Retiring in Highland Lakes

About Highland Lakes

The Highland Lakes are six reservoirs on the lower Colorado River northwest of Austin: Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls, Travis and Austin. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) operates the six dams that form them, and describes the region as an arid part of Texas that is prone to both floods and serious droughts. This region page covers four towns along the chain: Lakeway on Lake Travis, Horseshoe Bay on Lake LBJ, Marble Falls on Lake Marble Falls, and Llano on the Llano River upstream of Lake LBJ.

They are different kinds of places. The American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 estimates a median age of 64.6 years in Horseshoe Bay, where 47.9 percent of residents are 65 or older, against 50.3 years in Lakeway (24.4 percent), 41.3 in Llano (25.7 percent) and 35.6 in Marble Falls (17.5 percent). Median owner-occupied home values in the same survey range from $207,200 in Llano and $294,900 in Marble Falls to $489,100 in Horseshoe Bay and $695,400 in Lakeway. A retiree choosing here is choosing among a suburban lake city, a golf-resort town, a working small city with a hospital, and a river county seat, not a single kind of lake living.

What the towns share is dependence on the lakes. Water supply, lake levels, flood operations and watering restrictions all trace back to LCRA's management of the chain, and the lakes behave differently from one another. That is the main reason to treat the region as one decision, and the reason to read the Texas Hill Country region next if you are weighing a less lake-dependent town. See Texas for the statewide tax picture.

Who Highland Lakes fits

• Retirees who want golf and lake life in a community where nearly half of residents are 65 or older, which is the profile ACS estimates for Horseshoe Bay.
• Buyers who want a lake address with a hospital in town and big-city services within reach, which describes Lakeway with its 106-bed hospital.
• Buyers who want a lower entry price and a small-town pace and can accept longer trips for specialist care, which describes Llano.
• People who value a working city with a hospital and city services over a retirement-focused setting, which describes Marble Falls.

Who may prefer somewhere else

• Anyone who cannot accept lake levels, boat ramps and dock access that depend on rainfall, or watering rules that change by stage.
• Buyers who need a large metropolitan hospital system and a major airport close to home every week; Austin-Bergstrom is the region's major airport, and the larger medical centers are in Austin.
• Buyers who want a planned age-restricted community with documented occupancy rules; none is verified for this region.
• Buyers who want a flat property-tax picture; the towns fall in three counties and several school districts, and rates and exemptions differ by unit.

Major tradeoffs in Highland Lakes

• Lake levels and drought. Lakes Buchanan and Travis are designed to fluctuate, so a lake view or a dock that works in a wet year can be unusable in a dry one.
• Flood versus drought. The same watershed that supplies the lakes floods quickly; LCRA calls the area Flash Flood Alley and opens floodgates after heavy rain.
• Healthcare distance. Hospitals are in Lakeway, Marble Falls, Burnet and Llano, but the two critical access hospitals are small by design and the major tertiary centers are in Austin.
• Cost and taxes. Lakeway and Horseshoe Bay are expensive markets, and the tax stack differs among Travis, Burnet and Llano counties.

Places in Highland Lakes

• BurnetA Burnet County city of about 6,600 residents with a hospital campus inside the city, a lower housing cost than the lake resort towns around it, a city property-tax rate that has stayed flat for five years, and a Highland Lakes setting that depends on rain far upstream.
• Granite ShoalsA Burnet County city of about 5,200 residents on the east shore of Lake LBJ that calls itself a residential, resort and retirement community, with nineteen city parks, an estimated median home value of $194,500, a high share of mobile homes and vacant units, and no hospital inside the city.
• Horseshoe BayA Lake LBJ resort city that straddles Llano and Burnet counties, with the oldest resident profile of any town in the Highland Lakes, a golf-club culture, a Public Improvement District assessment on some lots, and its nearest listed hospital in Marble Falls.
• Lago VistaA Travis County city on the north shore of Lake Travis with a much higher older share than Austin, a municipal golf course, an on-demand transit service, no hospital inside the city limits, and a property-tax stack in which the city offers a homestead exemption but shows no over-65 amount of its own.
• LakewayA Travis County city on the south shore of Lake Travis, the most suburban town in the Highland Lakes region, with a 106-bed hospital in town, high home values, and a water-supply lake whose level rises and falls by design.
• LlanoA small Llano County seat on the Llano River, upstream of Lake LBJ, with a locally governed critical access hospital in town, a high older-adult share, and home values far below the lake-front markets downstream.
• Marble FallsA Burnet County city on Lake Marble Falls with a full-service hospital inside the city, a younger and more renter-heavy population than the lake resort towns, and city water restrictions that have recently moved between stages.

