Property tax in Franklin County, Ohio

Updated

In Franklin County, the property tax bill comes from the Franklin County Treasurer. The Tax Year 2026 bill is paid in 2 installments, and the next one is due February 28, 2027. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Franklin County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.

The median property tax bill in Franklin County, Ohio is $4,244 a year, which is about 1.47% of the county's median home value of $288,400. That effective rate is higher than the typical Ohio county (1.05%) 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 Franklin County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Franklin County Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Franklin County Auditor, 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 auditor sets the value and the county treasurer sends the bill. There are two halves a year, billed a year in arrears, so 2026 taxes are paid in 2027. The February 28 and July 20 dates, new in 2026, replaced the old January and June due dates. Manufactured home taxes follow a different schedule, due March 1 and July 31. Online payments go through the county's payment provider, PayDici, and cannot be made from a home equity line of credit or money market account. The treasurer's Budget Payment Program lets owners set money aside each month, held in escrow and applied to the next half-year bill.

When are property taxes due in Franklin County?

For the Tax Year 2026 (payable 2027) bill, Franklin County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due February 28, 2027 and the last July 20, 2027. If a half is not paid by its due date, a 5% penalty applies when the full balance is paid within 10 days after the due date, and a 10% penalty after that. Taxes left unpaid after the second half is due become delinquent and also accrue interest under Ohio law. Not receiving a bill does not excuse the penalty and interest. The treasurer offers monthly payment plans for delinquent and unpaid current taxes that stop further interest and penalties, and liens on delinquent taxes are sold at an annual tax lien sale.

Franklin County property tax due dates, Tax Year 2026 (payable 2027)
PaymentDueNote
First halfFebruary 28, 2027Starting in 2026 the treasurer moved the first-half due date to February 28 and says future bills will follow this schedule unless a further change is announced. The 2027 bills had not been mailed when this was checked, and the date printed on your bill governs. February 28, 2027 is a Sunday. The treasurer says a due date that falls on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day, which would make the 2027 first half due Monday, March 1, 2027; in 2026, when February 28 was a Saturday, the first half was due Monday, March 2.
Second halfJuly 20, 2027Starting in 2026 the treasurer moved the second-half due date to July 20. July 20, 2027 is a Tuesday.

From Franklin 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 Franklin County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Franklin County's average effective rate of 1.47% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.


Estimated property tax: $4,239 / year

Property tax in Franklin County at a glance

Franklin County, Ohio property tax (Census ACS, reviewed September 23, 2026)
MeasureValue
Median annual property tax$4,244
Median home value$288,400
Effective tax rate1.47%
Typical Ohio county rate1.05%
National median county rate0.81%

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 Franklin County compare in Ohio?

Among Ohio's 88 counties, Franklin County has the 9th highest effective property-tax rate: 8 rank higher and 79 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 380th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Ohio county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Franklin County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Franklin County's 292,123 owner-occupied homes, 64.6% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 78.4% pay at least $2,000, and 4.7% pay under $800. Another 2.5% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Annual property tax paid by Franklin County homeowners (Census ACS 2020-2024)
Annual billHomesShare
Under $80013,8024.7%
$800 to $1,49922,6187.7%
$1,500 to $1,99919,7266.8%
$2,000 to $2,99940,19713.8%
$3,000 or more188,61664.6%
No property tax paid7,1642.5%

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $4,297 and owners without one pay $4,116. That is within 10% either way, so in Franklin County paying off the house does not go with a noticeably different bill. Census table B25103.

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

The median property tax bill of $4,244 is about 4% of the median income of Franklin County homeowner households, $106,292 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 52.8% of Franklin 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 Franklin County?

Yes. The median bill went from $3,489 in 2015-2019 to $4,244 in 2020-2024, a 21.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 64.7%, from $175,100 to $288,400. 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 Franklin County

Franklin County borders 6 counties.

Franklin County and its neighbors, highest effective rate first (Census ACS 2020-2024)
CountyEffective rateMedian billMedian home value
Delaware County, OH1.6%$7,132$445,500
Franklin County, OH (this county)1.47%$4,244$288,400
Licking County, OH1.22%$3,364$275,200
Union County, OH1.14%$3,947$344,900
Fairfield County, OH1.1%$3,289$298,800
Madison County, OH1.02%$2,541$250,100
Pickaway County, OH1%$2,566$256,800

How is a home assessed in Franklin County?

Ohio assesses homes at 35% of market value in every county, Franklin County included. How Ohio assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Franklin County?

No. Ohio has no universal homestead exemption; relief is targeted to seniors, the disabled and disabled veterans. That is the Ohio rule, and it applies in Franklin County. Ohio's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

How to appeal your Franklin County property assessment

In Franklin County you appeal to the Franklin County Board of Revision. The deadline: File a complaint against the value (form DTE 1) with the Board of Revision. The filing season for 2026 values opened August 25, 2026 and closes March 31, 2027. Franklin County no longer requires the form to be notarized, and it can be filed online, by email, by mail or by fax; a mailed complaint counts as filed on its U.S. Postal Service postmark date. State law allows only one complaint per parcel in each three-year valuation period unless something changed, such as a sale or damage. A Board of Revision decision can be appealed to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, or instead to the county Court of Common Pleas, within 30 days after the decision notice is mailed. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

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

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

Work out your own numbers

Sources