 6 road miles closer to downtown San Antonio and to Camp Bullis's main gate. Boerne has the county seat's walkable downtown and most of the shopping, while Fair Oaks Ranch is mainly large lots and acreage that grew out of a ranch. Inside the cities, the 2026 average homestead taxable value is $495,167 in Boerne and $720,128 in Fair Oaks Ranch.
What working with me looks like
for Boerne buyers.
Choosing a Boerne home while you're still somewhere else, or with a Camp Bullis report date coming, is a lot to ask of anyone.
- I look into each home before you see it. That means the seller's disclosure, any past inspection reports, and the ages of the roof, HVAC and water heater. A deal-breaker comes to light before a wasted trip into the Hill Country. If an HOA rule could knock a house off your list, say so, and I'll check before the tour.
- You can tour a Boerne home without being in Boerne. On a video call I'll go room by room with you, so you can make an offer from anywhere.
- For new construction, I'm with you the whole way. Bring me in before you first walk into a builder's office, since some builders won't recognize an agent who joins later. I go to the model homes with you, take care of negotiating with the builder, and join you for each walkthrough up to the last. You'll find the whole process on my new construction page.
- I'll point you to a lender, including some who handle VA financing every day.
- When the right house comes along, I write the offer and do the negotiating for you.
- After the contract, I stay on it. I line up inspections, keep the appraisal and closing on schedule, and join you for the final walkthrough before you sign.
Thinking about
Boerne?
Tell me what's behind the move, whether it's Boerne ISD, the drive to Camp Bullis or room to spread out, and I'll set up tours of the Boerne homes you want to see. Rather look on your own first? Browse Boerne homes for sale.
Let's Talk About Your Next MoveTiffany Reed, REALTOR® | MRP | Real Broker LLC
(919) 800-9870 | tiffany@tiffanyreedtx.com | tiffanyreedtx.com
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