Property tax in Dorchester County, Maryland

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

In Dorchester County, the property tax bill comes from the Dorchester County Department of Finance, Treasury Office. The Fiscal Year 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 Dorchester County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Dorchester County, Maryland is $2,456 a year, which is about 0.94% of the county's median home value of $262,400. 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 Dorchester County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Dorchester County Department of Finance, Treasury Office. The value it is based on is set by a state agency, the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), Dorchester 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 (every three years) and hears the first appeal; the county's Treasury Office sends the bill and collects it. The county also collects the town tax for every municipality, including Cambridge, Hurlock, East New Market, Secretary and Vienna, so a town tax appears on the same county bill. For Fiscal Year 2027 the county rate is $1.03 per $100 of assessed value, with lower county rates inside Cambridge and Hurlock. The county limits the yearly rise in the taxable assessment of an owner-occupied home to 5% for county tax (Hurlock and the state use 10%), but the limit does not apply in the first year after a purchase. Since July 1, 2025, when a home is sold the whole year's taxes are collected at settlement rather than half. If a lender pays your taxes from escrow, send it a copy of the bill.

When are property taxes due in Dorchester County?

For the Fiscal Year 2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) bill, Dorchester 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 after September 30 become delinquent on October 1, and second installments unpaid after December 31 become delinquent on January 1, with interest and penalty added. The liens are sold at the county's online tax sale in May, not June: the 2026 sale ran May 18 to 19, and the next is set for May 18, 2027, for delinquent balances over $1,000 on an owner-occupied home or over $750 on other property.

Dorchester County property tax due dates, Fiscal Year 2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027)
Payment	Due	Note
Annual bill, or first semi-annual installment	September 30, 2026 (passed)	Bills are mailed in July. A property that is not owner-occupied pays the whole year by September 30. An owner-occupied home is billed in two installments by default under state law; the owner may still pay the whole year by September 30, and escrowed owners who want to pay annually must tell their lender before May 1. The county accepts either an annual or a semi-annual payment without being told in advance.
Second semi-annual installment	December 31, 2026	Applies only to bills on the semi-annual schedule.

From Dorchester 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 Dorchester County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Dorchester County's average effective rate of 0.94% (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: $2,467 / year

Property tax in Dorchester County at a glance

Dorchester County, Maryland property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$2,456
Median home value	$262,400
Effective tax rate	0.94%
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 Dorchester County compare in Maryland?

Among Maryland's 24 counties, Dorchester County has the 8th highest effective property-tax rate: 7 rank higher and 16 rank lower. That is on the higher side for Maryland. Nationally, it ranks 1258th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Maryland county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Dorchester County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Dorchester County's 8,882 owner-occupied homes, 32.9% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 59% pay at least $2,000, and 5% pay under $800. Another 5.7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Dorchester County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	444	5%
$800 to $1,499	1,449	16.3%
$1,500 to $1,999	1,235	13.9%
$2,000 to $2,999	2,321	26.1%
$3,000 or more	2,926	32.9%
No property tax paid	507	5.7%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,504 and owners without one pay $2,392. That is within 10% either way, so in Dorchester County paying off the house does not go with a noticeably different bill. Census table B25103.

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

The median property tax bill of $2,456 is about 3% of the median income of Dorchester County homeowner households, $81,525 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 65.6% of Dorchester 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 Dorchester County?

Yes. The median bill went from $2,057 in 2015-2019 to $2,456 in 2020-2024, a 19.4% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 43.2%, from $183,300 to $262,400. 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 Dorchester County

Dorchester County borders 7 counties, 1 of them across the state line.

Dorchester County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Dorchester County, MD (this county)	0.94%	$2,456	$262,400
Somerset County, MD	0.92%	$1,591	$173,200
Caroline County, MD	0.9%	$2,619	$290,100
Wicomico County, MD	0.85%	$2,171	$254,700
Calvert County, MD	0.84%	$3,885	$460,200
St. Mary's County, MD	0.84%	$3,424	$407,600
Talbot County, MD	0.65%	$2,647	$409,700
Sussex County, DE	0.32%	$1,222	$382,600

How is a home assessed in Dorchester County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Dorchester 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 Dorchester County. Maryland's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

Senior Citizens' Tax Credit: For a principal residence where an owner living in the home is at least 67 and qualifies for the state Homeowners' Property Tax Credit, the county takes 10% off the county property tax. Apply by October 1.
Volunteer Fire Company Member Property Tax Credit: A $500 credit a year against county property tax on the home of a qualifying member of a Dorchester County volunteer fire company ($1,000 if two or more qualifying members own the home), never more than the county tax owed; the member must have at least three years of active service, must reapply every year, and applies to the county Finance Office with the fire company's MSFA-P.2.2 form. Apply by May 1.
Shoreline Erosion Control Structure Tax Credit: An owner who installs a qualifying bulkhead, stone revetment, breakwater, jetty or similar erosion control structure (installed after June 30, 2006) can receive a county property tax credit of 30% of its cost; the application must be made in the year the structure is installed, with permits and paid invoices attached.

How to appeal your Dorchester County property assessment

In Dorchester County you appeal to the Maryland SDAT, Supervisor of Assessments for Dorchester County (the Supervisor's level hearing). The deadline: Within 45 days of the date on the assessment notice. A buyer whose purchase transferred after January 1 and before July 1 may appeal within 60 days of the transfer. In a year with no new notice, an owner may file a petition for review by the first working day after January 1. 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 Dorchester 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.