Overview of Ohio Taxes
Property tax rates in Ohio are higher than the national average, which is currently 0.99%. The average effective property tax rate in Ohio is 1.41%.
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To calculate the exact amount of property tax you will owe requires your property's assessed value and the property tax rates based on your property's address. Please note that we can only estimate your property tax based on median property taxes in your area. There are typically multiple rates in a given area, because your state, county, local schools and emergency responders each receive funding partly through these taxes. In our calculator, we take your home value and multiply that by your county's effective property tax rate. This is equal to the median property tax paid as a percentage of the median home value in your county.
Ohio Property Taxes
Homeowners in the Buckeye State pay property tax rates that are higher than the national average but lower than those of several other Midwestern states. The average effective property tax rate in Ohio is 1.41%.
However, tax rates vary significantly between Ohio counties and cities. The highest rates are in Cuyahoga County, where the average effective rate is 2.51%. The county with the lowest rate is Lawrence County, which has an average effective rate of 0.86%.
If you’re looking to move to the Buckeye State despite the slightly high property taxes, check out our guide to mortgages in Ohio. This will inform you about the rates and details about refinancing or getting a mortgage in each of the counties of Ohio.
A financial advisor can help you understand how homeownership fits into your overall financial goals. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
How Ohio Property Taxes Work
Property taxes in Ohio pay for important local services like schools, police departments and parks. They’re also a major source of revenue for city and county governments. Every county has a county auditor who is responsible for determining the assessed value of each home in the county, on which property taxes are based.
Property appraisals follow a six-year cycle in Ohio. Counties conduct full appraisals once every six years, and values are updated based on market conditions in the third year after the appraisal. Appraised values should equal 100% of market value.
However, assessed values in Ohio – the amounts on which property taxes are based – are calculated at 35% of appraised value. So, for example, if your property is worth $100,000, your assessed value should be $35,000.
Since counties all have their own appraisal methods, assessed values can vary from one county to the next. For this reason, the state of Ohio annually publishes “sales ratios” which represent the assessed value in a county as a percentage of actual value. Ideally, this value would be 35%, but in many places it is closer to 30%.
Ohio Property Tax Rates
Property tax rates in Ohio are expressed as millage rates. One mill is equal to $1 of tax for every $1,000 in assessed value. Rates vary by school district, city and county.
Because of the differences in assessed value described above, millage rates in one county cannot be directly compared to another. For this reason, it is useful to look at effective tax rates. The average effective tax rate is calculated as the median annual property tax as a percentage of the median home value in a county.
The table below presents average effective tax rates, median real estate tax payments and median home values for every Ohio county.
Looking to calculate your potential monthly mortgage payment? Check out our mortgage calculator.
Cuyahoga County
Ohio’s largest county by population also has the highest property taxes in the state. The average effective property tax rate in Cuyahoga County is 2.51%, which ranks both first in Ohio and among the top 100 counties nationally. So for a home worth $150,000, you could expect to pay a property tax bill of roughly $3,460.
Franklin County
Franklin County is located in central Ohio and contains the state capital, Columbus. On average, the county has the third-highest property tax rate in Ohio, with an average effective rate of 2.06%. The last countywide reappraisal in Franklin County was in 2017.
If you have questions about how property taxes can affect your overall financial plans, a financial advisor in Columbus can help you out.
Hamilton County
Situated along the Ohio River in southwest Ohio, Hamilton County has property tax rates higher than both state and national averages. The county’s average effective property tax rate is 1.96%.
That's also higher than the rates in Kentucky’s Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties, which are located across the river from Hamilton County. Effective property tax rates in those counties range from 1.17% to 1.30%.
Summit County
The median annual property tax paid by homeowners in Summit County is $2,901, the eighth-highest amount in the state. That is $367 higher than the state median, which is $2534. However, it's worth noting that homeowners in nearby Cuyahoga County pay even more on an annual basis, at $3,460.
Montgomery County
This western Ohio County has among the highest property tax rates in the state. The county’s average effective property tax rate is 2.29%, which ranks as the second-highest out of Ohio’s 88 counties. The median annual property tax payment is $2,864.
Lucas County
Situated along the Michigan border and Lake Erie in northern Ohio, Lucas County has property tax rates that are higher than both state and national averages. The Lucas County average effective property tax rate is 2.03%, which ranks as the fourth-highest rate in Ohio. At that rate, taxes on a home worth $100,000 would be $2,030 annually.
Stark County
Located in central Ohio, Stark county, has property taxes far lower than most of Ohio’s other urban counties. In fact, the county’s average effective property tax rate is just 1.51%. That is higher than the state average (1.41%) and but still below the rate in neighboring Summit County (1.92%).
Butler County
Butler County is located in southwest Ohio, just to the north of Cincinnati. Property values in Butler County were last reappraised in 2020. The county’s average effective property tax of 1.52% ranks as one of the highest rates in the state.
Lorain County
Located on Lake Erie in northern Ohio, Lorain County is part of the greater Cleveland metropolitan area. While the county’s average effective property tax rate of 1.75% ranks as the 10th-highest in the state, it is still well below the rate in neighboring Cuyahoga County (2.451%).
Mahoning County
The median home value in eastern Ohio’s Mahoning County is $108,200, which is among the lowest markets in the state (No.17). That is part of the reason homeowners in Mahoning County pay relatively low property taxes, as the median annual property tax payment here is $1,955, which is $840 less than the state median.
Places Receiving the Most Value for Their Property Taxes
SmartAsset’s interactive map highlights the places across the country where property tax dollars are being spent most effectively. Zoom between states and the national map to see the counties getting the biggest bang for their property tax buck.
Methodology
Our study aims to find the places in the United States where people are getting the most value for their property tax dollars. To do this, we looked at property taxes paid, school rankings and the change in property values over a five-year period.
First, we used the number of households, median home value and average property tax rate to calculate a per capita property tax collected for each county.
As a way to measure the quality of schools, we analyzed the math and reading/language arts proficiencies for every school district in the country. We created an average score for each district by looking at the scores for every school in that district, weighting it to account for the number of students in each school. Within each state, we assigned every county a score between 1 and 10 (with 10 being the best) based on the average scores of the districts in each county.
Then, we calculated the change in property tax value in each county over a five-year period. Places where property values rose by the greatest amount indicated where consumers were motivated to buy homes, and a positive return on investment for homeowners in the community.
Finally, we calculated a property tax index, based on the criteria above. Counties with the highest scores were those where property tax dollars are going the furthest.
Sources: US Census Bureau 2018 American Community Survey, Department of Education
