Property tax in Jefferson County, Kentucky

Who sends the property tax bill in Jefferson County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (property tax). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Jefferson County Property Valuation Administrator (PVA), 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.

The Jefferson County Sheriff collects the state, Louisville Metro, Jefferson County Public Schools, Urban Services District and fire district property taxes on one bill. Many of the smaller home rule cities inside Jefferson County send and collect their own separate tax bill, in addition to the sheriff's bill, so check with your city. The bill goes to whoever owned the property on January 1. Online payments cost $2.00 by e-check, or 2.25% by card with a $1.95 minimum.

When are property taxes due in Jefferson County?

For the 2026 bill, Jefferson County has one due date: January 2, 2027. Kentucky sends one bill a year, with no installments, and the sheriff mails bills in November; call the sheriff's office if yours has not arrived by the second week of November. The sheriff's standing schedule gives a 2% discount for paying from November 1 through December 1, then the face amount is due December 2 through January 2. The sheriff has not yet posted its 2026 dates, so check the schedule printed on your 2026 bill. On that schedule, the discount runs through Tuesday, December 1, 2026, and the face amount through January 2, 2027, which is a Saturday. The sheriff says a due date that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or office holiday moves to the next day the office is open, so the face amount can be paid through Monday, January 4, 2027. The sheriff accepts partial payments on the current year's bill while it is collecting, November 1 through April 15. On the sheriff's schedule, a bill paid after the face-amount period (January 5 through February 3 in the 2026 cycle, once the weekend rule is applied) carries a 5% penalty, and from February 4 through April 15 a 10% penalty plus the sheriff's 10% add-on fee. At the close of business on April 15, unpaid bills go to the Jefferson County Clerk, where more costs, fees and interest are added, and the bill may be sold to a third party. After April 15, the Jefferson County Attorney's Office handles payment plans.

From Jefferson 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 Jefferson County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Jefferson County's average effective rate of 0.86% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Jefferson County at a glance

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 Jefferson County compare in Kentucky?

Among Kentucky's 120 counties, Jefferson County has the 14th highest effective property-tax rate: 13 rank higher and 106 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 1443rd of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Kentucky county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Jefferson County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Jefferson County's 205,981 owner-occupied homes, 30% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 51.2% pay at least $2,000, and 9.7% pay under $800. Another 3.4% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,222 and owners without one pay $1,974. 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 Jefferson County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $2,136 is about 2.4% of the median income of Jefferson County homeowner households, $90,548 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 62.1% of Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,597 in 2015-2019 to $2,136 in 2020-2024, a 33.8% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 46%, from $170,100 to $248,400. 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 Jefferson County

Jefferson County borders 8 counties, 3 of them across the state line.

How is a home assessed in Jefferson County?

Kentucky assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Jefferson County included. How Kentucky assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Jefferson County?

Only for older and disabled owners. Kentucky's homestead exemption is age and disability based; an owner-occupant under 65 who is not totally disabled gets none. That is the Kentucky rule, and it applies in Jefferson County. Kentucky's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Kentucky programs, Jefferson County runs its own:

• Louisville Metro assessment moratorium for rehabilitated buildings: A Louisville Metro program for owners who repair or rehabilitate a home or other building at least 25 years old: when the work costs at least 25% of the building's assessed value (10% for an owner-occupied home in a qualifying lower-income census tract, 5% for an owner-occupied home in certain older urban neighborhoods such as Portland, Russell, Shawnee and Smoketown), or the finished building is LEED certified, the local tax is figured on the value from before the work for five years, while state and school taxes use the current value. You must apply to Louisville Metro's Codes and Regulations department at least 30 days before the work starts.

How to appeal your Jefferson County property assessment

In Jefferson County you appeal to the Jefferson County Local Board of Assessment Appeals (appeals are filed with the Jefferson County Clerk). The deadline: First hold a conference with the PVA during the open inspection period; the PVA runs this as an online conference, which for 2026 was open from April 24 to May 18, 2026. If the conference does not settle it, file your appeal, with the PVA's conference result form, at the Jefferson County Clerk's office no later than one workday after the inspection period ends, or by the deadline printed on your conference results. The window for 2026 assessments has passed; the next one normally opens in spring 2027. A decision of the local board can be appealed to the Kentucky Board of Tax Appeals. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

How Kentucky's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

Kentucky rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Kentucky page.

Work out your own numbers

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Jefferson County's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

  Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.

• Kentucky income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Kentucky actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Jefferson County

  The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.