People who retire to the Texas Hill Country tend to settle on a short list of towns west of Austin and northwest of San Antonio. The towns share the same limestone hills, live oaks and long, dry summers. What separates them is what lies within a half-hour drive: a hospital, an airport, a lake or access to a larger city.

Is the Texas Hill Country a Good Place to Retire?

For many people it is, as long as the town is chosen with the later years in mind. Winters are mild, land is still sold in parcels large enough to feel private, and the larger towns have hospitals of their own. The drawback is distance. Much of the Hill Country lies an hour or more from a major airport, and a town that works for a 65-year-old who drives everywhere may work less well at 80.

What Texas Property Taxes Mean for Retirees

Texas has no personal income tax. For homeowners, property tax is one of the main recurring costs to consider. Voters lowered it for older homeowners in November 2025. The school district homestead exemption rose to $140,000 for every homeowner, and the additional exemption for owners 65 or older rose to $60,000, so a qualifying owner now exempts $200,000 of a home's value from school taxes. From the year an owner qualifies at 65, school taxes on the homestead are also capped at that year's amount, though a major addition to the house can raise the cap.

Both exemptions apply only to a homestead, the owner's primary residence. A house bought as a second home and used part of the year is taxed without them until it becomes the main home, and the application goes to the appraisal district of the county where the house sits.

Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, the seat of Gillespie County, was founded by German settlers in 1846 and keeps the long, wide Main Street they laid out. Its shops and the wineries along US 290 draw visitors most weekends of the year. Methodist Hospital Hill Country, long known as Hill Country Memorial, is in town.

Kerrville

Kerrville sits on the Guadalupe River where Interstate 10 crosses the western Hill Country. Peterson Regional Medical Center has 124 beds and a 24-hour emergency department, and the town's VA medical center is a real consideration for veterans. The river runs through the middle of town, lined with parks, and is better for paddling and fishing than for keeping a boat.

Boerne

Boerne is the closest of these towns to a major city, about 25 miles northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10, with around 22,000 residents. San Antonio's hospitals and airport are within easy reach, which is why retirees who want Hill Country land and regular access to specialists often look here first.

Horseshoe Bay, TX and Lake LBJ

Horseshoe Bay is the town on this list built around water. It lies on Lake LBJ, 45 miles from Austin, and LCRA typically maintains the lake near full, so in most dry summers a boat can stay in its slip. Horseshoe Bay Resort's golf courses and private jet center are in town. The nearest hospital is Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Marble Falls, which opened in 2015 at US 281 and Highway 71 and has an emergency department.

The Trails of Horseshoe Bay sells land here, inside a gate: homesites from about two-thirds of an acre to just over five, around a 300-acre wildlife preserve with riding trails and an equestrian center. Owners keep their boats at the community's private marina on Lake LBJ. Building on your own homesite means the house can be planned for the later years from the start, with the main rooms on one floor and doorways wide enough for a wheelchair. Our guide to building a custom home on Lake LBJ explains the steps.

Homesites for sale at The Trails

How the Four Towns Compare

Which Hill Country Town Fits Your Retirement?

The choice usually turns on how often you will need a large city and how much the water matters. A retiree who sees specialists regularly or flies often will be best served by Boerne. Kerrville and Fredericksburg suit someone who wants a hospital in town and a life centered on Main Street or the river. For a retiree who wants a lake kept near full, room to build and a boat kept on the water, Horseshoe Bay is the strongest of the four.

If the town is settled and the open question is what kind of community to live in, our comparison of 55+ communities and gated land communities in the Hill Country covers it. If water comes first, see the best places to retire in Texas near water, and for the lake itself, how Lake LBJ compares with Lake Travis.

To walk the homesites at The Trails and see the marina, call the Land Office at 512-470-5517.

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