Property tax in Laurel County, Kentucky

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

The bill comes from the Laurel County Sheriff's Office. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Laurel 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 sheriff's website lets you look up a bill; it does not say that payments can be made online. Pay in person at the sheriff's office at 1380 East Highway 192 in London, where cards are accepted, or by check through the mail or the drop box at the front of the building; do not send cash. For a receipt by mail, include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Cities in Kentucky can levy their own property tax and bill it separately, so owners inside the City of London should check whether they also get a city bill.

When are property taxes due in Laurel County?

For the 2026 bill, Laurel County has one due date: December 31, 2026. Kentucky sends one bill a year, with no installments, and state law sets the schedule. Paying in full by November 1, 2026 takes 2% off the bill; from November 2 through December 31, 2026 the face amount is due. November 1, 2026 is a Sunday, and the county has not said whether a Monday payment still gets the discount, so pay by Friday, October 30 to be safe. December 31, 2026 is a Thursday. If bills go out late, state law lets the Department of Revenue set a later schedule, and the dates printed on your bill then replace these. The sheriff's office has not posted its own 2026 dates. Under state law, a bill paid from January 1 through January 31, 2027 carries a 5% penalty, and a bill paid after January 31, 2027 carries a 10% penalty. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, and the county has not said whether a Monday payment still avoids the higher penalty.

From Laurel 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 Laurel County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Laurel County's average effective rate of 0.57% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Laurel 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 Laurel County compare in Kentucky?

Among Kentucky's 120 counties, Laurel County has the 105th highest effective property-tax rate: 104 rank higher and 15 rank lower. That places it among the least taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 2366th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Kentucky county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Laurel County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Laurel County's 17,185 owner-occupied homes, 3.4% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 9.3% pay at least $2,000, and 40.4% pay under $800. Another 9.7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,183 and owners without one pay $592. 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 Laurel County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $906 is about 1.3% of the median income of Laurel County homeowner households, $69,221 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 71.6% of Laurel 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 Laurel County?

Yes. The median bill went from $710 in 2015-2019 to $906 in 2020-2024, a 27.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 42.4%, from $112,000 to $159,500. 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 Laurel County

Laurel County borders 7 counties.

How is a home assessed in Laurel County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Laurel 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 Laurel County. Kentucky's exemptions and relief programs in full.

Laurel County does not add relief programs of its own beyond the Kentucky ones (checked September 23, 2026).

How to appeal your Laurel County property assessment

In Laurel County you appeal to the Laurel County Board of Assessment Appeals (appeals are filed with the Laurel County Clerk). The deadline: First ask the PVA for a conference, before or during the tax roll inspection period, which by state law opens on the first Monday in May and runs for about two weeks; in 2026 it ran May 4 to May 18. If the conference does not settle it, file a written appeal with the Laurel County Clerk no later than one workday after the inspection period ends, stating the reasons, identifying the property and giving your opinion of its fair cash value. The window for 2026 assessments has passed; the next one normally opens in May 2027. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Laurel County does not restate them on its own pages.

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 Laurel 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 Laurel County

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