What is a master-planned community?
In each community compared here, a developer bought a large tract, laid out one plan and built it in phases over years or decades. The tracts in this guide run from about 2,400 acres at Towne Lake to 23,000 acres at The Woodlands. Several began on ranch land. Kingwood was part of the King Ranch, and Cinco Ranch was a cattle ranch and rice farm.
Governance varies. The Woodlands is governed by The Woodlands Township, a special-purpose district. In First Colony, the First Colony Community Services Association is the largest of several homeowners associations. Municipal utility districts (MUDs) and other special districts provide water, sewer or drainage in many of the communities.
How do the communities compare?
The table uses only facts stated in each community’s Century House entry. A dash means the entry does not give that fact. Acreage figures come from different sources and years.
| Community | County | Developer | Opened | Acreage | City or ETJ status | School district(s) | Utility districts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgeland | Harris | The Howard Hughes Corporation | 2006 | About 11,400 | Unincorporated; City of Houston ETJ | Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and Waller ISD | Harris County MUDs 418, 419, 489, 490, 491, 492 and 493; Harris County WCIDs 157, 158 and 159 |
| Towne Lake | Harris | Caldwell Companies | — | About 2,400 | — | Cypress-Fairbanks ISD | Harris County MUDs 500, 501 and 502 |
| Cross Creek Ranch | Fort Bend | Trendmaker Homes (2006); Johnson Development (from 2012) | 2006 | About 3,200 | Inside Fulshear city limits | Katy ISD and Lamar CISD | Fort Bend County MUDs 169, 170, 171, 172 and 173 |
| Riverstone | Fort Bend | Johnson Development | 2001 | About 3,860 | Sections in Sugar Land, Missouri City and Missouri City’s ETJ | Fort Bend ISD | Fort Bend County MUDs 46, 115, 128, 129 and 149; Fort Bend County LIDs 15 and 19 |
| First Colony | Fort Bend | Gerald Hines Interests; Sugarland Properties Inc. | 1977 | About 9,700 (Hines) | City of Sugar Land; some neighborhoods in Missouri City | Fort Bend ISD | First Colony LID and First Colony LID 2 |
| Sienna | Fort Bend | Johnson Corporation | Mid-1980s (construction began) | More than 7,300 (by the 1990s) | Unincorporated | Fort Bend ISD | — |
| Cinco Ranch | Fort Bend (Texas Almanac also lists Harris) | Cinco Ranch Venture; master plan by Newland Communities | Mid-1980s (development began) | 7,200-acre master plan | Unincorporated | Katy ISD | — |
| The Woodlands | Montgomery | Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation | 1972 (development began); first homes 1974 | 23,000 | Not a city; governed by The Woodlands Township, a special-purpose district | Conroe ISD | — |
| Kingwood | Harris (small part in Montgomery) | Friendswood Development Company with the King Ranch | 1970s | 14,000-acre tract | City of Houston (annexed 1996) | Humble ISD | 13 utility districts abolished at the 1996 annexation |
| Clear Lake | Harris | Friendswood Development Company (Humble Oil) | 1963 | — | City of Houston (annexed 1977) | Clear Creek ISD | Clear Lake City Water Authority |
Why do MUD taxes differ between communities?
A MUD is formed to provide utility services to a designated area, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Each taxing entity adopts its own rate. A large community is often split among several districts, so two homes in the same community can pay different district taxes.
- At Towne Lake, MUD 500 is the master district for regional water, sewer, drainage, roads and parks. MUD 501 pays its share of those services to MUD 500 through a contract tax rate.
- At Riverstone, the developer’s tax-rate page lists five MUDs and two levee improvement districts for different sections. Some sections also carry a City of Missouri City rate.
- At Bridgeland, the developer’s 2022 tax-rate sheet lists both Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and Waller ISD among the taxing units.
- When Houston annexed Kingwood in 1996, it abolished the community’s 13 utility districts. Sugar Land annexed a number of First Colony MUDs.
For how MUDs borrow and tax, see What is a MUD, and how do MUD taxes work? This guide lists no rates. Current rates are in the Harris and Fort Bend County MUD tax rates dataset.
How do I check a specific address?
Start with the appraisal district for the county. The Harris Central Appraisal District and the Fort Bend Central Appraisal District both link to a local property tax database. It shows the taxes that each entity taxing a property will impose if the entity adopts its proposed rate. Fort Bend’s property search finds properties by address, owner or ID.
The TCEQ Water District Database lists districts by name and county and includes maps of their service areas. To see whether a lot is inside a city or in Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, see Is my home inside Houston city limits or the ETJ?