Property tax in Houghton County, Michigan

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

The bill comes from your city, township or village treasurer (the Houghton County Treasurer collects only delinquent taxes). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, your city or township assessor, which is who to ask if the value looks wrong.

In Michigan the county does not send the regular property tax bill. Your city, township or village treasurer bills summer and winter taxes and takes payment for both; due dates, payment options and late charges differ from one community to the next, so use the dates printed on your bill. Only taxes left unpaid into March go to the Houghton County Treasurer, at the courthouse at 401 East Houghton Avenue in Houghton, which takes delinquent payments online through its payment provider and offers partial payment plans. Houghton County has fourteen townships and two cities, each with its own assessor and Board of Review; the county Equalization Department sets countywide equalization factors but does not set individual values.

When are property taxes due in Houghton County?

For the 2026 bill, Houghton County has one due date: March 1, 2027. This is not the due date on your bill. Your city, township or village treasurer sends the summer and winter bills, and each bill prints its own due date, set locally and well before this date. Pay by the date on your bill: summer taxes paid late can carry interest, and taxes paid after February 14 can carry a 3% late penalty if your city or township has authorized it. State law turns taxes still unpaid at the end of February over to the county treasurer. February 28, 2027 is a Sunday, and state law then moves the last day to the next business day, Monday, March 1, 2027. Taxes still unpaid are turned over to the Houghton County Treasurer as delinquent, and a 4% administration fee and interest of 1% a month are added. A $15 fee is added on October 1. If the taxes are still unpaid a year later, on March 1 the property is forfeited to the county treasurer: a $175 fee is added and interest rises by another half percent a month back to March 1 of the year before. A property still unpaid by March 31 of the following year is foreclosed and later sold at auction.

From Houghton 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 Houghton County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Houghton County's average effective rate of 1.16% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Houghton 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 Houghton County compare in Michigan?

Among Michigan's 83 counties, Houghton County has the 29th highest effective property-tax rate: 28 rank higher and 54 rank lower. That is on the higher side for Michigan. Nationally, it ranks 792nd of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Michigan county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Houghton County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Houghton County's 10,271 owner-occupied homes, 27.6% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 44.9% pay at least $2,000, and 18.8% 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 $2,108 and owners without one pay $1,653. 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 Houghton County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,858 is about 2.4% of the median income of Houghton County homeowner households, $77,761 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 71.8% of Houghton 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 Houghton County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,522 in 2015-2019 to $1,858 in 2020-2024, a 22.1% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 47.1%, from $108,700 to $159,900. 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 Houghton County

Houghton County borders 5 counties.

How is a home assessed in Houghton County?

Michigan assesses homes at 50% of market value in every county, Houghton County included. How Michigan assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Houghton County?

Yes, but not as a dollar amount. Michigan's Principal Residence Exemption exempts your primary home from the local school operating millage, up to 18 mills. File Form 2368 with your assessor. That is the Michigan rule, and it applies in Houghton County. Michigan's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

How to appeal your Houghton County property assessment

In Houghton County you appeal to the The Board of Review of your city or township. The deadline: Protest your assessment to your city's or township's March Board of Review, which by state law first meets on the second Monday in March (or the Tuesday or Wednesday after, if the local unit chooses); your assessment notice and your local assessor give the dates and how to file. A residential owner who is still not satisfied can then petition the Michigan Tax Tribunal by July 31 of the same tax year. Protesting to the Board of Review first is generally required before going to the Tribunal. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Houghton County does not restate them on its own pages.

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

Michigan rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Michigan 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 Houghton County's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

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

• Michigan income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Michigan actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Houghton County

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