Woodlawn Lake and the Deco District (78201): SAISD, Jefferson High, and What Inside-410 Northwest Living Actually Costs

The 78201 ZIP sits inside Loop 410 on the northwest side of San Antonio, bounded roughly by I-10 to the north, Fredericksburg Road slicing through the middle, and Culebra Road anchoring the south. Its two anchors are Woodlawn Lake Park — an 80-acre city park with a walkable 1.5-mile loop — and the Deco District, the stretch of Fredericksburg Road between Woodlawn and Hildebrand where 1930s and 1940s Art Deco storefronts have been slowly reopening as coffee shops, taquerias, and vintage stores.

It is one of the last inside-410 neighborhoods where you can still buy a solid 1,400-square-foot bungalow for under what a Stone Oak starter costs, and one of the last where median rent sits well below the citywide number. That comes with real tradeoffs — SAISD schools, older housing stock, and blocks that turn over quickly in condition — and this is what those tradeoffs actually look like.

Where 78201 sits on the map

78201 is not one neighborhood. It is a collection of smaller historic pockets that share a ZIP and a school feeder pattern:

• Woodlawn Lake — the residential ring around the park itself, mostly 1920s–1940s bungalows on 50-foot lots.
• Deco District — the Fredericksburg Road commercial corridor and the blocks directly behind it.
• Los Angeles Heights / Keystone — north of Woodlawn, closer to I-10, with a mix of bungalows and mid-century ranches.
• Beacon Hill — technically 78212, but the eastern edge blurs into 78201 north of Woodlawn.

St. Mary's University sits just outside the ZIP on Cincinnati Avenue, which pushes some student and faculty rental demand into the eastern blocks. Downtown is a 10-minute drive down Fredericksburg or a straight shot on I-10. The South Texas Medical Center is 15 minutes northwest via Fredericksburg or Loop 410.

The housing stock is old, and that matters

Most of 78201 was platted between 1910 and 1945. That means:

• Pier-and-beam foundations, not slab. Cheaper to repair long-term, but you need a real inspection.
• Original electrical is often knob-and-tube or early cloth-wrapped copper. Many houses have been partially updated; "partially" is the operative word.
• Cast iron drain lines under the slab additions built in the 1960s. Camera the line before you buy.
• No HOA anywhere. Not a single deed-restricted subdivision in the ZIP. Your neighbor's paint color is between them and the city.

For a resale, the seller has to deliver a completed Seller's Disclosure Notice (TREC OP-H) under Texas Property Code § 5.008, and any home built before 1978 — which is essentially the entire ZIP — triggers the federal Lead-Based Paint Addendum (TREC OP-L). Do not skip the option period. Ten to fifteen days and $200–$400 of inspection fees on a 90-year-old house is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Rent and price context

As of August 2026, RentInSA's active listings show a citywide median asking rent in San Antonio of $1,695 per month, with an all-beds median of $1,725 across the metro. Inside 78201, most standalone-house rentals cluster below that number — a 2BR bungalow near Woodlawn Lake in reasonable condition typically lists in the $1,100–$1,400 range, and a renovated 3BR runs $1,500–$1,900. The citywide 2BR median is $1,300 and the 3BR median is $1,700, and 78201 tends to sit at or under those marks. Duplex halves and garage apartments on the same lots go for $800–$1,100.

That pricing exists because of two things: age of the stock and school district. Which brings us to the next section.

SAISD, Jefferson High, and what that means

78201 feeds San Antonio ISD, not NEISD and not NISD. The high school for most of the ZIP is Thomas Jefferson High School on Donaldson Avenue — the 1932 Moorish Revival campus with the tile-domed towers that shows up on every list of most-architecturally-significant public high schools in the country. It has magnet programs (including a well-regarded law and business academy) and it is a Title I campus.

