VA Loan Limits in Texas: 2026 County-by-County Guide

The Bottom Line Up Front

With full VA entitlement, there is no loan limit in Texas. You can borrow any amount a lender will approve — $400,000 or $1.2 million — with zero down payment. The conforming loan limit of $832,750 only becomes relevant when you have partial entitlement, meaning part of your guaranty is already tied up by an existing VA loan or a prior default.

Your approval on any VA loan in Texas still comes down to the same three pillars: credit, income, and assets. The VA does not cap loan amounts for full-entitlement borrowers. Lenders evaluate your file through the automated underwriting system, which looks at residual income, debt-to-income ratio, credit history, and the property appraisal. Texas has no high-cost counties, so every county in the state uses the same 2026 baseline conforming limit of $832,750 for one-unit properties. That uniformity simplifies the math — but the math only matters if your entitlement is reduced.

What Is Full vs Partial Entitlement?

This is the single most important distinction for VA loan limits in Texas. If you have full entitlement, the conforming loan limit does not apply to you at all. If you have partial entitlement, it determines how much you can borrow before a down payment is required.

Full entitlement means the VA has never paid a claim on a prior loan of yours, and you do not currently have a VA loan outstanding. Your Certificate of Eligibility will show your full basic entitlement plus bonus entitlement, with nothing charged against it. In this scenario, there is no county-based limit. The VA guaranty covers 25% of whatever loan amount the lender approves, and lenders do not require a down payment because the guaranty

Partial entitlement happens when you already have an active VA loan on another property or had a prior VA loan that resulted in a foreclosure, short sale, or compromise claim. In those cases, part of your entitlement is “charged” — meaning the VA’s guaranty capacity is reduced. The remaining entitlement is what determines your zero-down ceiling, and that calculation uses the county conforming limit.

uses the county conforming limit.

How The 2026 Conforming Limit Works In Texas

The Federal Housing Finance Agency sets conforming loan limits each year based on home price data. For 2026, the national baseline for a one-unit property is $832,750. Texas has no counties that qualify for high-cost adjustments, so $832,750 is the number in all 254 Texas counties.

This limit does not restrict what full-entitlement borrowers can borrow. It only matters for two situations: partial-entitlement VA borrowers who need to calculate their zero-down ceiling, and conventional loan borrowers whose loans must stay within conforming limits to be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Because every Texas county is at the baseline, there is no advantage to shopping in one county over another from a loan-limit perspective. Your qualifying power in Dallas is the same as in El Paso, at least as far as the VA guaranty is concerned. Where counties differ is in property tax rates, which can shift your monthly payment and DTI significantly.

The 25% Guaranty And Down Payment Math With Partial Entitlement

When you have partial entitlement, the VA can only guarantee 25% of the county conforming limit minus whatever entitlement is already charged. If that remaining guaranty does not cover 25% of your new loan amount, you bring a down payment for the gap.

The formula works like this: the VA’s maximum guaranty in any Texas county for a one-unit property is 25% of $832,750, which equals $208,187.50. If you already have $100,000 in entitlement charged from a prior loan, your remaining guaranty is $108,187.50. That remaining amount supports a zero-down loan up to $432,750 (since $108,187.50 is 25% of $432,750). If you want to buy a home for $550,000, you need a down payment of 25% of the difference: 25% of ($550,000 − $432,750) = $29,312.50.

What Is Second-Tier Entitlement?

Second-tier entitlement is what lets you keep an existing VA loan on one property and still use remaining entitlement to buy another. This is common for service members who PCS from one Texas duty station to another. Our San Antonio VA loan guide covers the JBSA market in detail — keeping the first home as a rental and purchasing a second home with their remaining VA benefit.

The basic entitlement amount on a standard COE is $36,000. The bonus (tier-two) entitlement brings the total guaranty capacity up to 25% of the county conforming limit. In Texas, that total is $208,187.50 for a one-unit property in 2026.

Here is how it plays out in a common Texas scenario: A Veteran bought a home in Killeen for $280,000 using a VA loan. The VA guaranteed 25% of $280,000, which is $70,000 in entitlement charged. The Veteran PCSs to San Antonio and wants to buy a $450,000 home while keeping the Killeen property as a rental. Remaining entitlement: $208,187.50 − $70,000 = $138,187.50. That supports a zero-down purchase up to $552,750 ($138,187.50 × 4). Since $450,000 is below that ceiling, the Veteran qualifies for zero down on the second home.

