What actually sets Kentucky apart
Kentucky's merged city-county governments in Louisville and Lexington levy different rates inside and outside the old city limits. Two addresses a few streets apart in the same county can sit in different service districts and pay different amounts for the same assessed value.
Property taxes in Kentucky at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 0.77% of home value per year
- Median home value: $192,300
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $1,472 per year (about $123 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 29th of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 43rd of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Kentucky statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
Why the Kentucky rate overstates the bill
Kentucky ranks 29th of the fifty on rate but only 43rd on the bill itself — 14 places lower. The percentage reads worse than the cheque does, because it is applied to a median home value of $192,300.
Hawaii is the mirror image: a rate of 0.27%, well under the 0.77% charged here, and a median bill near $2,183 — about $711 more a year than a Kentucky owner pays.
How Kentucky works out what you owe
Property is assessed at 100% of fair cash value as of 1 January, with rates set by the county, the school district, the city and any special districts.
House Bill 44 limits districts to a rate that produces no more than 4% more revenue from existing property than the prior year without exposing the increase to recall by petition.
Exemptions Kentucky homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Kentucky bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Homestead exemption: Owners aged 65 or older, and totally disabled owners, exempt a set amount of assessed value on a primary residence. The amount is adjusted for inflation every two years.
- Disability exemption: The same exemption is available regardless of age to owners receiving payments for total disability, with annual proof of continuing eligibility.
Where you buy inside Kentucky changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Kentucky:
- Jefferson County: Louisville, a merged city-county government where urban service district boundaries change the rate within the county
- Fayette County: Lexington, similarly merged, with an urban services district levy on top of the county-wide rate
- Kenton County: northern Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati, where buyers weigh Kentucky and Ohio bills against each other
Kentucky and its neighbours
The same $192,300 — the Kentucky median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- Ohio at 1.36%: about $2,615 a year, roughly $1,143 more than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- Indiana at 0.74%: about $1,423 a year, roughly $49 less than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- Illinois at 2.07%: about $3,981 a year, roughly $2,509 more than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- Missouri at 0.88%: about $1,692 a year, roughly $220 more than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- Tennessee at 0.55%: about $1,058 a year, roughly $414 less than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- Virginia at 0.74%: about $1,423 a year, roughly $49 less than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
- West Virginia at 0.54%: about $1,038 a year, roughly $434 less than the $1,472 a Kentucky owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Kentucky assessment
If the assessed value on your Kentucky home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county Board of Assessment Appeals. The window is a conference with the PVA during the open inspection period in May, then an appeal within days of its close, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Kentucky property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
Bills are issued around 1 November, with a discount for paying by 30 November and the face amount due by 31 December. Applications are filed with the county Property Valuation Administrator, ideally before the end of the year in which you turn 65 or become eligible.
Does this calculator use my exact Kentucky county tax rate?
No — it applies the Kentucky statewide average of 0.77%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Kentucky is wide enough to matter: on a $192,300 home, $415 a year separates Kentucky from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Kentucky county before relying on this figure.
Reference sources
Related calculators
How this estimate is built
Principal and interest come from the standard amortization formula, worked through in full on the formula reference page. Property tax, insurance, PMI and loan-program figures layer on top from published assumptions — each one sourced, dated and listed on the methodology page. Every result here is an estimate built from public data, not a quote: confirm the specifics with a lender before relying on it.
For developers
This calculation is also available as a REST API and through an MCP server, both running the same engine as this page — so the figures match by construction rather than by convention. No key required.