If you are moving here with kids, understand what SAISD actually offers:

• In-district transfers and magnets. SAISD runs a robust choice-of-school system. Young Women's Leadership Academy, CAST Tech, CAST Med, and Travis Early College all pull students from across the district by application.
• Feeder pattern in 78201. Most elementaries feed to Rogers or Tafolla middle, then Jefferson. Confirm the feeder for the exact address on the SAISD boundary map; it changes block by block.
• The Northeast-vs-Northside mixup. SAISD is neither. Do not confuse it with NEISD (North East, serving Alamo Heights-adjacent areas up through Stone Oak) or NISD (Northside, the largest district, serving the far west and northwest).

SAISD's rating history has been mixed, and the district's per-campus performance varies widely. If schools are your top filter, run the specific campus, not the district average.

Property taxes and the homestead exemption

78201 sits inside the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and SAISD, which stacks three of the four main taxing entities (the fourth being Alamo Community College District plus small ones like University Health and the flood district). Total combined rate typically runs in the low 2 percent range of appraised value, but the exact rate changes every fall when each entity adopts its budget.

If you buy here as a primary residence, file Form 50-114 with the Bexar Appraisal District (BCAD) to claim your homestead exemption. The deadline is April 30 of the tax year, and once filed, the exemption also caps your appraised value increases at 10 percent per year under Texas Property Tax Code § 23.23. On a 1920s bungalow that BCAD is re-comping against renovated neighbors, that cap matters a lot. When your appraisal notice arrives in April, protest it — informally with the assigned appraiser first, then to the ARB (formal hearings run May through July) if the informal doesn't resolve. Bring comps from your actual block, not from the renovated flip three streets over.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming the whole ZIP is the same. The two blocks north of Woodlawn Lake trade differently than the two blocks south of Fredericksburg. Walk it before you sign.
• Skipping the sewer scope on a 1930s house. A collapsed cast iron line under a slab addition is a $6,000–$15,000 repair. A $200 camera inspection during option finds it.
• Confusing SAISD with NEISD. They are entirely separate districts with entirely separate boundaries. Neighborhood name and ZIP do not determine school — the address on the SAISD/NEISD/NISD boundary map does.
• Treating the Deco District like a finished product. It is a corridor in slow revitalization. Some blocks are polished; others are not. Rent or buy based on what the block looks like now, not what a listing agent says it will look like.
• Not protesting the first appraisal after purchase. BCAD will often re-appraise to sale price. If comparable unrenovated houses on your block are appraised lower, you have a real protest under § 41.41. File by the deadline printed on your notice.
• Renting a bungalow without confirming who pays for what. Older houses have older systems. Under Texas Property Code § 92.052 the landlord owes a duty to repair conditions that materially affect health and safety, but who pays for a $400 HVAC service call on a 20-year-old unit depends on the lease. Read it.

The commute picture

Downtown is 10–12 minutes off-peak via Fredericksburg or I-10. The Medical Center is 15 minutes. JBSA-Lackland is 20–25 minutes via Loop 410 west. JBSA-Fort Sam Houston is 15 minutes across I-35. JBSA-Randolph is 25–30 minutes across town and is not a reasonable daily commute from here — if you are stationed at Randolph, look at Universal City, Converse, or Live Oak instead. VIA runs frequent bus service down Fredericksburg Road, and the corridor is one of the more transit-usable stretches in the city.

Who this ZIP actually fits

78201 works for a buyer or renter who wants to be inside Loop 410, wants character housing, is willing to trade a newer floor plan and a large-district school average for lower price per square foot and 10-minute access to downtown, and is not going to be commuting daily to Randolph or Boerne. It does not work for someone who needs an HOA-managed subdivision, a slab-on-grade 2010s build, or an NEISD or NISD address.

To see what is currently available around Woodlawn Lake and the Deco District, browse active rentals on RentInSA at /rentals filtered to 78201, or explore the rest of the neighborhood series at /resources. If you are selling a bungalow here without an agent, our free FSBO listing page is at /list-your-home.