If the second purchase price were $600,000, the zero-down ceiling is still $552,750, so the Veteran would need 25% of the $47,250 overage — a down payment of $11,812.50.

The higher your first loan amount, the more entitlement is charged, and the lower your zero-down ceiling on the second purchase. Selling the first property and requesting an entitlement restoration resets the math entirely.

Major Texas Metro Areas And VA Loan Activity

Texas has several major Military installations and large Veteran populations, which drives significant VA loan volume across the state. While the conforming limit is the same in every county, local housing prices and property taxes vary substantially.

In most Texas metros, the median home price falls well below the $832,750 conforming limit, which means both full and partial entitlement borrowers can typically purchase with zero down. Austin is the tightest market in the state, with median prices pushing closer to $500,000 in some neighborhoods, but still well within the limit.

The real differentiator across Texas metros is property tax. A $350,000 home in a county with a 2.2% effective tax rate adds roughly $641 per month to your housing payment compared to roughly $467 at 1.6%. That difference directly impacts your DTI ratio and how much home you can qualify for. See our El Paso VA loan guide for specific numbers in that metro.

Texas Property Taxes And VA Loan Qualifying

Texas has no state income tax, which helps take-home pay. But property taxes are among the highest in the country, averaging 1.6% to 2.2% depending on the county and any applicable exemptions. That tax bill is part of your monthly PITI payment and factors directly into your debt-to-income ratio when the automated underwriting system evaluates your file.

On a $400,000 home with a 2.0% effective tax rate, property taxes add $667 per month to your housing payment. Lenders use that number in DTI, so higher taxes reduce the loan amount you can qualify for compared to a lower-tax state.

The disability property tax exemption is significant for Veterans who have a rating. A 100% P&T Veteran buying a $400,000 home in a county with a 2.0% effective rate saves roughly $8,000 per year — which also means their DTI improves because lenders can exclude property taxes from the housing payment calculation when the exemption applies.

VA Jumbo Loans In Texas

A VA jumbo loan in Texas is any VA loan above $832,750. With full entitlement, you can get a VA jumbo with zero down — the VA guaranty still covers the loan, and there is no VA-imposed ceiling. The restriction, if any, comes from lender overlays.

All VA loans — including jumbo — go through automated underwriting. There is no manual underwrite on VA jumbo. The automated system evaluates your credit, income, residual income, and the property, then issues conditions. On a clean file with solid credit, AUS rarely layers on heavy conditions.

Where friction appears is in lender overlays. Some lenders add higher credit score minimums (680 or 700+), reserve requirements (3–6 months of PITI in verified assets), or DTI caps below what AUS would otherwise approve. These are not VA rules — they are the lender’s own risk thresholds. A lender operating without overlays follows standard guidelines, and a borrower with strong credit and clean income can often close a VA jumbo in Texas with no more difficulty than a conforming-balance loan.

In Texas, VA jumbo demand is concentrated in Austin, Dallas–Fort Worth, and parts of Houston where new construction and desirable school districts push prices above $832,750. Even in those markets, the majority of VA purchases still fall under the conforming limit.

Texas Veterans Land Board Programs

The Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB) offers state-level home loan programs that can be used alongside or instead of the federal VA loan. The VLB is unique to Texas and provides below-market fixed-rate mortgages to eligible Texas Veterans. The Homes for Texas Heroes program offers additional closing cost assistance.

The VLB land loan is the standout benefit. The federal VA loan does not finance raw land purchases, so Veterans who want to buy acreage in Texas and build later have limited options. The VLB fills that gap. For home purchases, the VLB loan is worth comparing side-by-side with a federal VA loan — sometimes the VLB rate is lower, though the VLB loan limit is lower than the federal conforming limit.

VA Funding Fee For Texas Purchases

The VA funding fee applies to all VA purchase loans unless you are exempt due to a service-connected disability rating. The fee is a percentage of the loan amount and varies based on whether this is your first VA loan use and how much you put down.

On a $400,000 first-use purchase with zero down, the funding fee is $8,600 (2.15%). Most borrowers roll this into the loan balance rather than paying it at closing, which increases the financed amount to $408,600. If you have a VA disability rating of 10% or higher, surviving spouses receiving DIC, or Purple Heart recipients on active duty, the funding fee is waived entirely.

