Arkansas property tax by county

Property tax rate by county in Arkansas

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), tables B25103 and B25077.

Why county rates vary so much

Property tax is set locally, not by the state, so the rate depends on the county, city, school district, and special districts where a home sits, and on how those local budgets compare to local home values. A county with low home values can still have a high effective rate if its local budgets are large, and a wealthy county can have a low effective rate. The effective rate shown here is the median tax bill divided by the median home value, which is the standard way to compare places; your own bill depends on your assessment and any exemptions.

For Arkansas's income and retirement taxes, see Arkansas income tax and Arkansas retirement taxes.

How does Arkansas assess homes for property tax?

Arkansas assesses homes at 20% of market value, the same in every county. Arkansas assesses property at 20% of market value, so a home appraised at $200,000 carries an assessed value of $40,000 and the millage applies to that. Amendment 79 then caps how fast taxable assessed value can climb after a reappraisal, at 5% a year on an owner-occupied home and 10% on everything else, until it catches up to full assessed value. Those caps do not apply to new construction or substantial improvements.

Counties are on a four year reappraisal cycle. The Assessment Coordination Division can let a county sit temporarily on a three or five year cycle so roughly the same number of counties reappraise each year, so the real gap in your county may be three, four or five years, converging on four from 2027.

Is there a homestead exemption in Arkansas?

Arkansas does not exempt a fixed slice of value the way many states do. Amendment 79 gives a flat dollar credit subtracted from the bill after the tax is calculated, and it can never be larger than the tax you owe. The amount is stepping up on a schedule: $600 for assessment year 2025, which is what appears on bills payable in 2026, rising to $675 for assessment year 2026, on bills payable in 2027. You register the homestead once with your county assessor rather than reapplying annually, and you can claim it on only one property.

Other state relief for homeowners:

• Seniors and disabled owners: Homeowners 65 or older, or disabled, who qualify for the homestead credit have the taxable assessed value of their home frozen at the value set on the next assessment date after they turn 65 or become disabled. This is a freeze, not an exemption, so it does not cut the bill on the day it starts. What it does is stop later reappraisals from pushing the value up. The value can still drop if a reassessment finds the home is worth less, and it can rise if a substantial improvement adds 25% or more to the value. There is no income test. Selling ends it, and the new owner must qualify on their own.
• Disabled veterans: A veteran awarded special monthly compensation by the VA for loss or loss of use of one or more limbs, total blindness in one or both eyes, or a service-connected 100% total and permanent disability owes no property tax at all on their homestead and personal property. Because it wipes out the whole bill rather than exempting a set amount, there is no dollar figure. It generally carries over to a surviving spouse who has not remarried and to minor dependent children. Establish eligibility by giving your county collector the letter from the VA.
• The homestead credit is a flat amount set by the legislature and it has been stepping up, which is why no single figure fits every bill. It rose from $500 to $600 for assessment years beginning in 2025, and again to $675 for assessment years beginning in 2026. In both cases the credit cannot exceed the tax you actually owe, so a very small bill is wiped out rather than refunded.

Arkansas sets these rules and each county's property tax office applies them, which is where the application, the filing deadline and the form come from. Some counties add programs of their own; where we have checked a county, its page lists them.

When are property taxes due in Arkansas?

Arkansas bills in the year after assessment, so what you assess in one year you pay the next. Tax is due and payable from the first business day in March through October 15, and anything unpaid after October 15 picks up a 10% penalty. You can split the bill: a quarter by the third Monday in April, another quarter by the third Monday in July, and the remaining half by October 15. Collectors may also let you pay in any amount across that window.

Arkansas splits the bill into 3 installments. That is the state rule. Each county issues and collects its own bill, so the dates printed on your statement are the ones that bind you.

How do you appeal a property assessment in Arkansas?

You contest the assessed value with the County Board of Equalization, then county court, then circuit court. The filing deadline is typically the third Monday in August. Start with your county assessor, who can fix a measurement or clerical error without a formal appeal. If that does not settle it, apply to the county equalization board by the third Monday in August, in person, by petition, or by letter to the board's secretary. The board meets from August 1 through October 1, the burden is on you to show the assessment is wrong, and you can send an agent or submit written documentation instead of appearing. You must go through the equalization board before you can reach county court.

Arkansas property-tax rules from primary state sources (revenue department and statute), reviewed September 7, 2026. Exemption amounts and credits change; confirm the current figures with your county assessor. Sources: assessment, exemptions, due dates, appeals.