Property tax in Caroline County, Virginia
In Caroline County, the property tax bill comes from the Caroline County Treasurer's Office. The 2026 bill is paid in 2 installments, and the next one is due December 5, 2026. You can look up and pay the bill on the county's own payment page. Taken from Caroline County's own pages, checked September 23, 2026.
The median property tax bill in Caroline County, Virginia is $1,597 a year, which is about 0.52% of the county's median home value of $307,700. That effective rate is lower than the typical Virginia county (0.6%) 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 Caroline County, and how do you pay it?
The bill comes from the Caroline County Treasurer's Office. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Caroline County Commissioner of the Revenue, 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 Commissioner of the Revenue keeps the land book and handles the elderly and disabled exemption; the Treasurer sends the bills and collects. Real estate and personal property taxes are due on the same two dates, June 5 and December 5. Property inside the Town of Bowling Green also gets a separate town real estate bill, due December 5. The county guarantees only payments made through its own online portal or Official Payments, not through outside bill payment sites such as Doxo. Payments can also be made by phone, by mail, in person, at the drop box in front of the County Administration Building, or by automatic monthly bank withdrawal.
When are property taxes due in Caroline County?
For the 2026 bill, Caroline County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due June 5, 2026 and the last December 5, 2026. The next one due is the second half, on December 5, 2026. An installment not paid by its due date is charged a penalty of 10% of the tax past due or $10, whichever is greater, on the day after the due date, and the penalty becomes part of the tax. Interest of 10% a year on the tax and penalty starts the day after the due date. No penalty is charged if the late payment was not in any way the taxpayer's fault.
| Payment | Due | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First half | June 5, 2026 (passed) | |
| Second half | December 5, 2026 | The county's pages print December 5. In 2026 December 5 is a Saturday. Virginia law lets a payment due on a weekend under a local ordinance be made on the next business day, which is Monday, December 7, 2026, but the county has not announced its 2026 second-half date, so paying by Friday, December 4 is the safe choice. |
From Caroline 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 Caroline County
Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Caroline County's average effective rate of 0.52% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.
Estimated property tax: $1,600 / year
Property tax in Caroline County at a glance
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median annual property tax | $1,597 |
| Median home value | $307,700 |
| Effective tax rate | 0.52% |
| Typical Virginia county rate | 0.6% |
| 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 Caroline County compare in Virginia?
Among Virginia's 133 counties, Caroline County has the 101st highest effective property-tax rate: 100 rank higher and 32 rank lower. That is on the lower side for Virginia. Nationally, it ranks 2591st of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Virginia county ranked.
How much do homeowners in Caroline County actually pay?
The median is only the middle bill. Across Caroline County's 9,872 owner-occupied homes, 14.5% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 34.1% pay at least $2,000, and 15.1% pay under $800. Another 3.3% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.
| Annual bill | Homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $800 | 1,490 | 15.1% |
| $800 to $1,499 | 2,948 | 29.9% |
| $1,500 to $1,999 | 1,738 | 17.6% |
| $2,000 to $2,999 | 1,937 | 19.6% |
| $3,000 or more | 1,434 | 14.5% |
| No property tax paid | 325 | 3.3% |
Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,647 and owners without one pay $1,467. 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 Caroline County property tax bill compare with local incomes?
The median property tax bill of $1,597 is about 1.7% of the median income of Caroline County homeowner households, $95,951 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 82.3% of Caroline 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 Caroline County?
Yes. The median bill went from $1,429 in 2015-2019 to $1,597 in 2020-2024, a 11.8% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 49.4%, from $206,000 to $307,700. 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 Caroline County
Caroline County borders 7 counties.
| County | Effective rate | Median bill | Median home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stafford County, VA | 0.7% | $3,410 | $485,100 |
| Hanover County, VA | 0.66% | $2,627 | $400,400 |
| Spotsylvania County, VA | 0.58% | $2,347 | $404,900 |
| Essex County, VA | 0.57% | $1,348 | $238,100 |
| King William County, VA | 0.55% | $1,729 | $315,700 |
| King George County, VA | 0.53% | $2,254 | $428,300 |
| King and Queen County, VA | 0.52% | $1,209 | $231,600 |
| Caroline County, VA (this county) | 0.52% | $1,597 | $307,700 |
How is a home assessed in Caroline County?
Virginia assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Caroline County included. How Virginia assesses and reappraises homes.
Is there a homestead exemption in Caroline County?
No. Virginia has no general homestead exemption; relief is limited to the elderly and disabled, disabled veterans, and surviving spouses of service members and first responders killed in the line of duty. That is the Virginia rule, and it applies in Caroline County. Virginia's exemptions and relief programs in full.
On top of the Virginia programs, Caroline County runs its own:
- Real Estate Tax Exemption for the Elderly and Handicapped Homeowner: For an owner who is 65 or older, or permanently and totally disabled, and lives in the home (including a mobile home) as their sole dwelling, with household income of $50,000 or less and net worth of $100,000 or less (not counting the home and up to ten acres): the county exempts 95% of the real estate tax for income up to $10,000, 80% up to $20,000, 60% up to $30,000, 40% up to $40,000 and 25% up to $50,000, never more than $1,000 a year. A new application is required every year, and the Commissioner of the Revenue may accept a first-time or hardship application as late as December 31. The county code and the application form set March 31 as the deadline, though the Commissioner of the Revenue's dates page asks for it before March 1, so filing in February satisfies both. Apply by March 31 (the Commissioner's dates page asks for it before March 1).
How to appeal your Caroline County property assessment
In Caroline County you appeal to the Caroline County Circuit Court (a Board of Equalization is appointed only in the year after a general reassessment). The deadline: The current values come from the general reassessment that took effect January 1, 2025. The county appoints a Board of Equalization only for the year after a general reassessment; once it has finished, the only remaining option is a petition to the Circuit Court. Under Virginia law (Code of Virginia section 58.1-3984), that petition may be filed within three years from the last day of the tax year the assessment is for, or within one year from the date of the assessment, whichever is later. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against state law, because Caroline County does not restate them on its own pages.
How Virginia's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.
Virginia rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the Virginia page.
Work out your own numbers
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How much house can I afford?
Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Caroline County's tax rate to hand.
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Mortgage calculator
Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.
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Virginia income tax
Brackets, standard deduction and what Virginia actually taxes.
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Sales tax in Caroline County
The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.
Sources
- Median real estate taxes paid and median home value for Caroline County, Virginia: 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.