Lake Ray Hubbard shoreline and a DART Blue Line terminus: a rare combination in DFW.
Curious how Rowlett stacks up against nearby options? Let's talk through current inventory, new-build timelines, and off-market opportunities tailored to you.
Rowlett occupies two peninsulas reaching into Lake Ray Hubbard, which gives the city more than 30 miles of shoreline. It is one of the very few outer suburbs with real light rail: Downtown Rowlett Station has been the northern terminus of DART’s Blue Line since December 2012, a quarter mile from the historic Main Street district. Homes are meaningfully cheaper than the Collin County suburbs, with a median sale price in the $380Ks, and the trade-off is an honest one: this is a commuter city, with a mean travel time to work of about 31 minutes.
Established lakeside suburb with a transit-oriented downtown and a golf-course master plan
Summers are hot and sunny with highs in the mid-to-upper 90s°F. Winters stay mild - expect 50°F afternoons mixed with the occasional cold snap. North Texas averages 229 sunny days, roughly 41 inches of rain, and minimal snow each year.
Match your wish list - from walkable districts to gated communities - with these buyer favorites. Mali can share recent closings, HOA nuances, and off-market conversations for each pocket.
A ~725-acre Huffines master-planned golf community on the western side of Rowlett near Lake Ray Hubbard, built around the par-72 Waterview Golf Club (a city-owned course). Resort-style pool with a waterslide, tennis and neighborhood lakes. Sub-enclaves include the gated Broadmoor Estates, with custom homes on the course, and Spinnaker Cove.
An established area on Rowlett’s north and east side along Liberty Grove Road, anchored by Liberty Grove Elementary (Garland ISD, opened 2007).
The Dalrock Road corridor and peninsula along the Lake Ray Hubbard shoreline, with Paddle Point Park and lake access. It is also where the stalled Sapphire Bay project sits, south of I-30.
A Rowlett subdivision of ranch- and new-traditional-style homes; the city’s park listing shows Lakes of Springfield Park serving the area.
The historic Main Street district (marketed as the Village of Rowlett Downtown), redeveloping as a transit-oriented district around the DART Blue Line station. It hosts the Holiday Main Street Festival & Parade.
A newer master-planned community on the Lake Ray Hubbard shore in southern Rowlett, off Dalrock Road near I-30, with single-family homes and townhomes from builders including Mattamy and Beazer, wrapped in pocket parks, walking paths, a dog park and a fishing jetty. Buy it for what exists today rather than the renderings: the adjacent $1B Sapphire Bay waterfront project has stalled, and the City of Rowlett issued a notice of default on it in October 2025.
Understanding Rowlett's community composition helps buyers match lifestyle preferences with neighborhood character. The figures below reference recent American Community Survey estimates and city planning reports.
Total Population
≈71,228
Census Reporter, ACS 2024 1-year estimate. Other sources vary: the 2020 Census counted 62,535, Data USA’s 5-year-based figure is 65,463, and the Rowlett EDC cites ~75,000 including the extraterritorial jurisdiction. Roughly 65K-75K depending on vintage; the direction is clearly up.
Median Household Income
≈$99,378
US Census ACS 2024 1-year estimate (margin of error ±$20,280, which is wide). Data USA reports $112,081 and the Rowlett EDC $113,600, so treat this as a range, not a point.
Median Age
40.5 years
US Census ACS 2024 1-year estimate: an older, more established population than the Collin County boomtowns.
Homeownership Rate
≈75.2%
ACS 5-year data via Data USA (2023). Approximate.
Rowlett High SchoolHigh
Garland ISD. The comprehensive high school for Rowlett; Garland ISD students may also apply to district magnet and choice programs and to the Gilbreath-Reed Career and Technical Center.
Coyle Middle School (Coyle Technology Center for Math & Science)Middle
Garland ISD, grades 6-8, at 4500 Skyline Dr. Rowlett’s first middle school (1973); operates as a technology center for math and science with Gifted & Talented and Project Lead The Way programming.
Vernon Schrade Middle SchoolMiddle
Garland ISD, grades 6-8, at 6201 Danridge Road.
