Austin-Area Community
Santa Rita Ranch
The one that keeps topping the sales charts. Big-water amenities, schools inside the neighborhood, and Hill Country land about 33 miles northwest of downtown Austin.
- Where
- Liberty Hill area, Williamson County
- Developer
- Ed Horne (a repeat Austin Developer of the Year)
- Size
- About 3,100 acres, still actively building
- Schools
- Liberty Hill ISD and Georgetown ISD, by village
- Type
- Single-family, cottages to estates, plus a 55+ section
Where it is
Santa Rita Ranch sits near Liberty Hill in Williamson County, roughly 33 miles northwest of downtown Austin, about 6 miles northeast of Liberty Hill and 11 miles west of Georgetown. It is genuinely out in the Hill Country, which is the appeal and the trade-off: more land and newer homes in exchange for a longer drive to the urban core.
Schools
This is one of the community's real differentiators. Depending on which village a home sits in, it is served by either Liberty Hill ISD or Georgetown ISD, and several schools are built right inside the community — Santa Rita Elementary and Santa Rita Middle School (Liberty Hill ISD), Tierra Rosa Elementary and San Gabriel Elementary (both opened in 2024), plus the private Divine Savior Academy. For a lot of families here, kids can walk to campus. Because zoning depends on the specific address and village, confirm the exact assignment before you commit.
Amenities and lifestyle
Santa Rita leans hard into big-water, family amenities: multiple resort-style pools, two tall water slides (the Big Dip and Lil' Dip), splash pads, the Wellness Barn fitness center, indoor and outdoor pickleball, playgrounds and an obstacle-style park called The Green, event lawns, lakes, and miles of trails, with a full events calendar run by a lifestyle team. It is one of the more amenity-heavy communities in the metro.
Homes and pricing
Fifteen-plus builders work here, from national names to a 55+ active-adult section, so the range is wide — one- and two-story single-family homes from the low two-thousands of square feet up past 4,700, plus cottages and estates. Pricing generally runs from the $300,000s into the $1 millions depending on builder, size, and village, but the market moves; treat any figure as a starting point and check current pricing before you plan around it.
Taxes and the fine print
Homes here sit in a municipal utility district (MUD), so a MUD tax is layered on top of county and school taxes — normal for a newer Williamson County community of this kind, and something to budget for, since two homes at the same price can carry different monthly costs. Reported combined rates have run in the low-2% range and change year to year and by village. Verify the exact rate for a specific address with the Williamson County tax office.
The honest take
Santa Rita has been the Austin area's top-selling master-planned community for five years running, and ranked among the top 20 nationally in 2024 — that volume buys you deep amenities and on-site schools, at the cost of distance from central Austin and a MUD on the tax bill. If the commute works for your life and you want a lot of community for the money, it is hard to beat. If you need to be close in, look elsewhere on this list.
This is an unofficial fan site celebrating a real Austin-area agent, built from publicly available information about these communities. It is not written or endorsed by any builder, HOA, or by Blain England, and details change — verify specifics (current pricing, tax rates, school zoning, HOA rules) with official sources before you rely on them. To reach Blain directly, see the home page.