That increase is double the one from 2020 to 2021.
Nearly one-third of the overall debt held is in interest on borrowed debt. The total represents roughly $14,000 in debt per resident of Texas, as of the latest Census.
School districts account for the largest share of the total debt, eclipsing $150 billion, followed by municipalities with just shy of $130 billion.
These totals will include the $10 billion in school district bonds approved in the May local elections but do not account for the $19 billion in local bonds approved by voters last month.
In 2020, many local bond propositions were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that effective double-up of bonds in 2021, the total debt increased even more this year without a similar emergency. One contributor to the larger fiscal note is the effect inflation has on construction project and workforce costs, driving these entities to seek larger debts for the same propositions.
But in both the elections this year, voters considered 576 different propositions totaling $56.7 billion — three-quarters of which passed.
Local debt generally takes one of two forms: general obligation (GO) and revenue. GO debt is paid for through property taxes, while revenue debt is financed through revenues obtained from the project for which the debt was issued. A common example of the latter is debt incurred to build or maintain water and sewage infrastructure, users of which are then charged on the back end.
Of the $417 billion total, $148 billion is revenue bond spending and almost all of the rest is GO. Local property tax levies in 2021 brought in almost $80 billion; in 2020, it was about $70 billion.
Houston tops the list of localities with outstanding debt, amassing $19.4 billion. San Antonio is just behind at $18.4 billion, and Austin has $11 billion. But rounding out the top six are three transportation authorities: the North Texas Tollway Authority at $16.6 billion, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport at $11.8 billion, and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit at $7.5 billion.
View the top 100 political subdivisions with the most outstanding debt in the state below.
Entity Principal Interest Total Debt
Houston $13,554,123,777 $5,919,943,096 $19,474,066,873
San Antonio $11,762,085,000 $6,733,154,877 $18,495,239,877
North Texas Tollway Authority $9,357,118,906 $7,327,561,979 $16,684,680,885
Dallas-Fort Worth Int Airport $7,585,495,000 $4,227,010,269 $11,812,505,269
Austin $7,245,445,000 $3,718,585,738 $10,964,030,738
Dallas Area Rapid Transit $4,504,210,000 $3,080,019,806 $7,584,229,806
Dallas $4,619,785,416 $2,054,865,003 $6,674,650,419
North Texas MWD $4,138,630,000 $1,574,588,543 $5,713,218,543
Harris County $3,628,772,125 $1,795,998,381 $5,424,770,506
Lower Colorado RA $3,135,435,000 $1,866,034,554 $5,001,469,554
Dallas ISD $3,467,730,000 $1,304,545,845 $4,772,275,845
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD $3,081,345,000 $1,261,037,114 $4,342,382,114
El Paso $2,728,555,000 $1,255,235,456 $3,983,790,456
Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority $2,519,077,887 $1,424,811,443 $3,943,889,330
Northside ISDa $2,327,690,000 $1,493,821,609 $3,821,511,609
Frisco ISD $2,260,840,228 $1,211,448,658 $3,472,288,885
Bexar County $2,359,655,000 $1,040,757,820 $3,400,412,820
Katy ISD $2,140,211,367 $1,222,980,329 $3,363,191,696
Houston ISD $2,384,285,000 $955,980,505 $3,340,265,505
Fort Worth $2,332,805,000 $808,522,305 $3,141,327,305
Lamar CISD $1,705,940,000 $1,243,959,679 $2,949,899,679
Arlington $1,980,079,000 $929,246,621 $2,909,325,621
North Harris County Regional WA $1,788,755,000 $829,401,123 $2,618,156,123
Fort Bend ISD $1,536,300,000 $943,705,476 $2,480,005,476
San Antonio ISD $1,488,519,988 $895,617,817 $2,384,137,804
Tarrant Regional WD $1,732,805,000 $648,424,268 $2,381,229,268
Conroe ISD $1,616,515,000 $710,795,116 $2,327,310,116
Prosper ISD $1,365,089,138 $953,910,743 $2,318,999,881
Leander ISD $1,034,845,521 $1,280,717,219 $2,315,562,738
