Texico vs Farwell Property Taxes: Which Side Costs Less?

Stand on State Line Road in Texico and you can see it happen in real time: a mail carrier crosses from New Mexico into Texas mid-route, a kid's bus ride to school passes through two states before the first bell, and a rancher hauling hay from one property to another crosses a border that most Americans need a map to find. The two towns function as one community. They always have.

So when a buyer asks whether it's cheaper to put down roots in Texico, New Mexico or Farwell, Texas, the honest answer is not "New Mexico" or "Texas." It's that the two states tax income, property, and everyday purchases so differently that the winning side changes depending on your income, your home price, and your age, not on which state has the friendlier reputation.

A border that landed here by mistake

Texico and Farwell exist so close together because of a 19th century survey error. The straight north-south line separating New Mexico and Texas was supposed to fall on the 103rd meridian, but the 1859 survey crew set it as much as 3.77 miles too far west, pulling towns that were meant to be in New Mexico onto the Texas side of the map. Texico sprang up first in the late 1800s as a rough railroad boomtown built on an unsurveyed strip of land, full of saloons and gambling halls with no formal land titles. Farwell followed a few years later just across the line, better planned and better financed, and the story goes that residents eventually walked their unmoored shacks across the border into Farwell's titled lots rather than lose them.

That history matters for a present-day buyer because it explains why the two towns still behave like one economic unit even though a state line legally separates them. The communities have shared a joint celebration, Border Town Days, for more than half a century, with the parade starting at Texico's KKR Park and ending in Farwell, and a 5K that begins at Farwell's First Baptist Church. Neither town treats the state line as a real boundary in daily life. Your tax bill will treat it as an absolute one.

The comparison most buyers run, and why it's incomplete

The instinct when comparing Texico to Farwell is to reach for the headline fact: Texas has no state income tax, and New Mexico does, with rates that climb from 1.7 percent to 5.9 percent depending on income. That single fact pulls a lot of buyers toward the Texas side without a second look.

But property tax works in the opposite direction, and it isn't a small offset. Curry County, New Mexico, where Texico sits, carries one of the lowest effective property tax rates in the state, estimated around 0.59 percent of a home's market value in 2026. Parmer County, Texas, where Farwell is the county seat, runs closer to 1.6 to 1.7 percent, and Farwell homeowners specifically have shown effective rates in the 1.45 percent range in recent assessments. On a $220,000 home, that's the difference between a tax bill in the low thousands and one that's two to three times higher, every single year, for as long as you own the house.

Sales tax adds a third variable that people tend to skip entirely. New Mexico doesn't have a traditional sales tax. It has a gross receipts tax, which is charged to the seller but almost always passed to the buyer, and which applies far more broadly than a typical sales tax, reaching many services in addition to goods. Combined state and local rates in New Mexico generally run from the mid-4 percent range up through 9 percent depending on the city, with Curry County's local add-ons pushing the rate charged on most Texico purchases well above the state floor. Farwell's sales tax, by contrast, sits at a flat 8.25 percent, the maximum allowed under Texas law, and it doesn't reach most services the way New Mexico's does. Hire a fencing contractor to work a small acreage property on the Farwell side and the labor typically isn't taxed. Hire the same contractor for a job across the road in Texico and the service itself can carry gross receipts tax.

What "taxable value" actually hides

Here's the detail that changes the whole comparison, and it's specific to how New Mexico calculates property tax. Per the Curry County Assessor's Office, a home's taxable value in New Mexico is set at 33.33 percent of its appraised value, minus any exemptions, before the tax rate is ever applied. Texas does not do this. Parmer County taxes the full appraised market value, exemptions aside.

That means the mill levy printed on a Curry County notice of value can look deceptively similar in magnitude to a Texas tax rate, even though it's being multiplied against a base that's only a third the size. A New Mexico homeowner looking at their notice might see a number that seems unremarkable next to a Texas rate, without realizing the actual dollars owed will land far lower once the one-third taxable value is factored in. The only honest way to compare the two counties is by effective rate, meaning tax dollars actually paid divided by the home's real market value, not the rate printed on either state's paperwork.

Running your own numbers

The math shifts depending on who's buying. A household earning roughly $65,000 with a $220,000 home comes out close to even on either side of the road. Rough estimates put the Texico side (property tax plus state income tax) around $3,300 to $3,900 a year, and the Farwell side (property tax only, no income tax) around $3,500. Neither side wins decisively at that income and price point, which is exactly why the "no income tax" headline is misleading on its own.

Move up the income scale and Texas starts to pull ahead. At $100,000 in salary, New Mexico's progressive brackets can add roughly $4,400 a year in state income tax that a Texas resident simply doesn't pay, an amount that usually exceeds the property tax gap on a modestly priced home.

Move toward retirement and the calculation flips hard toward New Mexico. The state exempts Social Security income entirely for single filers earning under $100,000 and joint filers under $150,000, which removes the income tax bite for many retirees outright. Pair that with Curry County's low effective property tax rate and a modest home, and the Texico side becomes the clearer value for someone living mostly on fixed retirement income. Curry County also offers a valuation freeze for homeowners 65 or older (or disabled) with a modified gross household income at or below $40,400, which locks the taxable value in place even if the market appreciates around it.

What doesn't change, no matter which side you pick

None of this tax math touches the parts of daily life that actually make Texico and Farwell feel like one place. Border Town Days still runs on both sides of the line every year. Families on either side still shop, worship, and gather at the same handful of businesses and community events. And the region's water future is being built as one system regardless of the state line: the FW1 Ute Reservoir pipeline project, which broke ground in 2023, is designed to deliver potable water by 2030 to Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, Portales, Elida, and Texico together.

One thing that does follow the state line strictly is school enrollment. Texico falls within Texico Municipal Schools, while Farwell children attend Farwell ISD. That assignment is tied to residency on a specific side of the border, so it's worth factoring into a decision alongside the tax math rather than assuming it settles itself later.

Before you write an offer

A few practical steps matter more here than in most markets, because the two counties run on different calendars and different rules.

• If you're buying on the Farwell side, mark your calendar for the Parmer County Appraisal District's protest window, which state law sets around May 15 each year, or 30 days after your notice is mailed, whichever comes later.
• If you're buying on the Texico side, ask the Curry County Assessor's Office directly about your parcel's taxable value calculation and whether any exemptions, including the veteran's exemption or the 65-and-older valuation freeze, apply to your situation.
• Run your own numbers using your actual income and the actual list price of the home you're considering, not a generic median. The crossover point in this comparison moves depending on both.

FAQ

Does buying in Farwell mean my kids can't attend school in Texico, or the other way around? School assignment follows residency and the specific district lines of Texico Municipal Schools or Farwell ISD. It's a factor to weigh before choosing a side, not something to sort out afterward.

If I buy on the Texas side, do I lose access to the community events on the New Mexico side? No. Border Town Days and the day-to-day retail and social life of the twin towns run across both sides of the line as they always have. The tax systems are separate. The community isn't.

Which side is actually cheaper? It depends on your income, your home price, and your age more than it depends on the state. A household earning a typical local wage on a moderately priced home may see very little difference either way. Higher earners tend to do better on the Texas side. Retirees living on Social Security tend to do better on the New Mexico side.

If you're weighing a purchase on either side of State Line Road and want help running the actual numbers for your income and the specific home you have in mind, Tammy Waters and The Waters Group know both counties' tax offices, notice schedules, and exemption paperwork firsthand. Request your free buyer packet to get a straight answer before you write an offer.