Property tax in Orange County, Virginia

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

The bill comes from the Orange County Treasurer's Office. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, the Orange County Real Estate Assessment Department, 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 moved its tax year to match its July to June fiscal year in 2025. Bills are still due each December and June, and there was no extra bill: the December bill is the first half of the year and the June bill is the second half, both based on the assessment and rate from the calendar year the December bill falls in. The Real Estate Assessment Department values property every year; the Treasurer bills and collects. The Towns of Orange and Gordonsville levy their own real estate tax on top of the county's; check with your town about its bill. Card payments carry a 3.75% fee (minimum $2.50) and e-checks a $0.95 fee, charged by the processor, Tyler Payments. Mailed payments go to Orange County Treasurer, P.O. Box 469, Orange, VA 22960; items left in the after-hours drop box are processed the next business day.

When are property taxes due in Orange County?

For the 2026 bill, Orange County splits the bill into 2 payments, the first due December 5, 2026 and the last June 5, 2027. A 10% late payment penalty is added to any tax not paid or postmarked by the due date. Interest of 10% a year is charged on the unpaid tax and penalty from the day after the due date and is added on the first of each month until paid (one county page instead says interest starts January 1 for the December half and July 1 for the June half). The Treasurer also charges a $25 collection fee on each late bill and $25 for each lien or DMV registration stop. After 30 days the Treasurer may place liens on bank accounts, hold state income tax refunds or block DMV registration, and property with taxes more than two years delinquent is assigned to an attorney to be sold at auction.

From Orange 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 Orange County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Orange County's average effective rate of 0.55% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Orange 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 Orange County compare in Virginia?

Among Virginia's 133 counties, Orange County has the 91st highest effective property-tax rate: 90 rank higher and 42 rank lower. That is on the lower side for Virginia. Nationally, it ranks 2472nd of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every Virginia county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Orange County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Orange County's 11,688 owner-occupied homes, 18.2% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 49.1% pay at least $2,000, and 9.5% pay under $800. Another 1.5% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $1,934 and owners without one pay $2,190. Here the owners without a mortgage pay more, which can happen where long-held homes sit in the higher-value parts of the county. Census table B25103.

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

The median property tax bill of $1,997 is about 1.8% of the median income of Orange County homeowner households, $108,839 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 78.7% of Orange 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 Orange County?

Yes. The median bill went from $1,629 in 2015-2019 to $1,997 in 2020-2024, a 22.6% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 49%, from $244,400 to $364,200. 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 Orange County

Orange County borders 6 counties.

How is a home assessed in Orange County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Orange 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 Orange County. Virginia's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the Virginia programs, Orange County runs its own:

• Tax Relief for the Elderly and Handicapped: For an owner aged 65 or older on December 31 of the prior year, or permanently and totally disabled, who lives in the home as their sole dwelling, with household income of $50,000 or less and net worth of $150,000 or less (not counting the home and up to two acres): the county exempts part of the real estate tax on the home, from 10% to 90% on the county's most recent published schedule, depending on income and net worth. In April 2026 the Board of Supervisors considered changes to the income brackets and the application deadline. A new application with a notarized affidavit is required every year. Apply by March 1 on the county's current pages; in April 2026 the county proposed moving the deadline to June 5, so confirm with the Commissioner of the Revenue..

How to appeal your Orange County property assessment

In Orange County you appeal to the Orange County Real Estate Assessment Department, then the Board of Equalization. The deadline: Orange County reassesses every property every year, and notices are mailed in the spring. For 2026 values, appeals to the Real Estate Assessment Department were due by close of business June 8, 2026, and appeals to the Board of Equalization by July 8, 2026; new deadlines are printed on each year's notice. After those dates, an owner may apply to the Circuit Court within three years from the end of the tax year or one year from the date of the assessment, whichever is later (Code of Virginia section 58.1-3984). 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 Orange County'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 Orange County

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