What actually sets Mississippi apart
Mississippi's over-65 exemption is a genuine exemption from value rather than a capped credit, which makes it one of the more valuable senior provisions in the south. On a modest home it can remove the county and school tax entirely.
Property taxes in Mississippi at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 0.74% of home value per year
- Median home value: $161,400
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $1,189 per year (about $99 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 32nd of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 46th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Mississippi statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
Why the Mississippi rate overstates the bill
Mississippi ranks 32nd of the fifty on rate but only 46th 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 $161,400.
Hawaii is the mirror image: a rate of 0.27%, well under the 0.74% charged here, and a median bill near $2,183 — about $994 more a year than a Mississippi owner pays.
How Mississippi works out what you owe
Owner-occupied homes are Class I property, assessed at 10% of true value, while other residential property is assessed at 15%.
Mississippi sets no statutory limit on how fast a home's taxable value can rise, so a Mississippi assessment tracks the market more closely than it would in a capped state.
Exemptions Mississippi homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Mississippi bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Homestead exemption: A credit against the bill on an owner-occupied residence, applied for once and renewed automatically while circumstances are unchanged.
- Over-65 and disabled exemption: Owners aged 65 or older, and totally disabled owners, are exempt from tax on the first tranche of true value rather than merely receiving a credit.
Where you buy inside Mississippi changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Mississippi:
- Hinds County: Jackson, where city and school millage produce the state's higher urban bills
- DeSoto County: the Memphis commuter belt, where buyers compare Mississippi bills directly against Tennessee ones
- Harrison County: the Gulf Coast, where windstorm insurance rather than tax is the constraint on affordability
Mississippi and its neighbours
The same $161,400 — the Mississippi median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- Tennessee at 0.55%: about $888 a year, roughly $301 less than the $1,189 a Mississippi owner would pay on the same value.
- Alabama at 0.38%: about $613 a year, roughly $576 less than the $1,189 a Mississippi owner would pay on the same value.
- Louisiana at 0.55%: about $888 a year, roughly $301 less than the $1,189 a Mississippi owner would pay on the same value.
- Arkansas at 0.57%: about $920 a year, roughly $269 less than the $1,189 a Mississippi owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Mississippi assessment
If the assessed value on your Mississippi home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county Board of Supervisors sitting as the board of equalization. The window is objections are heard in August, before the roll is finalised, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Mississippi property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
Bills are issued in December and are due by 1 February. Applications are filed with the county tax assessor between 1 January and 1 April in the year after you buy.
Does this calculator use my exact Mississippi county tax rate?
No — it applies the Mississippi statewide average of 0.74%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Mississippi is wide enough to matter: on a $161,400 home, $396 a year separates Mississippi from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Mississippi 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.