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San Antonio spending by consumers saw a dip in August, compared to August of last year, dropping 10%, based on sales tax collections by the Texas Comptroller.
Some of the dip can be explained away by the city's lower sales tax rate that was in effect this August, compared to last. Effective Jan. 1 2026, San Antonio’s city sales tax rate dropped from 1.250% to 1.125%.
The Texas Comptroller collects city sales taxes on behalf of cities and then returns them to local jurisdictions. San Antonio is getting back $37 million dollars in sales tax revenue from local August sales. The more consumers spend, the higher those sales tax collections go, making them a good indicator of how a local economy is doing.
Austin, Dallas, and Houston all posted sales tax collection gains just above or just below 5% for this past August, compared to last.
San Antonio’s sales tax collections rose about 2% in July compared with a year earlier, despite the city collecting a lower sales tax rate than it did in 2025.
A representative of the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce wasn't available for immediate comment on the drop in the sales tax collections or the state of the city's economy for the month of August. Alamo Workforce Solutions did note the August unemployment rate for an eight-county area, including San Antonio-New Braunfels, was 4.7%, up slightly from the 4.2% of a year ago. But it was still lower than the statewide jobless rate for August 2026 of 4.8%.
Statewide, Texas Comptroller Don Huffines said the state's sales tax revenue from August sales totaled $4.4 billion in September, 11.5% more than in September 2025.
“Sales tax revenue growth was vigorous in the sectors driven by business spending, indicating the Texas economy continued to grow robustly despite headwinds of rising interest rates and elevated energy costs," Huffines said.
Huffines suggested the state legislature use the increase in sales tax revenue this year on meaningful property tax relief.
Growth in receipts from retail trade, the largest sector, was up 3%, compared with the same month a year ago, and within the retail industry, electronics and appliance stores and automotive dealers showed the largest gains.
Receipts from restaurants were up 2.5%, below the rate of inflation for food away from home, the comptroller reported.
Year-to-date sales tax revenue was $39.6 billion, up 7.8% compared with the same period a year ago. Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59% of all tax collections.
The comptroller's office also released revenue figures from other major taxes collected by the state from the month of August.
Below are the totals of those collections and the percentage they were up or down in a comparison with August 2025:
- motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $684 million, up 5%
- motor fuel taxes — $337 million, down 1%
- oil production tax — $507 million, up 14%
- natural gas production tax — $290 million, up 30%
- hotel occupancy tax — $65 million, up 10%
- alcoholic beverage taxes — $147 million, down 2%
