Property tax in Norfolk city, Virginia

Who sends the property tax bill in Norfolk city, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from the Norfolk City Treasurer. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Office of the Real Estate Assessor, City of Norfolk, 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.

Norfolk is an independent city, so there is no separate county bill: the city Treasurer bills and collects, and the city's Real Estate Assessor sets values every year, effective July 1. Online and phone payments by debit or credit card carry a 2.5% service fee. The city's eBilling sign-up runs through InvoiceCloud, an outside payment processor. If your taxes are paid through your mortgage escrow but the bill comes to you, ask the Treasurer's office in writing to send future bills to your lender.

When are property taxes due in Norfolk city?

For the FY2027 (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027) bill, Norfolk city splits the bill into 4 payments, the first due September 30, 2026 and the last June 5, 2027. The next one due is the second quarter (october 1 to december 31), on December 5, 2026. Under City Code section 24-200, an installment not paid by its due date gets a penalty of 10% of the tax past due or $10, whichever is greater (never more than the tax itself), assessed the day after the due date. Interest at 8% a year also starts the day after the due date and runs until the tax is paid.

From Norfolk city'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 Norfolk city

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Norfolk city's average effective rate of 1% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Norfolk city 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 Norfolk city compare in Virginia?

Among Virginia's 133 counties, Norfolk city has the 6th highest effective property-tax rate: 5 rank higher and 127 rank lower. That places it among the most heavily taxed counties in the state. Nationally, it ranks 1131st of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Virginia county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Norfolk city actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Norfolk city's 44,000 owner-occupied homes, 44.6% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 68.2% pay at least $2,000, and 7.6% pay under $800. Another 5.6% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $2,887 and owners without one pay $2,899. That is within 10% either way, so in Norfolk city paying off the house does not go with a noticeably different bill. Census table B25103.

How does the Norfolk city property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $2,890 is about 3% of the median income of Norfolk city homeowner households, $97,711 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 46.3% of Norfolk city's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Norfolk city?

Yes. The median bill went from $2,270 in 2015-2019 to $2,890 in 2020-2024, a 27.3% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 40.3%, from $206,700 to $289,900. 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 Norfolk city

Norfolk city borders 5 counties.

How is a home assessed in Norfolk city?

Virginia assesses homes at 100% of market value in every county, Norfolk city included. How Virginia assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Norfolk city?

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 Norfolk city. Virginia's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Virginia programs, Norfolk city runs its own:

• Real Estate Tax Relief/Deferral Program for the elderly and disabled: For homeowners 65 or older or totally and permanently disabled who live in the home, with combined household income of $67,000 or less and net worth (not counting the home) of $350,000 or less: for fiscal year 2027, households with income up to $28,611 are exempt on up to $327,900 of assessed value, and higher incomes up to $67,000 may defer tax on 20% to 80% of that value, with deferred tax repaid when the home is sold or from the owner's estate. Applications must be filed every year with the Department of Human Services between February 1 and June 1. Apply by June 1.

How to appeal your Norfolk city property assessment

In Norfolk city you appeal to the Office of the Real Estate Assessor (informal appeal), then the Norfolk Board of Review of Real Estate Assessments. The deadline: City Code section 24-195 sets two deadlines each year: an informal appeal with the Assessor by May 8 (or the next business day if May 8 falls on a weekend), and a formal appeal with the Board of Review by the last business day of May. For the 2026 assessments behind the fiscal year 2027 bills, those were May 8 and May 29, 2026, and both have passed. The Assessor's main page gives June 1, 2026 as the Board deadline, but the city code and the Assessor's appeal page both say the last business day of May; June 1 was the date the Board wanted the evidence packet (the original plus five copies). The Assessor may still hear a late appeal at any time, but the Board of Review cannot hear it until the following year. Appeals are not accepted before the yearly valuation notices are mailed. After the Board rules, a further appeal goes to the Circuit Court under state law. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

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

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Norfolk city's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

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

• Virginia income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what Virginia actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Norfolk city

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