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San Antonio retailers saw 2025 holiday shopping get off to a nearly flat start, compared to 2024.
The state comptroller's office collects city sales taxes on behalf of cities each month and then returns them. Those sales tax collections are a good indicator of how the local and state economies are doing.
San Antonio collected just under $41 million dollars for this past month of November, which includes the busy after-Thanksgiving Christmas shopping rush. That's an increase of only about 0.33% over the same period in 2024.
In the same period of comparison, Houston and Austin both saw an increase of around 6% in sales tax collections. Only Dallas eked out a smaller increase than San Antonio at 0.29%.
Sales tax collections for the entire month of December are needed for the complete picture of how well local retailers fared this past holiday shopping season.
San Antonio also trailed the statewide average increase, which also stood at nearly 6 percent, and outpaced inflation.
State Comptroller Kelly Hancock touted the statewide average increase. He called the increase "robust" and "evidence of continued strength in the Texas economy."
State sales tax collections from other economic sectors for the month of November 2025, compared to November 2024, and the percentage of change:
- motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $614 million, up 5 percent
- motor fuel taxes — $324 million, up 4 percent
- oil production tax — $394 million, down 9 percent
- natural gas production tax — $169 million, down 21 percent
- hotel occupancy tax — $61 million, up less than 1 percent
- alcoholic beverage taxes — $148 million, down 2 percent
