Living in Manor, Texas: What It's Like, Where to Live and What It Costs

At a glance

Location

About 12 miles east of downtown Austin on Highway 290, Travis County

Main roads

US-290, Old Highway 20, FM 973, SH-130 (toll)

New homes from

High $200,000s in Mustang Valley (as of May 2025)

Tax rates

Mostly about 2.6% to 2.8%; some communities lower (as of 2025-2026)

School districts

Mostly Manor ISD; parts of Carillon are Elgin ISD and Whisper Valley is Del Valle ISD (as of 2025)

Shopping

Manor Crossing: H-E-B, Home Depot, Chick-fil-A, Chili's (as of Nov 2025)

What it's like to live in Manor

Manor's pitch has always been simple. You're close to Austin and you get a lot of house for your money.

When I made my first Manor video in June 2023, it still felt like a commuter suburb. Walmart was the grocery store and the rest was strip malls. That's the part that has changed the most. Manor Crossing, at 290 and FM 973, is the biggest retail development Manor has had. When I filmed in May 2025, Chick-fil-A and Chili's were open, Home Depot was opening the next week and H-E-B was a few months out. By my November 2025 Whisper Valley tour, the new H-E-B was open. In my 2024 update I called it the biggest change Manor has gone through from a livability perspective, and I still think that's right.

A few other things I like here:

• The trail. Manor built a trail with the City of Austin that runs uninterrupted from Manor to downtown. I'm not disciplined enough to bike that far, but a lot of people will be.
• Everything within about 10 minutes. Every neighborhood I featured in my 2025 guide was within roughly 10 minutes of Manor Crossing.
• Retail near ShadowGlen. The area off 290 by ShadowGlen has a Starbucks, restaurants, doctors and dentists.

Manor had about 19,000 people when I filmed in September 2024, and it's growing quickly.

How Manor is laid out: roads and school districts

Highway 290 runs through the middle of Manor. It's the main way in and out, and it's also a main route to Houston. That's the big trade-off. Traffic on 290 is the complaint I hear most. It's really only at rush hour, but it is there.

The other roads worth knowing:

• Old Highway 20 runs through old Manor toward Austin. In 2023 it was two lanes, bumpy and full of bad lights. By May 2025 it had been repaved, with widening underway as the main alternate to 290.
• FM 973 runs south toward SH-130 and Tesla. A lot of my Manor clients work at Tesla, and 973 is how they get there. It's being expanded as a non-toll route.
• SH-130 is the toll road on Manor's west side. Neighborhoods near it, like Wild Horse Ranch and Whisper Valley, skip most Manor traffic, but you'll pay tolls.

Some of these road projects are a decade from done. Map your real commute before you buy. It's farther than it looks on a map.

School districts are the other thing to watch. Most of Manor is Manor ISD, which has been investing heavily: a new high school, STEM programs partnered with Tesla, Manor New Tech High School and Manor Rise Academy, a publicly funded school-choice option that was open by the 2024-25 school year. But a Manor address doesn't guarantee Manor ISD:

• Part of Carillon is zoned Elgin ISD.
• Whisper Valley was zoned Del Valle ISD as of my 2025 videos.
• Wild Horse Ranch is inside Austin city limits but zoned Manor ISD.

Always confirm zoning for the specific address.

Home prices and property taxes

Price is why most people look at Manor. Here's what I've seen on my tours, each dated:

• Mustang Valley (KB Home): from the high $200,000s, usually the very low $300s after upgrades (May 2025).
• Village at Manor Commons (Chesmar, Pacesetter, Landsea): about $320,000 to about $500,000 (September 2024).
• Monarch Ranch (D.R. Horton): a four-bedroom single-story for $349,000 and about 2,600 sq ft for $410,000, plus incentives (August 2025).
• Carillon: the mid $300,000s up to the $500s and $600s (March 2025).
• Lagos Reserve (Tri Pointe): the very high $300s up to the mid-$500s (May 2025).
• Wild Horse Ranch: mostly the $400s (September 2026).

Taxes are the con. Most of Manor ran about 2.6% to 2.8% on my 2025 and 2026 tours. Carillon ranged from 2.3% to 2.7% by section (March 2025). Lagos Reserve came to about 2.8% once you add its roughly 1% PID (February 2025). Trails at Wildhorse, with its Austin address, was 2.1% (October 2025). Texas has no state income tax, which helps.

Neighborhoods I've toured

• Wild Horse Ranch is a master plan at SH-130 and 290, inside Austin city limits but zoned Manor ISD, with a hilltop amenity center that looks at the downtown skyline.
• Whisper Valley is a 2,000-acre master plan south of Manor with a geothermal grid, solar on every home and 600 acres of parkland.
• Trails at Wildhorse is a D.R. Horton community off Decker Lake with an Austin address, a 2.1% tax rate and the Manor-to-downtown trail running along it.
• Monarch Ranch is a new D.R. Horton community on Manor's north side, zoned to Shadow Glen Elementary, with a $49 a month HOA as of August 2025.
• Carillon is an east-side master plan with four builders, RV garage homes and a split between Manor ISD and Elgin ISD.
• Lagos Reserve is Tri Pointe's own section on the south edge of Manor, barely on the Manor ISD side.
• ShadowGlen is Manor's golf course community, with an on-site elementary school and plenty of resale.
• EastVillage is a KB Home community where Austin, Manor and Pflugerville meet, where I toured two model homes in 2022.

Who Manor fits

Manor fits you if you want to live close to Austin without Austin prices, you want new construction, or you work on the east side at Tesla, Samsung or near the airport. It fits less well if you'll be on 290 at rush hour every day, or if a tax rate near 2.8% is a dealbreaker.

I've moved a lot of clients in and out of Manor, and I sell quite a few KB Home homes every year. When I work for you, you get me. I show the homes, I negotiate and I'm the one who answers your call. You're never handed off to a teammate you didn't choose.

If you're thinking about Manor, call or text me at (512) 983-7331, or email mason@masonsellsaustin.com.

What's in the video

• 0:00What's Changed in Manor
• 0:27Manor Crossing: HEB, Home Depot & More
• 2:25Everything Within 10 Minutes
• 2:49Mustang Valley by KB Homes
• 3:53Carillon & the Amenity Center
• 5:36The Traffic Reality on Highway 290
• 5:51Road Projects: Old Hwy 20 & FM 973
• 6:40The Trail from Manor to Downtown Austin
• 7:12Lagos Reserve
• 8:44Tri Pointe Model Homes
• 9:27Final Thoughts

Manor questions I get asked