See every place in both states

Housing in Highland Lakes

Housing in the Highland Lakes spans a wide price range. ACS 2019-2023 estimates that 85.7 percent of occupied homes in Lakeway are owner-occupied, as are 83.8 percent in Horseshoe Bay, 57.3 percent in Llano and 40.9 percent in Marble Falls. Marble Falls and Llano therefore have substantial rental markets, which gives retirees a way to try the area before buying, while Lakeway and Horseshoe Bay are owner-dominated.

Vacancy rates differ sharply. The same survey estimates that 39.5 percent of housing units in Horseshoe Bay are vacant, against 10.3 percent in Lakeway, 12.9 percent in Marble Falls and 6.9 percent in Llano. In Horseshoe Bay that gap points to a large share of homes that are not occupied year-round, so ask about full-time residency before relying on the neighbors, services and security of a quiet street.

Median monthly owner costs for homes with a mortgage are estimated at $3,276 in Lakeway, $2,234 in Horseshoe Bay, $1,667 in Marble Falls and $1,645 in Llano. Median gross rent is estimated at $3,123 in Lakeway, $1,575 in Horseshoe Bay, $1,377 in Marble Falls and $960 in Llano. These are survey medians for the whole city, not the cost of a particular lake lot.

Healthcare in Highland Lakes

Lakeway has Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Lakeway, a 106-bed, full-service hospital that describes itself as open 24 hours. Marble Falls has Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Marble Falls, which the federal hospital dataset lists as an acute care hospital with emergency services and an overall rating of 4. Burnet has Ascension Seton Highland Lakes, a critical access hospital with an overall rating of 5 in the same dataset. Llano Regional Hospital in Llano is a locally governed critical access hospital with emergency and acute care, imaging, laboratory, physical therapy and swing bed services.

Horseshoe Bay has no hospital in the city; the closest facility named here is the Marble Falls hospital. The Llano hospital's own announcement describes 25 inpatient beds and acknowledges that residents otherwise travel to Burnet, Fredericksburg or Austin for more intensive care. Ratings are as of the federal dataset date; verify on Medicare's Care Compare and confirm that your doctors and plan are accepted.

Distances and drive times depend on the route and the hour, so test the trip from a specific address to the hospital and to the specialists you use. Do not rely on a straight-line distance.

Getting around and airports: Highland Lakes

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is the region's major commercial airport; the airport's own site says it serves approximately 20 million passengers a year and more than 15 airlines. Distances from each lake town depend on the route and traffic, so test the drive at the hours you expect to travel.

Plan on driving in all four towns. Local road projects are visible in the records: Marble Falls has opened the Avenue N Bridge and announced an extension of Nature Heights Drive from U.S. Highway 281 to Mormon Mill Road, and Horseshoe Bay publishes a transportation plan and a comprehensive plan to 2047. Buyers who expect to stop driving should test errands and medical trips before committing.

Insurance and risk in Highland Lakes

Flood. LCRA explains that Lake Travis is the only Highland Lake designed to store floodwaters; it is full for water supply at 681 feet above mean sea level and its flood pool can hold another 776,062 acre-feet. The other four lakes, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Austin, are pass-through lakes with no flood storage that typically operate within about a foot and can rise well above normal in a flood. FEMA and local officials, not LCRA, designate floodplains. FEMA states that most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage and that flood insurance is a separate policy required for homes in high-risk areas with mortgages from government-backed lenders.