Trinity RA $1,629,570,000 $549,463,425 $2,179,033,425
Harris County-Houston Sports Authority $723,231,586 $1,350,648,831 $2,073,880,417
Northwest ISD $1,353,929,040 $662,114,277 $2,016,043,317
North East ISD $1,378,910,000 $629,286,938 $2,008,196,938
Corpus Christi $1,406,846,000 $597,243,136 $2,004,089,136
Austin ISD $1,480,018,266 $497,297,574 $1,977,315,840
Denton ISD $1,269,565,283 $707,604,336 $1,977,169,619
West Harris County Regional WA $1,278,990,000 $692,795,265 $1,971,785,265
North Fort Bend WA $1,179,170,000 $669,767,131 $1,848,937,131
Denton $1,293,945,000 $508,126,027 $1,802,071,027
Garland $1,252,555,000 $537,682,297 $1,790,237,297
Forney ISD $953,062,068 $836,385,411 $1,789,447,480
Arlington ISD $1,185,949,956 $565,010,265 $1,750,960,221
Eagle Mt-Saginaw ISD $1,086,202,504 $662,045,239 $1,748,247,743
Humble ISD $1,145,070,000 $553,438,887 $1,698,508,887
Ysleta ISD $899,047,771 $795,376,044 $1,694,423,815
Klein ISD $1,140,540,000 $552,928,177 $1,693,468,177
Lubbock $1,256,587,000 $427,823,902 $1,684,410,902
Fort Worth ISD $1,179,925,000 $443,821,139 $1,623,746,139
Comal ISD $1,049,362,848 $519,289,349 $1,568,652,197
Lewisville ISD $1,204,815,000 $319,851,229 $1,524,666,229
Aldine ISD $970,855,000 $549,314,095 $1,520,169,095
El Paso ISD $920,385,228 $563,946,278 $1,484,331,505
Williamson County $1,153,120,000 $298,944,833 $1,452,064,833
Alvin ISD $968,580,000 $480,378,965 $1,448,958,965
Clear Creek ISD $982,760,000 $415,222,780 $1,397,982,780
Irving $999,380,000 $376,106,741 $1,375,486,741
Bexar County Hospital District (University Health System) $874,490,000 $484,844,125 $1,359,334,125
Harris County FCD $932,655,000 $423,409,298 $1,356,064,298
Port of Houston Authority $791,614,397 $492,396,016 $1,284,010,413
Travis County $978,465,000 $301,574,839 $1,280,039,839
Mansfield ISD $822,159,839 $416,417,199 $1,238,577,038
Socorro ISD $777,574,552 $456,785,184 $1,234,359,736
Keller ISD $836,595,184 $390,158,166 $1,226,753,349
Richardson ISD $816,810,000 $390,097,667 $1,206,907,667
Rockwall ISD $692,843,439 $502,457,283 $1,195,300,722
Frisco $933,835,000 $256,220,727 $1,190,055,727
Metropolitan Transit Auth of Harris Co $904,555,000 $266,656,912 $1,171,211,912
Spring Branch ISD $795,815,000 $340,748,166 $1,136,563,166
New Braunfels $694,309,529 $401,794,309 $1,096,103,838
Mesquite ISD $704,827,801 $390,095,970 $1,094,923,771
Corpus Christi ISD $689,645,929 $367,872,789 $1,057,518,718
Round Rock ISD $794,720,000 $251,125,509 $1,045,845,509
Pearland $816,535,000 $221,940,633 $1,038,475,633
Laredo $765,409,000 $270,429,311 $1,035,838,311
Lone Star College System $714,855,000 $317,158,933 $1,032,013,933
Goose Creek CISD $673,617,572 $346,456,121 $1,020,073,694
Allen ISD $677,381,321 $339,932,420 $1,017,313,740
Tomball ISD $685,985,000 $312,996,354 $998,981,354
New Caney ISD $561,995,000 $418,532,445 $980,527,445
Georgetown $664,986,000 $314,495,352 $979,481,352
Pasadena ISD $675,140,000 $298,838,982 $973,978,982
Dallas County Hospital District $559,905,000 $404,493,059 $964,398,059
Plano $689,108,000 $247,710,382 $936,818,382
San Jacinto CCD $592,372,427 $335,241,635 $927,614,062
Fort Bend County $667,046,270 $242,402,474 $909,448,744
Port of Beaumont ND $597,885,000 $305,306,736 $903,191,736
Tarrant County College District $610,315,000 $285,733,112 $896,048,112
Crowley ISD $523,094,867 $343,988,569 $867,083,436
Alamo CCD $600,415,000 $264,665,094 $865,080,094
Judson ISD $554,519,086 $310,147,546 $864,666,632
Celina $529,468,000 $331,934,499 $861,402,499
Liberty Hill ISD $482,487,702 $357,377,511 $839,865,213
Spring ISD $600,980,000 $235,891,563 $836,871,563
Austin CCD $584,772,977 $241,549,061 $826,322,038
Georgetown ISD $551,680,000 $267,277,070 $818,957,070
Manor ISD $514,159,999 $292,369,756 $806,529,755
Temple $587,805,000 $206,253,902 $794,058,902
Bryan $573,795,000 $219,547,833 $793,342,833
San Jacinto RA $547,865,000 $244,533,528 $792,398,528
Waco $599,340,000 $177,089,364 $776,429,364
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.