What actually sets Pennsylvania apart
Pennsylvania's base-year system makes the assessed value on a listing almost meaningless without the county's common level ratio. Divide the assessment by the ratio to get the implied market value the county is taxing you on, then compare that with what you are paying. If the implied value is well above your price, an appeal is usually worth filing.
Property taxes in Pennsylvania at a glance
- Average effective tax rate: 1.35% of home value per year
- Median home value: $240,500
- Estimated tax on a median-value home: $3,241 per year (about $270 per month)
- Rank by tax rate: 12th of 50, highest first
- Rank by amount actually paid: 17th of 50, highest first
- Where these figures come from: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, for the Pennsylvania statewide averages shown above — ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates, last reviewed September 2026.
What the Pennsylvania rate leaves out
Pennsylvania is 12th of the fifty by rate and 17th by the bill a median-value owner receives — a shift of 5 places, and the $240,500 median home value is what causes it. The rate is a reasonable shorthand here, but it is not the whole answer, and both numbers are worth checking before comparing Pennsylvania with anywhere else.
How Pennsylvania works out what you owe
Counties assess against a base year that can be decades old, and the state publishes a common level ratio each year to translate those values into current market terms. Some counties have not reassessed since the 1970s.
Act 1 limits how far a school district can raise its rate without either a referendum or a state-approved exception.
Exemptions Pennsylvania homeowners should claim
Each of these reduces a Pennsylvania bill every year you hold the property, and almost none are granted without a claim:
- Homestead and farmstead exclusion: Funded by state gaming revenue, this excludes part of the assessed value of a primary residence from school tax. The amount varies substantially by district.
- Property Tax/Rent Rebate: A state rebate for owners aged 65 or older, widows and widowers aged 50 or older, and disabled owners, within an income limit.
Where you buy inside Pennsylvania changes the bill
A statewide average hides its extremes. Where they show up in Pennsylvania:
- Allegheny County: Pittsburgh, where the gap between the base year and current values has made appeals routine and the common level ratio decisive
- Philadelphia County: the city assesses annually at full market value, unlike most of the state, and offers its own homestead exemption
- Montgomery County: the Philadelphia suburbs, with high school district levies and a base year well behind the market
Pennsylvania and its neighbours
The same $240,500 — the Pennsylvania median — taxed at each neighbouring state's average rate:
- New York at 1.6%: about $3,848 a year, roughly $607 more than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
- New Jersey at 2.23%: about $5,363 a year, roughly $2,122 more than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
- Delaware at 0.53%: about $1,275 a year, roughly $1,966 less than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
- Maryland at 1%: about $2,405 a year, roughly $836 less than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
- West Virginia at 0.54%: about $1,299 a year, roughly $1,942 less than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
- Ohio at 1.36%: about $3,271 a year, roughly $30 more than the $3,241 a Pennsylvania owner would pay on the same value.
Appealing a Pennsylvania assessment
If the assessed value on your Pennsylvania home overstates what it is worth, the route is an appeal to the county Board of Assessment Appeals, then the Court of Common Pleas. The window is annual appeal deadlines are set by county, commonly 1 August or 1 September, and it is strict — missing it means waiting a full cycle.
Frequently asked questions
When are Pennsylvania property taxes due, and when must exemption claims be filed?
County and municipal taxes are billed in the spring on a calendar year, while school taxes are billed separately on a July fiscal year. The homestead exclusion is applied for with the county by 1 March; the rebate is claimed with the Department of Revenue by 30 June.
Does this calculator use my exact Pennsylvania county tax rate?
No — it applies the Pennsylvania statewide average of 1.35%. Rates are set locally, and the spread inside Pennsylvania is wide enough to matter: on a $240,500 home, $876 a year separates Pennsylvania from an averagely taxed state before any county variation is counted. Check the parcel's own rate with its Pennsylvania 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.