Delaware property tax by county

Property tax rate by county in Delaware

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 Delaware's income and retirement taxes, see Delaware income tax and Delaware retirement taxes.

How does Delaware assess homes for property tax?

Delaware has no single statewide assessment percentage. State law says all taxable property is assessed at its fair market value as of the date of the county's most recent reassessment base year, so each county is at 100% of value but of a different year's market. After recent court-ordered reassessments, New Castle County values property as of July 2024 and Kent and Sussex as of mid-2023. Because the base-year dates differ, one statewide ratio cannot honestly be published. Note that Delaware's state government levies no property tax at all: counties, school districts and municipalities do.

Since 2023 state law has required every county to reassess all real property at least once every five years, with the clock restarting when a county board certifies the completed reassessment. All three counties recently finished court-ordered reassessments, replacing base years that had been frozen since 1983 in New Castle County and 1974 in Sussex County. Between reassessments a property's value changes only for new construction, a change to the property, or correction of an error.

Is there a homestead exemption in Delaware?

Delaware has no general homestead exemption. The state exemption chapter covers government, religious, educational, charitable and specifically named organizations' property, and contains nothing that shelters an ordinary owner-occupied home from county, school or municipal tax. Relief comes instead through the age-65 and disabled-veteran school tax credits and through county-level exemptions that carry income limits.

Other state relief for homeowners:

• Seniors and disabled owners: The statewide benefit for people 65 and older is the Senior School Property Tax Credit, a credit against the school portion of the bill rather than an exemption of value. It pays 50% of regular school property taxes on a primary residence, capped at $500 a year, with no income test. You must be 65 by the start of the tax year and meet a domicile test: no waiting period if you were domiciled in Delaware before 2013, three years if you moved in between 2013 and 2017, and ten consecutive years if you arrived in 2018 or later. Apply to your county assessment office by April 30. Separately, each county runs its own income-limited exemption of assessed value, and the amounts differ sharply: New Castle County removes up to $173,000 of assessed value from county tax for owners 65 and over with income of $65,000 or less, while Sussex County removes up to $229,000 for owners 65 and over or disabled with non-Social-Security income under $6,000 single or $7,500 married.
• Disabled veterans: Delaware's Disabled Veterans School Property Tax Credit wipes out 100% of the non-vocational school district property tax on a principal residence, so the benefit is a share of the bill rather than a fixed amount of exempted value. You qualify with a 100% service-connected permanent and total disability rating, including individual unemployability, and three years of Delaware domicile, and you cannot claim this and the senior school credit at the same time. Applications are due April 30 and do not have to be refiled each year. New Castle County goes further and grants qualifying veterans a full exemption from county property tax as well.
• Sussex County also runs a property tax subsidy program that exempts the first $16,000 of taxable assessment for owners with income under $15,800 single or $20,000 married and liquid assets under $15,000, with a five year county residency test. New Castle County's elderly and disability exemptions are filed by June 1 rather than April 30, so deadlines are not uniform. Because these programs are county ordinances, the amounts and income limits change from county to county and are reset after each reassessment.

Delaware 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 Delaware?

Delaware bills once a year, not in installments. Counties issue bills in the summer and the entire annual amount is due by September 30 in all three counties. Kent and Sussex add a 1.5% penalty per month on anything unpaid after that date. State law lets a county accept quarterly or more frequent payments if it chooses.

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 Delaware?

You contest the assessed value with the your county board of assessment, then Delaware Superior Court. The filing deadline is typically set by each county, not statewide: New Castle March 14, Kent the last working day in January, Sussex March 15. You appeal the assessed value, not the tax rate or the size of your bill, and the burden is on you to show substantial overvaluation with evidence such as arm's length comparable sales or an appraisal keyed to the county's base-year date. In New Castle and Sussex counties you generally cannot introduce new evidence at the hearing that was not filed with your appeal form. A board decision can be appealed to Superior Court within 30 days. An appeal filed in one winter affects the following tax year's bill, so missing the window means waiting a full year.

Delaware 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.