Property tax in Charles County, Maryland

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

In Charles County, the property tax bill comes from the Department of Fiscal and Administrative Services, Treasury Division. The Fiscal 2027 bill is paid in 2 installments, and the next one is due December 31, 2026. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Charles County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Charles County, Maryland is $4,339 a year, which is about 1.01% of the county's median home value of $428,500. That effective rate is higher than the typical Maryland county (0.9%) 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 Charles County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Department of Fiscal and Administrative Services, Treasury Division. The value it is based on is set by a state agency, the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), Charles County assessment office, 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.

Maryland's SDAT, not the county, values every property and hears the first appeal; the county's Treasury Division sends the bill and collects it. For homes in the Town of La Plata or the Town of Indian Head, the town's property tax is included on the county bill. New construction gets extra partial-year bills, generally mailed in October, January and April. Tax payments can also be made by phone at 1-844-434-0300 or in person at the Government Building in La Plata or the Waldorf payment center. Card payments carry a processor fee of 2.45% ($2 minimum) and electronic checks $1.50, neither kept by the county. Mailed payments go to Treasury, P.O. Box 2607, La Plata, MD 20646.

When are property taxes due in Charles County?

For the Fiscal 2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) bill, Charles County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due September 30, 2026 and the last December 31, 2026. The next one due is the second semi-annual installment, on December 31, 2026. Annual bills and first installments unpaid on October 1 are overdue and carry interest of 1% for each month or part of a month until paid. Under state law a second installment accrues interest only after December 31. Properties with unpaid taxes may be sold at the county's tax sale, held each May.

Charles County property tax due dates, Fiscal 2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Payment	Due	Note
Annual bill, or first semi-annual installment	September 30, 2026 (passed)	Full-year bills are mailed in July. A principal residence is billed on the semiannual schedule by default under state law (Tax-Property 10-204.3), and the owner may instead pay the whole year by September 30. If your taxes are escrowed, send the bill to your mortgage company.
Second semi-annual installment	December 31, 2026	Applies only to bills on the semiannual schedule. The second installment includes a service charge, which state law waives if both installments are paid by September 30.

From Charles County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. If a date falls on a weekend or holiday, the county's own rules on the next business day apply.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Charles County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Charles County's average effective rate of 1.01% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Home market value

Estimated property tax: $4,328 / year

Property tax in Charles County at a glance

Charles County, Maryland property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$4,339
Median home value	$428,500
Effective tax rate	1.01%
Typical Maryland county rate	0.9%
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 Charles County compare in Maryland?

Among Maryland's 24 counties, Charles County has the 6th highest effective property-tax rate: 5 rank higher and 18 rank lower. That is on the higher side for Maryland. Nationally, it ranks 1079th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Maryland county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Charles County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Charles County's 49,958 owner-occupied homes, 72.5% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 85.2% pay at least $2,000, and 3.1% pay under $800. Another 4.6% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Charles County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	1,564	3.1%
$800 to $1,499	1,925	3.9%
$1,500 to $1,999	1,642	3.3%
$2,000 to $2,999	6,323	12.7%
$3,000 or more	36,223	72.5%
No property tax paid	2,281	4.6%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $4,421 and owners without one pay $4,089. That is within 10% either way, so in Charles County paying off the house does not go with a noticeably different bill. Census table B25103.

How does the Charles County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $4,339 is about 3.2% of the median income of Charles County homeowner households, $136,321 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 82.1% of Charles 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 Charles County?

Yes. The median bill went from $3,672 in 2015-2019 to $4,339 in 2020-2024, a 18.2% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 36.8%, from $313,300 to $428,500. 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 Charles County

Charles County borders 8 counties, 5 of them across the state line.

Charles County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Prince George's County, MD	1.12%	$4,771	$426,000
Fairfax County, VA	1.01%	$7,368	$732,800
Charles County, MD (this county)	1.01%	$4,339	$428,500
Prince William County, VA	0.94%	$4,999	$530,100
Calvert County, MD	0.84%	$3,885	$460,200
St. Mary's County, MD	0.84%	$3,424	$407,600
Stafford County, VA	0.7%	$3,410	$485,100
Westmoreland County, VA	0.6%	$1,628	$269,600
King George County, VA	0.53%	$2,254	$428,300

How is a home assessed in Charles County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Charles County?

Not as an exemption. Maryland's Homestead Tax Credit caps how much your taxable assessment can rise each year: 10% for the state portion, and a cap each county and municipality sets between 0% and 10% for its own. That is the Maryland rule, and it applies in Charles County. Maryland's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Maryland programs, Charles County runs its own:

County supplement to the Homeowners' Property Tax Credit: A county add-on to Maryland's income-based Homeowners' Property Tax Credit, figured on up to $300,000 of the home's assessed value and decided from the same state credit application, with no separate county form. County law also provides a larger amount for owners 70 or older who have lived in the home more than 20 years and have a combined net worth of $200,000 or less, but that larger amount lapses at the end of each fiscal year unless the County Commissioners renew it. Apply by October 1.
Volunteer Emergency Responders Tax Credit: A credit of up to $2,500 a year (or the county tax, if less) on the principal residence of an active or retired volunteer fire, rescue or EMS member in the county's length-of-service award program, or of a surviving spouse who has not remarried, with federal adjusted gross income of $150,000 or less; one credit per home. The credit rose from $500 starting with the 2026-2027 tax year. Apply by May 1.
Surviving spouse of a fallen law enforcement officer or rescue worker: For the home of a surviving spouse who has not remarried of a law enforcement, corrections, fire, rescue or EMS worker who died in the line of duty: a credit of 100% of the county property tax if the worker served in Charles County, or 50% if the worker lived in the county but served elsewhere. The credit lasts until the spouse remarries, and the application must be renewed every year. Apply by May 1 each year (a first application may be filed as late as September 30 of the first tax year).

How to appeal your Charles County property assessment

In Charles County you appeal to the Maryland SDAT, Supervisor of Assessments for Charles County (the Supervisor's level hearing). The deadline: Within 45 days of the date on the assessment notice. A new owner whose purchase transferred after January 1 and before the next tax year begins may appeal within 60 days of the transfer. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

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

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

Work out your own numbers

Sources

Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Charles County, Maryland: 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.