Property tax in Forsyth County, North Carolina

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

In Forsyth County, the property tax bill comes from the Forsyth County Tax Collector's Office (Tax Administration). The 2026 bill is due January 5, 2027. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Forsyth County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Forsyth County, North Carolina is $1,984 a year, which is about 0.79% of the county's median home value of $250,400. That effective rate is higher than the typical North Carolina county (0.65%) and lower 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 Forsyth County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Forsyth County Tax Collector's Office (Tax Administration). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Forsyth County Tax Assessor's Office, Real Estate Appraisal Section, 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 county collects the property tax for every city and town in the county (Winston-Salem, Bethania, Clemmons, Kernersville, Lewisville, Rural Hall, Tobaccoville, Walkertown, and the Forsyth County parts of High Point and King) and for the fire districts, so city and town tax is on the same county bill. The county last reappraised all property in 2025 and has generally reappraised every four years since 1988. Paying online by card or e-check, or by phone, carries a convenience fee, because state law does not let the county absorb it.

When are property taxes due in Forsyth County?

For the 2026 bill, Forsyth County has one due date: January 5, 2027. Bills are mailed in July. Taxes are due September 1, 2026 and can be paid without interest through January 5, 2027, which is a Tuesday. If January 5 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the county extends the payment period to the next business day. Payment must be in the Tax Collector's Office or postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service by January 5; the county suggests mailing at least 5 business days early. Interest starts on January 6, 2027, not on September 1. State law sets it at 2% for January 6 to February 1, then 3/4% for each month or part of a month after that until the bill is paid. Unpaid real estate taxes can be advertised in local newspapers from March 1 to June 30, at added cost to the owner, and the county can garnish wages and bank accounts or foreclose. If the taxes are unpaid on January 6, whoever owns the property on that date becomes liable for them.

From Forsyth 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 Forsyth County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Forsyth County's average effective rate of 0.79% (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: $1,978 / year

Property tax in Forsyth County at a glance

Forsyth County, North Carolina property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$1,984
Median home value	$250,400
Effective tax rate	0.79%
Typical North Carolina county rate	0.65%
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 Forsyth County compare in North Carolina?

Among North Carolina's 100 counties, Forsyth County has the 20th highest effective property-tax rate: 19 rank higher and 80 rank lower. That is on the higher side for North Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 1616th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every North Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Forsyth County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Forsyth County's 101,645 owner-occupied homes, 24.2% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 48.3% pay at least $2,000, and 10.6% pay under $800. Another 2.4% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Forsyth County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	10,747	10.6%
$800 to $1,499	22,216	21.9%
$1,500 to $1,999	17,206	16.9%
$2,000 to $2,999	24,464	24.1%
$3,000 or more	24,598	24.2%
No property tax paid	2,414	2.4%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,061 and owners without one pay $1,861. That is within 10% either way, so in Forsyth County paying off the house does not go with a noticeably different bill. Census table B25103.

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

The median property tax bill of $1,984 is about 2.3% of the median income of Forsyth County homeowner households, $87,474 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 63.6% of Forsyth 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 Forsyth County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,554 in 2015-2019 to $1,984 in 2020-2024, a 27.7% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 57.2%, from $159,300 to $250,400. 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 Forsyth County

Forsyth County borders 7 counties.

Forsyth County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Guilford County, NC	0.84%	$2,174	$259,900
Forsyth County, NC (this county)	0.79%	$1,984	$250,400
Rockingham County, NC	0.75%	$1,258	$168,600
Yadkin County, NC	0.67%	$1,220	$181,200
Davie County, NC	0.63%	$1,595	$253,900
Davidson County, NC	0.6%	$1,320	$219,100
Stokes County, NC	0.6%	$1,179	$196,700
Surry County, NC	0.6%	$1,071	$177,600

How is a home assessed in Forsyth County?

North Carolina assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Forsyth County included. How North Carolina assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Forsyth County?

No. North Carolina has no general homestead exemption; relief is targeted to older and disabled owners and to disabled veterans. That is the North Carolina rule, and it applies in Forsyth County. North Carolina's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

How to appeal your Forsyth County property assessment

In Forsyth County you appeal to the Forsyth County Board of Equalization and Review. The deadline: Appeals to the Board of Equalization and Review must be received or postmarked after January 1 and no later than the last business day in June. For the 2026 tax year the deadline was June 30, 2026; an owner whose real estate value notice was dated after June 15, 2026 had 15 days to file. The board's decision can be appealed to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

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

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

Work out your own numbers

Sources

Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Forsyth County, North Carolina: 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.