Recent events show the range. LCRA's flood page, as of October 3, 2026, said it had closed floodgates at Wirtz and Starcke dams the previous Saturday evening and that no floodgate operations at Highland Lakes dams were underway or planned, although that could change with significant additional rainfall or runoff. LCRA recommends signing up for its Flood Operations Notification Service, which sends notifications when flood operations begin.

Wildfire and burn bans. Burn-ban status differs by county: on October 8, 2026, the Burnet County website showed a burn ban in effect for all of Burnet County while the City of Llano posted that the Llano County burn ban had been lifted. Check each county's current status before relying on either. The Texas A&M Forest Service is the lead wildfire agency in Texas and publishes guidance on assessing a property's risk and creating an evacuation plan.

Hail and wind. The Texas Department of Insurance advises homeowners with wind and hail coverage to file claims promptly, photograph damage, prevent further damage and keep receipts. Premiums are not quoted because they vary with insurer, roof, claims history and address.

Property taxes. Lakeway's city rate for fiscal year 2027 is $0.170076 per $100, Horseshoe Bay's adopted city rate for tax year 2026 is $0.26775 and Marble Falls' is 0.58, according to the city and Burnet Central Appraisal District records. These are city-only rates from different units and are not like-for-like totals; school district, county and special-district rates add more, and the exemption amounts differ by unit. For the state exemption rules see the guide to homestead and age-65 exemptions and the guide to property taxes and appraisal districts.

Recreation and lifestyle in Highland Lakes

Golf is concentrated at Horseshoe Bay, where the city's Things to Do page lists a Hill Country Golfers group of 150 or more members, women's golf association play and lessons, and says several club activities require a Horseshoe Bay Resort Club membership, with the Slick Rock Golf Course pro shop as the contact. Confirm current membership terms and dues before buying.

Lake recreation depends on levels. On October 8, 2026 LCRA reported Lake Travis at 678.05 feet and Lake Buchanan at 1018.56 feet, with the two supply lakes holding about 96 percent of capacity. Lakeway runs a swim center and activity center, Horseshoe Bay maintains a nature park and a hiking trail along Horseshoe Creek, and Llano's city website features kayaking on the Llano River and its Chuckwagon Festival.

Water use limits shape yards, pools and lakeside plans. Horseshoe Bay's city council implemented the LCRA Stage 1 watering schedule effective July 16, 2025, limiting automated irrigation to two days a week, while Marble Falls returned to Stage 2, limiting irrigation to once a week, after cancelling Stage 3. Each city's utility sets its own stage, so confirm the current rules.

55+ and active-adult communities in Highland Lakes

This region page does not identify a verified age-restricted community. Horseshoe Bay is the town with the oldest resident profile, but that reflects who lives there, not an occupancy rule, and the city's assessment districts at Summit Rock and Escondido are capital-improvement assessments, not age restrictions. If a community is marketed as 55+ or active adult, ask for the recorded declaration and written fee schedules,.

Communities in Highland Lakes

• Tuscan Village Horseshoe BayA 68-acre community in Horseshoe Bay at Summit Rock, marketed as 55+ active living, with villas, townhomes and golf estates, the private Club Salus and resort memberships at Horseshoe Bay Resort.

Comparisons and guides for Highland Lakes

• Horseshoe Bay vs Lakeway: retirement compared
• Marble Falls vs Granbury: retirement compared
• Texas property taxes and appraisal districts: how to compare actual total tax bills
• Texas homestead exemption, the age-65 exemption and the school tax ceiling
• Texas retirement taxes: state income tax, Social Security, pensions and federal taxes
• Texas healthcare geography and Medicare network considerations
• 55-plus communities versus all-age master plans in Texas