Property Tax Calculator

One mill is one one-thousandth of a dollar, or $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. A 20-mill rate on a $300,000 taxable property works out to 300,000 times 20 divided by 1,000, which is $6,000 per year. Counties and cities usually publish the total millage as the sum of separate levies for schools, county services, fire, library, and special districts. Adding them together gives the combined rate the calculator expects.

Market value estimates what a property could sell for, while assessed or taxable value is defined by local law for tax calculation. Assessment ratios, valuation dates, caps, classifications, and exemptions vary by jurisdiction. Florida does not have a universal rule that all homes are assessed at 80 percent of market value. Use the assessed value or ratio from the current local notice rather than a state-level shortcut.

A homestead exemption subtracts a fixed dollar amount from the assessed value before the tax rate is applied, lowering the bill for primary residences. Florida's standard homestead exemption is $50,000 (split across two levies), Texas exempts $100,000 of school district value, and many other states offer $25,000 to $75,000. The exemption only applies to your principal residence and usually has to be claimed once with the county. The calculator clamps taxable value at zero, so an exemption larger than the assessed value simply zeros out the tax.

Effective tax rate divides annual tax by market value, while millage is applied to taxable value. When the assessment ratio is below 100% or a homestead exemption shrinks the taxable base, the share of market value you actually pay in tax drops. A property with a 20-mill rate, an 80% assessment ratio, and no exemption pays an effective rate of 1.6% of market value, not 2.0%. The calculator shows both numbers so you can compare against the US median effective rate (about 1.0 to 1.3%).

Check your most recent property tax bill, which lists every levy in mills or as a tax rate per $100 of value. County assessor and treasurer websites also publish the current rates by tax district. If your bill shows a rate per $100 (common in Pennsylvania, Texas, and other states), multiply by 10 to convert to mills. Rates per $1,000 are already in mills. For a fast sanity check, divide last year's tax bill by the taxable value and multiply by 1,000 to back out the effective millage.