Peer districts

Key facts

• Interest still owed per $1 borrowed: 95.8 cents. Highest of 11.¹
• Share of loan payments that is interest (2021-25): 63.9%, 2nd among the 11 nearby districts we compared.²
• Operating tax rate (2025): 75.69¢, 2nd highest.³
• Average teacher pay: $61,716, below the state peer-group average of $65,128. (That group is the state’s, not our 10 peers.) It is about 2% below four nearby districts (Hays, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Round Rock), at $62,977.⁴

In short

We compare Leander with 10 similar districts. Leander owes the most interest per dollar borrowed: 95.8 cents.¹ Its operating tax rate is 2nd highest.³ Its debt per student is in the middle.

Why it matters to your tax bill: high interest per dollar borrowed means more of your debt tax goes to interest instead of buildings.

Related: local governments compared · debt vs peers · interest · teacher pay

Layer 1: Why compare

A number alone doesn’t tell you if it’s high. Comparing with nearby, similar districts does. We use 10 nearby districts of similar type.

Layer 2: The table

Measure	Leander	Rank of 11	Middle peer	Source
Interest still owed per $1 of principal (2025)	95.8¢	1st (highest)	57.9¢	1
Same, in 2016	211.5¢	—	61.0¢	1
Interest share of loan payments, 2021-25	63.9%	2nd	46.7%	2
Debt per student incl. interest (2025)	$69,795	6th	$64,479	5
Principal per student (2025)	$35,650	—	$41,649	5
Debt tax rate (2025)	33¢	7th	≈37¢	3
Operating tax rate (2025)	75.69¢	2nd	—	3
Cash used to pay loans early, share of debt spending, 2021-25	17.4%	—	2.2%	6
Central office share of operating cost	2.18%	5th	—	7
Central office growth per student, 2016-25	+69%	3rd fastest	≈+39%	7
Average teacher salary (2025)	$61,716	—	$65,128 (state peer group)	4

• Peer districts: Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hays (Austin area); Frisco, Prosper, Northwest (Dallas–Fort Worth); Katy, Conroe, Lamar (Houston); Comal (San Antonio area). Picked because they are suburban, 24,000–96,000 students, and grew at least 5% from 2016 to 2025. Round Rock shrank a little but is kept because it is next door. We chose these, not the district.⁸ Download the peer table (CSV).
• Savings cushion per student, 2025: Leander $3,715 (4th of 11); middle peer $3,007. Counting only money not set aside for anything (“unassigned”): Leander $2,336 (6th of 11); middle peer $2,413.⁹
• State grade: Leander B 88 in 2025 (middle peer 87), B 87 in 2026 (middle peer 87.5). Tests at grade level: Leander 65%, middle peer 63%.¹⁰

What we still don’t know

• Some comparisons use different years for different districts. Ranks can shift when the state posts newer data; we will update them then.

Questions to ask

• Which districts does the board use as peers, and how were they picked?
• Where does the district post its own comparisons with other districts?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Reworded a note about future data updates.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We took internal document numbers out of the source notes.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We tied the district’s side to figures in the table and cut an unsourced history claim.

Layer 3: How to read it

Leander’s debt per student is in the middle. What stands out is the interest: it owes much more interest per dollar borrowed than any peer. Much of that traces to older, long loans. See Interest and Debt compared with 10 similar districts.

The district’s side

Leander’s debt tax rate in 2025 was below the middle peer’s.³ It also used more cash to pay loans early than the middle peer.⁶

Footnotes

1. Texas Comptroller local debt data, data.texas.gov; our ranking. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Same source, fiscal 2021–2025; our ranking among the 11 nearby districts we compared. ↩ ↩²

3. Texas Comptroller tax rate data, data.texas.gov, 2025. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. TEA TAPR 2024-25, average teacher salary ($61,716). The $65,128 comparison is from the district’s Efficiency Audit, Fig. 10 (TEA peer group; Sept. 17, 2026 board packet); it is not an average of the 10 peers on this page. Four-nearby-district simple average $62,977. ↩ ↩²

5. Texas Comptroller local debt data, fiscal 2025; our ranking. ↩ ↩²

6. TEA PEIMS, debt service object 659x as a share of objects 651x+652x+659x, fiscal 2021–2025; our math. Median of the 10 similar districts (Round Rock, Pflugerville, Hays, Frisco, Prosper, Northwest, Katy, Conroe, Lamar and Comal) is 2.2%. Nearby comparisons: Pflugerville 13.5%, Round Rock 10.6%. ↩ ↩²

7. TEA PEIMS, central administration; our ranking. ↩ ↩²

8. Our peer method, our analysis notes section 1. ↩

9. Texas Education Agency PEIMS actual financial data, FY2025, general fund balance divided by enrollment; our math. Leander’s year ends June 30, most peers’ Aug. 31. ↩

10. Texas Education Agency 2025 accountability summary and data download. ↩