What can you actually do with a piece of Austin?
Zoning in plain words, how many homes the lot can take, the ordinance that set it, short-term rental license rules, every tax on the bill and flood risk, for any spot the City zones. Built from the City of Austin's own records, the Land Development Code and state law.
- acres of single-family zoning where HOME allows up to 3 homes a lot
- 45,396
- acres of office and commercial land that now take apartments without a rezoning (SB 840)
- 24,866
- of those acres allowed no homes at all before
- 15,858
- zoning areas with limits written only in their ordinance (-CO)
- 4,031
Filters
What this shows that the city map does not
How many homes, on this lot. Austin's HOME rules let most single-family lots of 5,750 sq ft or more hold up to three homes, and lots as small as 1,800 sq ft hold one. Click a spot and we read the lot's size from the appraisal district's parcel map and do the arithmetic, including the McMansion floor-area caps where they apply. That covers 45,396 acres of SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3 zoning.
Apartments by right on commercial land. Since September 1, 2025, Texas SB 840 has made the City allow apartments and mostly-residential mixed use on land zoned for office, commercial or retail use, without a rezoning, at up to 54 homes an acre (the City's reading of the law), with no floor-area cap and at most one required parking space a home. That reaches 24,866 acres of Austin, 15,858 of which allowed no homes at all before. The City's own map does not show it; this one marks it on every eligible area and flags land near the airport and Camp Mabry, where the law does not apply.
The ordinance behind the zoning. 4,031 zoning areas (22,795 acres) carry a conditional overlay (-CO): extra limits such as banned uses, height caps or traffic limits, written only into the rezoning ordinance. Click a spot and we link the ordinances that cover it, newest first.
Every tax on the bill. An Austin tax bill stacks the City, the county, Central Health, Austin Community College and one of nine school districts, and limited-purpose areas pay no City tax at all. The estimate uses the units that tax that exact spot, with or without the homestead exemptions.
Short-term rentals, as the rules stand now. Since October 2025 Austin licenses a short-term rental as part of any home in any zoning district. The limits fall on the operator instead: on a site of one to three homes, only a person can operate, two rentals at most, and one person's rentals must be 1,000 ft apart.
How to use it
- Pick a ready-made view, or type what you want, for example "industrial 5 acres out of the floodplain".
- Click anywhere, or type a street address, to see the rules for that spot.
- Share a view by copying the link. It opens with the same view selected.
Limits, plainly
- This is a screening tool. It is not a survey, a zoning verification letter, a flood determination or a tax bill.
- Zoning lines are simplified for speed. Near a boundary, check the City's Property Profile.
- The home counts are the code's ceilings for the lot size. Setbacks, trees, driveways, utilities, floodplains, deed restrictions and a -CO can lower them. Multifamily counts assume the smallest homes (efficiencies); larger homes mean fewer.
- SB 840 does not apply within 1,000 ft of an existing heavy industrial use. We flag land within 1,000 ft of major-industry zoning; we cannot see every use. It also leaves water-quality rules, such as the Barton Springs Zone, and historic protections in place.
- We link -CO ordinances but do not yet read their conditions for you. PUD terms also live in their ordinances.
- Tax estimates use tax year 2025 adopted rates (the City has since set $0.579948 for 2026). Special districts, over-65 and disability exemptions and the homestead value cap are not included.
- Flood: after the Atlas 14 rainfall study, Austin regulates FEMA's 500-year floodplain as its 100-year floodplain until an area is restudied, so the map treats it as regulated land. Floodplain rules can rule out new homes on part of a lot.
- An HOA, condo association or deed restriction can ban short-term rentals on its own. This map does not check them.
Sources
Retrieved September 27, 2026 from the City of Austin's open data services, used under the City's open data terms, with the lot size read at your click from the Travis and Williamson appraisal districts' parcel maps as the City publishes them. Provided as is. MapLedger is not affiliated with or approved by the City of Austin.
- City of Austin zoning (small map scale)
- City of Austin zoning ordinances
- City of Austin jurisdictions (full and limited purpose)
- FEMA floodplain (City of Austin copy)
- City of Austin fully developed floodplain
- Residential design standards (McMansion) boundary
- Travis and Williamson appraisal parcels (lot size)
- City of Austin address points (address lookup)
- Austin Land Development Code (Municode)
- City Code Chapter 4-23, short-term rentals (Municode)
- Texas SB 840 (Local Government Code ch. 218)
- Travis County 2025 tax rates and exemptions
- City of Austin tax rate after Prop Q (Ord. 20251120-006)
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