Retiring in Highland Village, Texas

Retiring in Highland Village: overview

Highland Village is in Denton County, Texas, within the Dallas & Northern Suburbs region.

Highland Village is a Denton County city of about 16,000 residents beside Lewisville Lake, part of the suburban belt described in Dallas & Northern Suburbs. City Hall is at 1000 Highland Village Road. The city's new-resident page lists the city's homeowners associations, among them Castlewood, Chapel Springs, Highland Forest, Highland Oaks, Highland Shores and Rolling Hills Estates, which reflects a city of established single-family neighborhoods and not a single master plan.

Highland Village has an older population than most of its neighbors. The 2019-2023 American Community Survey puts the median age at 43.1 and the share of residents 65 and older at 15.3 percent. It has no age-restricted community covered on this site, so the retirement case is about the city itself: a city exemption for homeowners 65 and older, a modest tax rate, lake access, nearby hospitals and a transit program for older residents. The costs are plain, too. Median owner-occupied value is $493,400 and the housing is mostly established, so most purchases are resale homes.

Cost of living in Highland Village

The American Community Survey 2019-2023 five-year profile estimates Highland Village's population at 16,004, with 2,444 residents aged 65 and over and 3,129 aged 60 and over. The median household income is estimated at $164,459, the median value of an owner-occupied home at $493,400, median monthly owner costs at $3,056 with a mortgage and $1,170 without one, and median gross rent at $2,434. The survey counts 5,545 housing units, 4,975 of them owner-occupied homes, or 92.5 percent of occupied units. These are survey estimates with margins of error.

About 1,419 households receive Social Security income, 26.4 percent of households, and about 1,509 receive retirement income. Texas levies no state personal income tax on retirement income (see Texas retirement taxes), so property tax, homeowners insurance and association dues are the main recurring housing costs. The city's tax page lists a total sales tax rate of 8.25 percent, made up of 6.25 percent for the state, 1.00 percent for the city, 0.50 percent for the Highland Village Community Development Fund and 0.50 percent for the Denton County Transportation Authority.

Property taxes in Highland Village

The city's tax page shows an area combined tax rate for fiscal year 2025-2026 of $1.804722 per $100 of taxable value, made up of Lewisville ISD at $1.1178, the City of Highland Village at $0.500984 and Denton County at $0.185938. The city's own rate was $0.500984 per $100, with $0.422397 for the general fund (maintenance and operations) and $0.078587 for debt service, for a total taxable value of $3,518,269,812. The Texas Comptroller's 2025 files list the same city, county and school rates. Rates change every budget year, so the current-year rate will differ from the figures above. Denton Central Appraisal District values the property.

Exemptions reduce taxable value; they are not cash payments. The Texas Comptroller states that Tax Code Section 11.13(b) requires school districts to provide a $140,000 residence homestead exemption and that Section 11.13(c) requires an additional $60,000 exemption for homeowners age 65 or older or disabled. The city's tax page says residents who are disabled or over 65 may apply for an exemption of $75,000 on the city portion of the valuation through Denton Central Appraisal District. An exemption of that size on a taxable city value reduces the city's share by the amount of tax on $75,000, which at the 2025-26 rate of $0.500984 per $100 is $375.74 by our arithmetic; the larger amounts are on the school tax side.

The ceiling matters more than the amounts. The Comptroller explains that an over-65 or disabled homeowner's residence homestead qualifies for a ceiling on school district taxes, set at the amount paid in the year the exemption was first qualified, and that a county, city or junior college district may adopt its own ceiling. It is not a freeze on all property taxes at age 65, and the ceiling can increase if the home is improved. The city's tax page describes the $75,000 exemption but not a city ceiling, so ask Denton Central Appraisal District which units have adopted one. The guides to property taxes and appraisal districts and the age-65 exemption and school-tax ceiling explain the mechanics.

Insurance and risk in Highland Village

Hail is the hazard most closely tied to homeowners insurance in North Texas. The National Weather Service Fort Worth office's review of the April 24-29, 2026 storms reports many instances of large hail up to softball size across North and Northeast Texas on April 27, a regional event and not a Highland Village measurement. The Texas Department of Insurance advises asking whether the wind and hail deductible differs from other deductibles and explains that some policies pay replacement cost on a roof and others actual cash value. Because much of Highland Village's housing dates from the 1980s and 1990s, roof age deserves attention. No premium is quoted here because premiums vary by insurer, roof and address; see the guide to hail, wildfire, drought, heat and power outages.

Flooding in Highland Village mostly comes from Lake Lewisville and several small tributaries, according to the city's floodplain page, which also says heavy rains in spring 2015 caused the lake to crest above the 1 percent annual chance flood stage, closing roads and bringing water to the doorsteps of many homes around the lake. City ordinance 2011-1100 bars development in the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area and requires development near it to be raised at least 2 feet above flood elevation. Properties that touch the shoreline also carry a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flowage easement to an elevation of 537 feet above sea level, with permits required for changes. FEMA states that most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. A single risk label would not describe the whole city, and lakeshore lots differ sharply from those inland.

