Property tax in Lake County, Indiana
In Lake County, the property tax bill comes from the Lake County Treasurer. The 2025 pay 2026 bill is paid in 2 installments, and the next one is due November 10, 2026. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Lake County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.
The median property tax bill in Lake County, Indiana is $2,112 a year, which is about 0.92% of the county's median home value of $230,600. That effective rate is higher than the typical Indiana county (0.66%) and higher than the national median (0.81%). These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024); your own bill depends on your home's assessed value and any exemptions.
Who sends the property tax bill in Lake County, and how do you pay it?
The bill comes from the Lake County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Lake County Assessor, which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.
Property tax bills come from the Lake County Treasurer, which has offices in Crown Point, Hammond and Gary. Indiana bills a year in arrears: the 2025 assessment is taxed in two installments during 2026. The Lake County Assessor values property. If you have appealed your assessment, you may pay tax based on the prior year's assessment while the appeal is pending, but you must still pay that amount by each due date. Owners whose property was damaged in the August 11 and 12, 2026 storms can petition the Lake County Assessor to reassess it (state Form 137R); any reduction applies from the date of the storm, without penalty. Online card and e-check payments carry a convenience fee charged by the payment vendor, not the county.
When are property taxes due in Lake County?
For the 2025 pay 2026 bill, Lake County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due May 11, 2026 and the last November 10, 2026. The next one due is the fall installment, on November 10, 2026. A late installment is charged a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax if it is paid within 30 days of the due date and you owe no back taxes on the property. Otherwise the penalty is 10%. Tax still unpaid in later years picks up another 10% penalty after each May and November due date.
| Payment | Due | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Spring installment | May 11, 2026 (passed) | Indiana law sets May 10 and November 10 for every county. May 10, 2026 fell on a Sunday, and state law makes a payment due on a weekend or holiday on time if made the next business day, so the spring installment was due Monday, May 11. |
| Fall installment | November 10, 2026 | November 10, 2026 is a Tuesday. A mailed payment counts as on time if it is postmarked by the due date. Online payments must be for the full installment; partial payments are not accepted online. The county and the state have not moved this date because of the August 2026 storms. |
From Lake County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. The county had not posted a calendar labeled for this cycle when we checked, so these dates come from state law and the county's standing schedule; the date on your bill is the one that binds you.
Estimate the property tax on a home in Lake County
Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Lake County's average effective rate of 0.92% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.
Estimated property tax: $2,122 / year
Property tax in Lake County at a glance
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median annual property tax | $2,112 |
| Median home value | $230,600 |
| Effective tax rate | 0.92% |
| Typical Indiana county rate | 0.66% |
| National median county rate | 0.81% |
Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
How does Lake County compare in Indiana?
Among Indiana's 92 counties, Lake County has the highest effective property-tax rate. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 1298th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Indiana county ranked.
How much do homeowners in Lake County actually pay?
The median is only the middle bill. Across Lake County's 139,856 owner-occupied homes, 29.3% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 51.7% pay at least $2,000, and 10.5% pay under $800. Another 1.7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.
| Annual bill | Homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $800 | 14,620 | 10.5% |
| $800 to $1,499 | 29,097 | 20.8% |
| $1,500 to $1,999 | 21,531 | 15.4% |
| $2,000 to $2,999 | 31,360 | 22.4% |
| $3,000 or more | 40,919 | 29.3% |
| No property tax paid | 2,329 | 1.7% |
Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,274 and owners without one pay $1,866. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.
How does the Lake County property tax bill compare with local incomes?
The median property tax bill of $2,112 is about 2.4% of the median income of Lake County homeowner households, $88,178 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 71.7% of Lake County's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.
Have property taxes gone up in Lake County?
Yes. The median bill went from $1,678 in 2015-2019 to $2,112 in 2020-2024, a 25.9% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 54.2%, from $149,500 to $230,600. Bills rose more slowly than values, which is what assessment caps and falling millage rates do: the county is taxing a smaller share of each home's worth.
Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.
Property tax in counties next to Lake County
Lake County borders 6 counties, 3 of them across the state line.
| County | Effective rate | Median bill | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will County, IL | 2.24% | $7,173 | $319,600 |
| Kankakee County, IL | 2.21% | $4,266 | $192,600 |
| Cook County, IL | 1.91% | $6,191 | $324,500 |
| Lake County, IN (this county) | 0.92% | $2,112 | $230,600 |
| Porter County, IN | 0.83% | $2,326 | $281,500 |
| Newton County, IN | 0.77% | $1,323 | $171,500 |
| Jasper County, IN | 0.46% | $1,029 | $221,500 |
How is a home assessed in Lake County?
Indiana assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Lake County included. How Indiana assesses and reappraises homes.
Is there a homestead exemption in Lake County?
Yes, but it is shrinking. Indiana's homestead standard deduction is $40,000 for assessment year 2026 and reaches $0 from 2030; a bill paid in 2026 reflects the $48,000 figure. That is the Indiana rule, and it applies in Lake County. Indiana's exemptions and relief programs in full.
On top of the Indiana programs, Lake County runs its own:
- Local income tax property tax credit: Lake County puts part of its local income tax toward property tax credits (the state certified about $170.8 million of this revenue for 2026), and the County Council decides whether the credit goes to homesteads, to all residential property, or to all taxpayers; there is no application.
How to appeal your Lake County property assessment
In Lake County you appeal to the Lake County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA). The deadline: File Form 130 with the Lake County Assessor by June 15 of the assessment year if the notice of assessment was mailed before May 1. If the notice was mailed on or after May 1, or no notice was sent, the deadline is June 15 of the year the tax bill is mailed. A Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals decision can be appealed to the Indiana Board of Tax Review on Form 131 within 45 days. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.
How Indiana's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.
Indiana rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Indiana page.
Work out your own numbers
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How much house can I afford?
Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Lake County's tax rate to hand.
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Mortgage calculator
Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.
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Indiana income tax
Brackets, standard deduction and what Indiana actually taxes.
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Sales tax in Lake County
The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.
Sources
- Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Lake County, Indiana: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), tables B25103, B25077, B25102, B25119 and B25003; the five-year comparison uses the 2015-2019 estimates. Neighboring counties: Census county adjacency file.