Ed Neuhaus 
Round Rock’s median home price is $324,420. Cedar Park’s is $380,000. Georgetown’s is $440,220. All three sit in Williamson County, all three are north of Austin, and right now all three are buyer’s markets with more inventory than we’ve seen since 2019. But they are not the same place. Not even close.
According to MLS data I pulled this morning from our Neuhaus Realty Group listing database, Georgetown has 1,486 active listings with half of them sitting on price reductions. Round Rock has 864 active listings. Cedar Park has just 312. Those numbers alone tell you something about where the deals are, where the demand is, and which city is building faster than people can move in.
So lets break this down. I’ve been helping families relocate to the north Austin corridor for 19 years now and this question, Georgetown or Round Rock or Cedar Park, comes up constantly. The answer depends on what you actually care about. Lets walk through it.
The Price Gap Is Real (And It’s Wider Than You Think)
Here’s the thing about these three cities. People lump them together because they’re all “north of Austin” but the price difference between Round Rock and Georgetown is over $115,000 at the median. That’s not a rounding error.
Round Rock is the value play right now. Median asking price of $324,420, average days on market of 55, and sellers are closing at about 92.3% of their original list price. If you’re a buyer, that means you’re starting negotiations with roughly 8% already in your favor before you even make an offer.
Cedar Park is the premium option at $380,000 median and honestly it makes sense when you look at the geography. Cedar Park is the closest of these three to downtown Austin (about 17 miles), it’s got the tightest inventory with only 312 active listings, and the days on market is just 44. So homes are moving faster there. Supply and demand, right. Less inventory means less negotiating power, but it also means you’re buying in a market where other people clearly want to be.
Georgetown is… interesting. The median sits at $440,220 but the average price is $574,593 which tells you there’s a big spread. You’ve got affordable new construction on the east side of town and you’ve got million dollar ranch properties on the west side. Georgetown also has the most inventory of any city in the Austin metro right now at 1,486 listings. And half of them have price cuts. Half. That’s the highest reduction rate I’m seeing anywhere in the market.
So why would anyone pay more for Georgetown? Because Georgetown isn’t just about the house. But we’ll get there.
Schools: Round Rock and Leander ISD Win on Paper
I’m going to be straight with you here because the school situation is one of the biggest factors for families and it’s not a close contest on the ratings.
Round Rock ISD pulled a B rating from the Texas Education Agency for 2024-25 with an 87 out of 100. That’s strong. Cactus Ranch Elementary cracked the statewide top 10 in the 2026 US News rankings, and Canyon Vista Middle School is one of the best middle schools in Texas. Round Rock ISD is the kind of district where parents move specifically for the schools (and honestly they’re not wrong to do that).
Leander ISD, which covers Cedar Park, scored even slightly higher at 88 out of 100 for a B rating. Florence Stiles Middle School jumped to number 76 statewide. So you’re getting a very comparable school experience in Cedar Park to Round Rock, just in a slightly smaller district that’s still building out.
Georgetown ISD is the outlier here. C rating. 76 out of 100. Now before you cross Georgetown off the list, lets put some context on this. Georgetown ISD is a smaller district with about 13,400 students and it’s been absorbing explosive population growth (the city grew 67% since 2020, that’s not a typo). Building schools and hiring teachers fast enough to keep up with that kind of growth is genuinely hard. Six campuses improved their ratings year over year. The trajectory is up.
But I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If schools are your number one priority and you want the best ratings right now, Round Rock and Cedar Park are the play. Georgetown parents I talk to tend to supplement with extracurriculars and they tend to be more involved in the schools at a community level. There’s a smaller-town thing happening there that’s hard to quantify with a letter grade.
Commute: How Far Are You Willing to Drive?
Cedar Park wins this one easily. Seventeen miles to downtown Austin, roughly 25 to 30 minutes on a normal day. You’re basically at the edge of Austin proper.