Healthcare access in Highland Village

Highland Village has no hospital campus of its own. The city's new-resident page lists Medical City Denton, Medical City Lewisville and Texas Health Presbyterian Flower Mound as hospitals for residents. Medical City Lewisville describes itself as a full-service acute care hospital licensed for 191 beds that has served Lewisville, Flower Mound, Castle Hills and southern Denton County since 1976, with a Level III Trauma Center and a Primary Stroke Center. Medical City Denton describes itself as a 228-bed acute care hospital with a Level II Trauma Center, a Primary Stroke Center and an accredited Chest Pain Center. Denton describes Denton's hospitals in more detail.

For residents who cannot drive, the Denton County Transportation Authority's Access program serves seniors and residents with disabilities who cannot use traditional transit in its three member cities, which include Highland Village. The city's police department also issues golf cart permits under ordinance 2018-1243 for operation within the city's rules, valid for two years at no cost, which some residents use for short local trips. Drive times to hospitals depend on the route and hour and should be tested from a specific address.

Climate in Highland Village

Highland Village has a hot, humid-subtropical North Texas climate. No official normals station sits in the city, so the figures use the National Centers for Environmental Information's 1991-2020 monthly normals for the Dallas Fort Worth airport station as a regional reference. At that station the normal daily high averages 56.5 degrees Fahrenheit in January, 95.6 in July and 95.8 in August, and the normal January low is 36.1.

The normals list 22.3 days in June, 28.7 in July and 27.6 in August with a high of 90 degrees or more, and 7.4 days in July and 9.7 in August at 100 degrees or more. January has 10.6 nights at or below 32 degrees. Monthly precipitation normals range from 2.08 inches in July to 4.78 inches in May. See the guide to summer heat and humidity by region.

Lifestyle and recreation in Highland Village

Highland Village's recreation centers on Lewisville Lake, neighborhood parks and local events. The city's home page mentions Copperas Branch Park, a new playground approved for Lower Sellmeyer Park, a council request for grant funding for an FM 407 trail and community events such as Village Fest. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates Lewisville Lake and its parks. The golf cart ordinance allows permitted carts on city streets between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. but bars them from FM 2499/Village Parkway, FM 407 and Highland Village Road except at controlled crossings, and requires the application to be notarized and proof of insurance.

The city reports that Lewisville ISD serves it, with Christa McAuliffe Elementary, Heritage Elementary and Briarhill Middle School in the city and Marcus High School in Flower Mound. Retirees without school-age children still feel the school system in the property tax bill, where Lewisville ISD is the largest single unit at $1.1178 per $100.

Housing in Highland Village

The housing stock is mature and owner-occupied. The survey estimates that 27.5 percent of housing units were built from 1990 to 1999, 21.4 percent from 1980 to 1989 and 21.2 percent from 2000 to 2009, with only 7.9 percent from 2010 to 2019 and a vacancy rate of 3.0 percent. Buyers are mostly choosing among resale homes in established neighborhoods, with roof, plumbing and HVAC age as normal inspection items. The guide to new construction versus resale covers the tradeoff. Buyers who want a purpose-built 55+ community usually look outside the city; Frisco and Denton cover options in the region.

Water and getting around

The city's water page says Phase 1 seasonal conservation is in effect from May 1 to September 30, with no outside watering between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and refers to the Upper Trinity Regional Water District for conservation resources. Stage rules can change in drought, so check the city's page.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport describes itself as welcoming more than 86 million customers a year, with 193 domestic and 77 international nonstop destinations. Highland Village has no commercial airport, and drive times vary with traffic, so test the route at the hours you would travel.

Places near Highland Village

• Little ElmA lakefront Denton County town on Lewisville Lake with a young overall age profile, a town tax freeze for homeowners 65 and older, a lakeside entertainment district, a senior program and an emergency and outpatient campus nearby, and a 263-home gated 55+ community, Ladera Little Elm.
• DentonA Denton County university city on I-35 at the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with two hospitals on its I-35 corridor, a commuter rail line, a 55+ golf community on its south side, and a citywide age profile that is young because of its universities.
• LewisvilleA large city in southern Denton County and Dallas County, home to Lewisville Lake, a full-service hospital, a seat in the Denton County Transportation Authority, and a median age of 34.8 years.
• Flower MoundA town in Denton and Tarrant counties with a median age of 43.0 years, a high owner-occupancy rate, and a hospital serving it from neighboring Lewisville; an established suburb rather than a retirement destination.

Guides relevant to Highland Village

• Texas healthcare geography and Medicare network considerations
• Texas homestead exemption, the age-65 exemption and the school tax ceiling
• Texas property taxes and appraisal districts: how to compare actual total tax bills
• Texas retirement taxes: state income tax, Social Security, pensions and federal taxes