Herfurth Elementary SchoolElementary
Garland ISD, PreK-5, at 7500 Miller Rd. A National Blue Ribbon School, the first in Rowlett to receive the recognition, with Gifted & Talented programming.
Liberty Grove Elementary SchoolElementary
Garland ISD, PreK-5, at 10201 Liberty Grove Rd; opened 2007, serving the Liberty Grove side of the city.
Back Elementary SchoolElementary
Garland ISD, PreK-5, at 7300 Bluebonnet Drive; opened 1985.
Rowlett Elementary SchoolElementary
Garland ISD, PreK-5.
Moving to Rowlett means lining up the right vendor team, understanding seasonal weather shifts, and comparing neighborhoods before touring. Mali guides you through scouting trips, remote video tours, and negotiation strategy so your Rowlett plan comes together smoothly.
Get a free comparative market analysis to discover what your home is worth in today's Rowlett market.
Every North Texas suburb brings unique advantages. Whether you're weighing school ratings, commute times, or neighborhood character, Mali will map your priorities against current market inventory.
Every public campus inside Rowlett city limits, with the letter grade and score the Texas Education Agency published for it in 2025. Enrolment and grades come straight from TEA's accountability download and the federal school directory, so nothing here is a third-party score that nobody refreshes.
Rowlett is split across 2 school districts. Two houses on the same street can feed different districts, and boundaries in this corridor get redrawn most years as new campuses open. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district before you write an offer - and if the school is a reason you are buying, ask Mali to put the district's written confirmation in your file.
Dallas County · 12 campuses in town
Rockwall County · 1 campus in town
Rowlett also has campuses run by Education Center International Academy. Open-enrollment charters admit by application and lottery from a wide area, so buying a particular house never assigns a child to one.
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Rockwall ISD · Grades PreK-6
Education Center International Academy · Grades K-6
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades PreK-5
Garland ISD · Grades 6-8
Garland ISD · Grades 6-8
Garland ISD · Grades 9-12
Rowlett homes are taxed by 5 separate governments, and the combined 2025 adopted rate is 2.51% per year of appraised value. That is the number before any exemption and before the special districts below - which is why the figure on a listing page and the figure on your first tax bill are so rarely the same.
| Taxing unit | Rate per $100 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Garland ISD | 1.170900 | 47% |
| City of Rowlett | 0.807891 | 32% |
| Dallas County | 0.215500 | 9% |
| College district | 0.106575 | 4% |
| Hospital district | 0.212000 | 8% |
| Combined | 2.512866 | 100% |
Starts at the Rowlett median single-family value.
No exemption
$9,355
What an investor or second-home owner pays.
With homestead
$7,278
Effective rate 1.9549% of market value.
You keep
$2,077
Per year, once the exemption is filed and granted.
| Unit | Exemption | Taxed on | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garland ISD | $140,000 | $232,300 | $2,720 |
| City | $5,000 | $367,300 | $2,967 |
| County | $74,460 | $297,840 | $642 |
| College district | $74,460 | $297,840 | $317 |
| Hospital district | $74,460 | $297,840 | $631 |
Every school district in Texas must exempt $140,000 of a homestead's value. Cities, counties and college districts may each adopt up to 20% on top, and several here adopt nothing at all - which is why this has to be worked out one unit at a time rather than netted against the combined rate. Year one is billed at full market value; the 10% appraisal cap starts the January after your exemption is granted.
Dallas County has 4 special districts levying their own rate on top of everything above - 4 Municipal Utility Districts. Adopted 2025 rates run from 0.18 to 1.00 per $100. At the top of that range a district adds more than half again the entire Rowlett stack, and none of it is reduced by a homestead exemption.
These follow subdivision boundaries, not city limits, so two houses a mile apart in Rowlett can differ by a full point. They are most common in newer master-planned communities, because that is what the bonds paid to build.