Round Rock is a little further at about 20 miles, call it 25 to 35 minutes depending on which part of Round Rock and whether I-35 is cooperating (which, lets be honest, it rarely is). But Round Rock has a massive advantage that a lot of people overlook. If you work in tech, there’s a good chance you work in Round Rock or north Austin already. Dell’s headquarters is right there. Samsung’s fab is in north Austin. Apple’s campus is accessible via 45 and Parmer. A lot of Round Rock commuters aren’t going downtown at all.
Georgetown adds another 10 to 15 miles and you’re looking at 40 to 50 minutes to downtown on a good day. That’s real. I drove it last month for a showing and managed to hit every red light on University Ave plus a train. Took me almost an hour. And I’m going to be honest, if you’re commuting to downtown Austin five days a week, Georgetown is going to wear you down. The people who love Georgetown tend to be remote workers, retirees, or people whose offices are in the Round Rock/north Austin corridor.
One thing I tell my buyers though. Think about where the commute is going in five years, not where it is today. TX-130 is changing the math for Georgetown in a big way (you can bypass I-35 entirely) and the MetroRail Red Line runs from Leander through Round Rock into downtown. Georgetown’s been lobbying for an extension north. We’ll see.
What Each City Actually Feels Like
Ok so this is the part that’s hard to capture in a spreadsheet but it matters more than most people think.
Georgetown has a town square. Like, a real, actual, beautifully preserved Victorian courthouse town square with locally owned shops and restaurants wrapped around it. First Fridays on the Square are a whole thing. The Southwestern University campus gives it a small college town energy. Sun City is one of the largest active adult communities in Texas (55+) which adds a retirement community feel to parts of town. But the newer developments east and south of Georgetown are young families, first-time buyers, and California transplants who discovered you can get a brand new 4 bedroom for under $400K.
Georgetown is also the only one of these three cities where you can get 2+ acres without spending a million dollars. If acreage matters to you at all, Georgetown is basically your only option in Williamson County right now.
Round Rock feels like the established suburban anchor. It has everything. The Domain-adjacent shopping, the Dell Diamond where the Express play baseball, Old Settlers Park for the kids, a legitimate downtown with restaurants that didn’t exist five years ago. Main Street is actually becoming a destination.
Howard Marks had this line about how “the thing that everyone knows isn’t worth knowing.” Round Rock is the place everybody already knows about. And that’s both the advantage (infrastructure, amenities, jobs) and the disadvantage (it’s not going to surprise you). It’s a known quantity. For a lot of families, known quantity is exactly what they want.
Cedar Park is the youngest energy of the three. The H-E-B Center is where the Texas Stars play hockey and the Austin Spurs play basketball, so there’s a sports and entertainment vibe that Round Rock and Georgetown don’t have in the same way. The Brushy Creek trail system is genuinely excellent. Lakeline Mall area gives you access to both Cedar Park and Austin retail.
Cedar Park also benefits from being sandwiched between Austin and Leander, which means you’re getting spillover from Austin’s restaurant and nightlife scene without actually paying Austin property taxes. Smart.
Property Taxes (The Part Nobody Talks About Until It’s Too Late)
All three cities are in Williamson County so you’re starting with the same county rate of about $0.37 per $100 of assessed value. The differences come from the city and school district layers.
Georgetown’s city rate is actually the lowest at $0.353 per $100. Cedar Park is $0.36. Round Rock is $0.372. But the school district rates are where it gets more complicated and Georgetown ISD, Round Rock ISD, and Leander ISD all have different rates and different debt service levels.
Bottom line on a $400,000 home, you’re looking at somewhere between $8,000 and $10,500 per year in total property taxes depending on exact location, MUD districts, and whether you’ve filed your homestead exemption (and if you haven’t, stop reading this article and go do that right now).
