5 Best Austin Suburbs for Buying a Home

Austin’s perennial popularity among professionals and families inevitably results in competitive markets, rising prices, and shrinking square footage for properties located within city limits. However, homebuyers in search of plenty of space to spread out while still enjoying a quick commute to Austin’s downtown center may benefit from expanding their search to include the Lone Star capital’s suburbs.

The towns and small cities surrounding Austin boast Hill Country charm, a variety of amenities to serve its growing population, excellent public school systems, more favorable real estate values than their urban counterparts, and convenient commutes from the heart of Austin.

Here are the five best Austin suburbs for buying a home.

Rollingwood

One of Austin’s most affluent suburban communities, Rollingwood has an exceptional public school system, falling within the Eanes Independent School District, which regularly achieves Exemplary (the highest-possible) ratings from the Texas Education Agency. In 2018, this school district boasted a 99 percent college acceptance rate for its graduating seniors, which contributes to Rollingwood's popularity among homebuyers.

Rollingwood also makes an excellent home for anyone keen on having access to abundant greenspaces; Rollingwood’s eastern border is directly adjacent to Zilker Metropolitan Park, one of Austin’s most lauded parklands. Here, residents enjoy athletic fields as well as hiking and biking trails. They can also have nautical adventures aboard paddle boats, or visit the Zilker Botanical Gardens and the Austin Nature & Science Center. Rollingwood also has its own eponymous park, which features community playgrounds, game fields, and running paths. 

Avid shoppers in Rollingwood will be pleased to discover the town’s proximity to both the shopping hubs in Austin proper and the large-scale malls in Central Texas (like the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave that’s a mere 30-minute drive from Rollingwood). 

Rollingwood counts among Austin’s most celebrated suburbs, so properties in this region command a higher value than they might elsewhere. Rollingwood’s housing inventory is dominated by single-family homes, and the median price for houses in town currently sits around $1.3 millions. 

Brushy Creek

Wedged between Austin’s downtown center and the tech hub in Round Rock, you’ll find Brushy Creek, a convivial census-designated place widely beloved by homebuyers looking to set down roots in Central Texas.

If you choose to settle down in Brushy Creek, you’ll need a car to traverse between this suburb and the city centers of Austin and Round Rock. However, the driving commute time is easy; you can get to Austin from Brushy Creek in 30 minutes and to Round Rock in 15 minutes. 

Brushy Creek largely attracts homebuyers with school-aged children due to the town’s placement within the highly rated Round Rock Independent School District. As a result, master-planned communities are a major force here, with local developments like Cat Hollow, Meadows of Brushy Creek, and Fern Bluff all offering amenities and a sizable inventory of single-family homes. Currently, the median price for a house in Brushy Creek stands in the mid $200s, making the town a solid value option for prospective buyers in the Austin metro area.

Round Rock

As the second driving force behind the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area, Round Rock qualifies as its own small Central Texas city, rather than a mere bedroom community for Austin. Therefore, homebuyers seeking urban amenities like restaurants, nightlife, and business centers will feel right at home in Round Rock.

In recent years, Round Rock has developed into a major nexus for the tech industry, with companies like Dell and World Wide Technologies establishing headquarters here. As more programmers and tech entrepreneurs choose to call Round Rock home, the city continues to grow, with new eateries, watering holes, and recreational activities regularly emerging to serve this growing population.

Among the highlights, you’ll find Round Rock Donuts, a legendary sweet shop with national acclaim, URBAN Eat.Drink, a chic New American restaurant with a craft beer bar, and an outpost of Salt Lick, a famous BBQ hub known for its brisket and sausages.

Round Rock residents can easily access the larger urban areas in Austin; driving between the two cities takes less than 30 minutes each way. In terms of housing inventory, you can find both single-family and attached homes in Round Rock.

Cedar Park

Like Brushy Creek, Cedar Park occupies prime real estate directly between Austin and Round Rock, making it ideal for commuting professionals. Families flock to this charming suburb for its excellent public schools; the majority of Cedar Park is part of the Leander Independent School District, a system achieving a 95 percent for state accountability standards in 2018 and a high school graduation rate of 99 percent.

Students living in the southern and easternmost regions of Cedar Park attend schools within the Round Rock Independent School District, which according to the Austin-American Statesman, outperforms other school districts in Central Texas and earned “Met Standards” ratings from the Texas Education Agency in 2018.

While Cedar Park residents can take full advantage of plentiful dining and entertainment options in Austin proper, they can also enjoy in-town venues like Alamo Drafthouse, The Grove Wine Bar & Kitchen, and Big Cat BBQ.

Sports fans in the Cedar Park area flock to H-E-B Center, a massive arena that’s home to the Austin Spurs and Texas Stars. The venue also regularly features musical performances from local and visiting artists, making it a prime locale for Cedar Park entertainment.

Single-family homes in Cedar Park are priced starting in the high $100s and go up to the low $800s, while attached homes are priced starting in the mid $200s and go up to high $300s. Homebuyers can also find reasonably priced homes within master-planned communities throughout Cedar Park, like Bella Vista and West Parke pushing up property values for the entire area. 

Leander

Another Austin suburb bordering on small-city status, Leander blends peaceful suburban living with a close link to neighboring Austin, located a mere 30-minute drive southeast. Leander also connects to Austin via the CapMetro bus system and the MetroRail train, making it a strong choice for Central Texas commuters who prefer to go car-free.

In addition to its easy distance from Downtown Austin, Leander features its own Restaurant Row along I-183, with highly rated establishments like Jardin Del Rey, Mouton’s Southern Bistro, and Farm to Fork.

Homebuyers also flock to Leander because of its family-friendly amenities such as its multiple parks, golf courses, and recreational facilities. Devine Lake Park offers a beautiful lakeside setting along with plenty of greenspace, which is also dog-friendly.

Another attractive quality to this area is its public schools under the Leander Independent School District that offers educational options like Know Wiley Middle School and Leander High School, both of which earned high scores from GreatSchools.

Most homes in Leander are single-family homes with pricing starting in the low $100s, making it an affordable suburb for homebuyers in the Austin area. A large percentage of homes are located within master-planned communities such as Travisso, Bryson, and Crystal Falls where median home prices are in the low to mid $400s.