Property tax in Johnston County, North Carolina

By Brent Chudoba, editor Updated September 23, 2026

In Johnston County, the property tax bill comes from the Johnston County Tax Administration, Tax Collections. 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 Johnston County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Johnston County, North Carolina is $1,908 a year, which is about 0.62% of the county's median home value of $305,600. That effective rate is lower 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 Johnston County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Johnston County Tax Administration, Tax Collections. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Johnston County Tax Administration, appraisal division, 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.

Johnston County's current real property values come from a revaluation effective January 1, 2025. The county bills and collects town taxes too, so the county bill can carry a city or town tax and a fire district tax along with the county tax. Bills go to the owner, not the mortgage company; lenders with an escrow account usually pay between October and December, but the owner is responsible for making sure the bill is paid. Online payments go through the county's payment vendor, PayIt.

When are property taxes due in Johnston County?

For the 2026 bill, Johnston County has one due date: January 5, 2027. 2026 taxes were due September 1, 2026 and can be paid without interest through Tuesday, January 5, 2027, as set by state law (G.S. 105-360). Mailed payments count as received on the U.S. Postal Service postmark date. Payment in full is the default; the county also accepts weekly, biweekly or monthly installments under a signed payment agreement, as long as the full 2026 amount is paid by January 5, 2027. Interest starts January 6, 2027: 2% for the first month, then 3/4% for each month after that until the bill is paid, set by state law. Unpaid taxes are also subject to enforced collection.

From Johnston 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 Johnston County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Johnston County's average effective rate of 0.62% (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: $1,895 / year

Property tax in Johnston County at a glance

Johnston County, North Carolina property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
Measure	Value
Median annual property tax	$1,908
Median home value	$305,600
Effective tax rate	0.62%
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 Johnston County compare in North Carolina?

Among North Carolina's 100 counties, Johnston County has the 59th highest effective property-tax rate: 58 rank higher and 41 rank lower. That is near the middle for North Carolina. Nationally, it ranks 2188th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every North Carolina county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Johnston County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Johnston County's 65,092 owner-occupied homes, 17.7% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 45.1% pay at least $2,000, and 9.4% pay under $800. Another 2.7% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Johnston County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual bill	Homes	Share
Under $800	6,130	9.4%
$800 to $1,499	15,281	23.5%
$1,500 to $1,999	12,559	19.3%
$2,000 to $2,999	17,842	27.4%
$3,000 or more	11,490	17.7%
No property tax paid	1,790	2.7%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,058 and owners without one pay $1,476. 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 Johnston County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $1,908 is about 1.9% of the median income of Johnston County homeowner households, $98,880 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 76.1% of Johnston 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 Johnston County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,404 in 2015-2019 to $1,908 in 2020-2024, a 35.9% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 85.1%, from $165,100 to $305,600. 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 Johnston County

Johnston County borders 7 counties.

Johnston County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
County	Effective rate	Median bill	Median home value
Wilson County, NC	0.79%	$1,471	$186,000
Sampson County, NC	0.75%	$1,130	$150,700
Nash County, NC	0.71%	$1,362	$191,000
Wake County, NC	0.71%	$3,260	$461,300
Wayne County, NC	0.7%	$1,249	$178,700
Harnett County, NC	0.69%	$1,689	$246,200
Franklin County, NC	0.65%	$1,834	$284,300
Johnston County, NC (this county)	0.62%	$1,908	$305,600

How is a home assessed in Johnston County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Johnston 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 Johnston County. North Carolina's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

How to appeal your Johnston County property assessment

In Johnston County you appeal to the Johnston County Board of Equalization and Review. The deadline: A written appeal must reach the Board of Equalization and Review before it adjourns. For 2026 values the county stopped taking appeals at 5:00 PM on April 28, 2026. The county says appeals of 2027 values open in February 2027 and has not yet posted the 2027 closing date. A board decision can be appealed to the North Carolina Property Tax Commission within 30 days after the board mails its decision. 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 Johnston 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.