The wildcard here is MUD districts. A lot of the new construction in Georgetown especially is inside Municipal Utility Districts where you’ll pay an additional tax on top of everything else. I’ve seen MUD rates add $2,000 to $4,000 per year on a new build. Always, always ask about MUD status before you make an offer. This is the kind of thing that doesn’t show up on listing photos but shows up real fast on your first tax bill.
Growth: Georgetown Is the Story
Georgetown grew 67% between 2020 and 2025. Sixty seven percent. According to the US Census Bureau, Georgetown and Kyle were the two fastest-growing cities in America among cities with populations over 50,000. The city added nearly 46,000 new residents in five years.
That kind of growth means a few things. Infrastructure is playing catch up (schools, roads, water). But it also means the city is investing like crazy in new amenities, new retail, and new commercial development. The east side of Georgetown along the I-35 corridor looks completely different than it did three years ago.
Round Rock’s growth has been more measured. It’s already at about 135,000 people and it’s a mature city at this point. The growth isn’t explosive anymore but it’s stable, which honestly can be a good thing. You’re not wondering whether the grocery store is going to get built or the traffic light is going to get installed. It’s already there.
Cedar Park is in between at roughly 83,000 people. Growing but not at Georgetown’s pace. Cedar Park’s challenge is that it’s running out of undeveloped land, which is actually bullish for home values if you already own there. Limited supply, continued demand.
Where the Deals Are Right Now
I pulled our MLS data this morning and here’s what jumped out.
Georgetown has the widest negotiation window. Sellers are closing at just 90.4% of their original list price on average. On a $440,000 home that’s nearly $42,000 in negotiating room from where the seller started. And with 50% of listings on price reductions and average days on market at 83, sellers in Georgetown are motivated.
Round Rock is tighter but still favorable for buyers. Close-to-list ratio of 92.3%, 55 days on market, 41% on price reductions. You’re not going to get the same kind of aggressive discounting you’ll find in Georgetown, but you’re still in a buyer’s market by any definition.
Cedar Park is the most competitive of the three. Just 44 days on market, 33% on price reductions, and a close-to-list ratio of 91.5%. If you want Cedar Park, be prepared to move a little faster and negotiate a little less aggressively. It’s still a buyer’s market, just a milder one.
If you’re buying in the $300K to $500K range in the Austin metro, all three of these cities should be on your list. The question is which combination of price, schools, commute, and lifestyle fits your life.
Benjamin Graham wrote that “the individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator.” That’s the right frame for this decision. You’re picking a place to live, not timing a market. Buy the city that fits your actual daily life. The investment return will follow.
So Which One Should You Pick?
After 19 years of helping families make this exact decision, here’s how I think about it.
Pick Round Rock if: You want the best combination of value, schools, and convenience. You want established infrastructure. You want to know exactly what you’re getting. You don’t need acreage or a historic downtown. You maybe work in tech and your office is already up here. Round Rock is the Toyota Camry of Austin suburbs. No one ever regrets buying a Camry.
Pick Cedar Park if: Commute time matters more than home price. You want to feel closer to Austin without paying Austin prices. You want a slightly younger, more entertainment-forward community. You’re ok paying a premium for location. You value tight inventory (which historically protects values better in a downturn).
Pick Georgetown if: You want the most house for your money on a new build. You value small-town character and a historic downtown. You work remote or your office is already north. You want acreage. You’re comfortable with schools that are improving but not yet top-rated. Or you’re 55+ and Sun City is calling your name (and honestly Sun City is incredible for what it offers).
And if you’re still not sure, go drive all three on a Saturday. Have breakfast at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown, lunch at Greenhouse Craft Food in Round Rock, and catch a hockey game in Cedar Park. You’ll know.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Explore North Austin?
If you’re looking at Georgetown, Round Rock, or Cedar Park, I’d love to help you figure out which one fits. I know these markets inside and out and I can pull data specific to the neighborhoods you’re interested in. No pitch, just real numbers and honest opinions. Lets connect and I’ll walk you through what’s out there right now.