For subsequent-use borrowers — common among Texas Veterans who have used VA financing before — the zero-down funding fee jumps to 3.30%. On the same $400,000 loan, that is $13,200. Putting 5% down reduces the fee to 1.50% regardless of first or subsequent use, which can save thousands.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes?

Most VA loan issues in Texas are not unique to the state, but a few come up more often here because of the Military population density, high property taxes, and the frequency of PCS-related second purchases.

Another common issue is Veterans who keep a rental property on a prior VA loan and do not realize how much entitlement is tied up. Before making an offer on a second property, pull your COE and run the second-tier entitlement calculation. The math often works out better than expected in Texas because median prices in most metros are well below the conforming limit.

How Texas Loan Limits Have Changed Since 2020

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, which took effect January 1, 2020, eliminated VA loan limits entirely for Veterans with full entitlement. Before that law, every VA borrower was subject to county-based limits regardless of entitlement status. That single change transformed VA lending in Texas — Veterans who previously needed a down payment on homes above the conforming limit could suddenly purchase with zero down at any price point.

Even though limits no longer apply to full-entitlement borrowers, the conforming limit still matters for partial entitlement calculations. Here is how the baseline has moved in Texas over the past several years.

The 2022 jump of nearly $99,000 reflected the pandemic-era home price surge. Growth has normalized since then, with the 2026 increase of $26,250 representing a 3.3% adjustment. For partial-entitlement borrowers in Texas, each annual increase raises the zero-down ceiling — which means more purchasing power without needing cash at closing.

How To Verify Your Entitlement Status On Your COE

Your Certificate of Eligibility is the only document that definitively shows whether you have full or partial entitlement. You can obtain your COE three ways: through your lender (fastest — most can pull it electronically in minutes), through the VA eBenefits portal, or by mailing VA Form 26-1880 to the Atlanta Regional Loan Center.

Once you have your COE in hand, look for these indicators to determine your entitlement status.

VA Loan Limits For Refinancing In Texas

Loan limits apply differently to VA refinances than to purchases, and the rules depend on which refinance type you use.

VA IRRRL (Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan): The IRRRL is a streamline refinance that lowers your rate or converts an adjustable-rate VA loan to a fixed rate. There is no appraisal required, and the loan amount is limited to your existing VA loan balance plus allowable fees — including up to two discount points and the 0.5% IRRRL funding fee. County loan limits do not apply to IRRRLs because you are not taking out a new purchase loan.

VA Cash-Out Refinance: A cash-out refinance replaces your current mortgage (VA or conventional) with a new VA loan and lets you pull equity as cash. This is treated as a new loan for entitlement purposes. If you have full entitlement, there is no limit — the same as a purchase. If you have partial entitlement, the county conforming limit of $832,750 applies to the calculation of your zero-down ceiling.

For Texas homeowners with significant equity — particularly in Austin and Dallas where appreciation has been strong — the cash-out refinance can be a powerful tool. Just remember that the funding fee on a cash-out is the same as a purchase, so factor that cost into your breakeven calculation.

How To Look Up Your County Loan Limit

Even though every Texas county currently uses the same $832,750 baseline, knowing how to verify this is important — especially if you are comparing Texas to a potential purchase in another state, or if limits change in future years.

If Texas ever receives a high-cost county designation in the future — which would require median home prices to exceed 115% of the national baseline — that county’s limit would increase above $832,750. As of 2026, no Texas county meets that threshold, but Austin’s rapid appreciation has moved Travis County closer to that line than any other county in the state.

The Bottom Line

Texas is one of the most active VA loan markets in the country, and the loan limit structure works in your favor. With full entitlement, there is no cap. With partial entitlement, the $832,750 statewide conforming limit gives you a clear ceiling for zero-down purchasing — and second-tier entitlement math often keeps the down payment minimal even on a second home.

Your real constraints in Texas are property taxes, lender overlays on jumbo loans, and making sure your entitlement status is accurate before you start shopping. Pull your COE, get pre-approved, run the numbers, and compare lenders who have experience with VA loans in your target metro. The state-level VLB programs are also worth evaluating, particularly if you are buying land or want to compare fixed rates.

Frequently Asked Questions