A Public Improvement District is not a taxing unit. It is an assessment a city levies on the specific parcels that benefited from the roads, water and amenities its bonds paid for - set per parcel, absent from every rate table and every listing-site tax estimate, and not reduced by a homestead exemption because it is not a tax. It typically runs the life of the bonds, often 20 to 40 years, and can frequently be paid off in a lump sum. In a new-build community that is the difference between the budget you built and the payment you owe, and the option period is when you find out.
HOA dues are a private contract with the neighbourhood association. They are not on the tax bill, not collected by the county, not deductible, and not touched by any exemption - and a community can have an HOA and a MUD and a PID at once, which is the combination that catches people out. Ask for the dues, the transfer fee, the reserve study and any special assessment in writing, and read them alongside the tax bill rather than instead of it.
Answers to common questions about living, buying, and relocating to Rowlett, Texas.
Two districts serve Rowlett. Garland ISD covers the large majority of the city (the Dallas County portion), and Rowlett High School plus the Rowlett-address elementary and middle campuses are all Garland ISD. Rockwall ISD serves the easternmost part of the city, in Rockwall County. Dallas ISD does NOT serve Rowlett. Both districts operate Choice of School programs, so campus assignment is worth confirming per address.
Yes, and it is one of the city’s genuine advantages. Downtown Rowlett Station is the northern terminus of the DART Blue Line, which runs south to UNT Dallas. The station opened on December 3, 2012 and sits in the historic downtown district about a quarter mile south of Lakeview Parkway (SH 66) and half a mile west of the President George Bush Turnpike. Downtown Rowlett is redeveloping as a transit-oriented district around it.
The median sale price was about $382,000 for the three months ending May 2026 (Redfin), down 3.6% year over year, at roughly $172 per square foot, with homes selling in about 63 days. That makes Rowlett materially less expensive than the Collin County suburbs to the north; the trade-off is a longer commute to the northern job corridors.
The ACS puts the mean travel time to work at about 31.2 minutes, with roughly 73.7% of workers driving alone. I-30 runs along the southern edge of the city into downtown Dallas and east to Rockwall; the President George Bush Turnpike (SH 190) is the tolled north-south route to Garland, Richardson, Plano and DFW; SH 66 (Lakeview Parkway) is the main east-west arterial. The DART Blue Line is a real alternative for downtown-bound commuters.
No. Sapphire Bay is a $1B lakefront mixed-use project announced in 2019 on Lake Ray Hubbard, south of I-30 at Dalrock Road, with a Crystal Lagoons amenity, resort hotel and marina planned. Phase one was to open in late 2023 and did not, and in October 2025 the Rowlett City Council voted unanimously to issue the developer a notice of default on its development agreement. Some commercial components have been built or are under construction and the developer says it remains committed, but the lagoon, resort and beach club are not open and no opening date is credible right now. Do not pay a premium today for an amenity that is in dispute.
Rowlett sits on two peninsulas reaching into the lake, and the reservoir (completed 1971) gave the city more than 30 miles of shoreline. Lakeside parks include Paddle Point Park on the Dalrock peninsula, Scenic Point Park, Shorewood Park and Lakeside Park. The city-owned Waterview Golf Club is a par-72 course inside the Waterview community, and the city runs a year-round events series including a Summer Concert Series, the Freedom 5K and July 4th fireworks.
Mostly a commuter city, and worth saying so. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Lake Pointe, a 148-bed hospital on Scenic Drive, is the largest private employer based inside Rowlett; Garland ISD and the City of Rowlett are the other significant in-city employers. Beyond that, most working residents commute into the Dallas, Garland and Rockwall job markets, hence the ~31-minute mean commute.
Established rather than brand-new: median age is 40.5 and homeownership runs around 75%. Waterview, the ~725-acre Huffines golf community, is the largest master-planned neighborhood; Liberty Grove, Lakes of Springfield and the downtown TOD district round out the map. One thing to know when you compare build dates: an EF4 tornado struck the city on December 26, 2015, cutting a roughly 13-mile path through southeast Rowlett, which is why parts of that side of town have noticeably newer homes.
Have more questions about Rowlett? Contact Mali at yourealtordfw@gmail.com or call (972) 408-6939.