Property tax in Delaware County, Pennsylvania

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

The bill comes from the Delaware County Treasurer's Office (Self Tax Collection Office). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Delaware County Board of Assessment, 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.

Most Delaware County homeowners get separate property tax bills: this county bill in February, plus bills for their township or borough and their school district, collected by local tax collectors or the school district. The county bill is your assessment times the county tax rate only. Delaware County collects it at the Treasurer's Self Tax Collection Office in the Government Center in Media. You can pay the county bill over the counter, by mail, or online (the processor charges $1.50 for a bank account payment or 2.65% for a card). For a copy of your bill, call the Treasurer's tax department at 610-891-4278. The county raised its real estate tax rate for 2026, about a 23% increase on the county bill.

When are property taxes due in Delaware County?

Every due date for the 2026 bill has passed, and Delaware County had not posted the next cycle's dates when we checked on September 23, 2026. If that bill is still unpaid, the late-payment rules below apply to it. Counties usually repeat the schedule, but confirm the new dates on your next bill. For the 2026 bill, Delaware County has one due date: June 1, 2026. County tax bills are mailed February 1. Paying the whole bill within 60 days, by April 1, earns a 2% discount; from April 2 through June 1 the full amount is due. Online payments must be for the full bill. From June 2 a 10% penalty is added, and the bill can be paid with the penalty until December 31. Bills still unpaid at year end are turned over to the county Tax Claim Bureau for collection.

From Delaware 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 Delaware County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Delaware County's average effective rate of 1.84% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Delaware 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 Delaware County compare in Pennsylvania?

Among Pennsylvania's 67 counties, Delaware County has the highest effective property-tax rate. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 130th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Pennsylvania county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Delaware County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Delaware County's 151,016 owner-occupied homes, 79.7% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 85.6% pay at least $2,000, and 4% pay under $800. Another 1.8% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $6,351 and owners without one pay $5,669. 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 Delaware County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $6,124 is about 5.3% of the median income of Delaware County homeowner households, $116,085 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 69.6% of Delaware 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 Delaware County?

Yes. The median bill went from $5,253 in 2015-2019 to $6,124 in 2020-2024, a 16.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 35.9%, from $244,400 to $332,200. 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 Delaware County

Delaware County borders 5 counties, 2 of them across the state line.

How is a home assessed in Delaware County?

Pennsylvania sets the assessment rules and Delaware County applies them. How Pennsylvania assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Delaware County?

Yes, but the amount varies. Pennsylvania's Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion lowers a home's assessed value for school tax, and each school district sets its own exclusion each year. That is the Pennsylvania rule, and it applies in Delaware County. Pennsylvania's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Pennsylvania programs, Delaware County runs its own:

• Delaware County Real Estate Tax Deferral Program: County Council set up this program under a state enabling law, starting with 2026 taxes: an owner-occupant with household income of $46,520 or less, who has owned and lived in the home for at least 12 months, has fire insurance at least equal to the deferred tax and owes no back taxes, can postpone the part of the county tax increase caused by the higher 2026 county tax rate (not by a higher assessment). Mortgage debt limits apply. There is no fee or interest; the deferred amount becomes a lien and is due when the home is sold or transferred or the owner dies, and you must reapply each year the county raises its rate. Apply by October 31, 2026 (postmarked by that date; no extensions).

How to appeal your Delaware County property assessment

In Delaware County you appeal to the Delaware County Board of Assessment Appeals. The deadline: An annual appeal must be filed by August 1 of the year before the tax year you are appealing, so the next deadline is for 2028 taxes. August 1, 2027 is a Sunday and the Board's rules do not say whether the deadline moves, so file by Friday, July 30, 2027 to be safe. If you receive a notice that your assessment changed, you have 40 days from the date on that notice, with no fee. Appeals must be hand-delivered or postmarked on or before the last day, with an original signature; fax and email are not accepted, and the Board suggests getting a hand-cancelled postmark or certificate of mailing at a post office counter. An annual residential appeal costs $50, not refunded, with a separate form for each parcel. A Board decision can be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas within 30 days. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

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

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

• Mortgage calculator

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

• Pennsylvania income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Pennsylvania actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Delaware County

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