Sales tax in Lake County, Ohio
The sales tax rate in Lake County, Ohio is 7.25%. That is a 5.75% state rate plus a 1% county rate, and it is the same at every address in the county. That rate was read from Ohio's own published schedule and checked on September 9, 2026.
What is the sales tax rate in Lake County?
| Ohio state rate | 5.75% |
|---|---|
| Lake County rate | 1% |
| Combined rate | 7.25% |
How much sales tax is that on a purchase in Lake County?
At 7.25%, a $100 purchase carries $7.25 in sales tax and a $1,000 purchase $72.50. That is general merchandise; Ohio taxes some categories, often groceries, differently, as the note below explains.
Among Ohio's 88 counties, Lake County's rate ranks 8th highest, level with 50 other counties. See every Ohio county.
Sales tax in counties next to Lake County
Lake County borders 3 counties. The lowest rate next door is 6.75% in Ashtabula County, OH, which is $5.00 less on a $1,000 purchase than Lake County's rate.
| County | Combined sales tax |
|---|---|
| Cuyahoga County, OH | 8% |
| Lake County, OH (this county) | 7.25% |
| Ashtabula County, OH | 6.75% |
| Geauga County, OH | 6.75% |
Why the rate here is not the whole story
Ohio's state sales tax rate is 5.75 percent and Lake County levies a permissive county sales tax of 1 percent. A third layer sits on top of those two: the Lake County’s Regional Transit Authority (LAKETRAN) levies 0.5 percent, and its district currently takes in the whole of Lake County, so every address in the county pays the same 7.25 percent today. The transit levy belongs to neither the state nor the county and has no field of its own here, so use the combined figure rather than adding the state and county rates. A transit authority district is drawn from the communities that join it rather than from the county line, which is why the county line is not by itself the tax boundary even though the rate is uniform right now. Ohio cities and villages cannot levy a general sales tax of their own. Ohio counties and regional transit authorities may raise their levies only in multiples of 0.05 percent, the combined state, county and transit rate may not exceed 8.75 percent, and a change can only take effect at the start of a calendar quarter.
How do I find the exact rate for an address in Lake County?
Use Ohio's own address lookup.
Who has to collect sales tax in Lake County?
Any seller with a physical presence in Ohio collects at the rate for the address of the sale; a remote seller does once it passes Ohio's economic nexus threshold. Ohio sales tax covers the statewide rules and what is exempt.
Work out your own numbers
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Sales tax calculator
Tax on a specific purchase at this county's rate, and the total you will actually pay.
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Do you have to collect?
Whether your sales into Ohio cross its economic nexus threshold. A different question from the rate.
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Property tax in Lake County
The other local tax: effective rate and median bill for this county.
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Sales tax by county
Every US county, and how Ohio compares with the rest of the country.
Sources
- Lake County rates: Ohio Department of Taxation, Sales and Use Tax Rates listed by county and transit authority, 2025 4th Quarter table effective October 1, 2025, https://tax.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/tax/business/sales-and-use-tax/rate-tables/by-county-q4-2025, still the rate in force on September 9, 2026 because the Department posted no county rate change for the 1st, 2nd or 3rd quarters of 2026. State, county permissive and transit components split using the Department's Streamlined Sales Tax rate file OHR2026Q1NOV28.csv and OHTransitFIPSCodes.txt, both downloaded from The Finder at https://thefinder.tax.ohio.gov, and cross checked against the Department's Ohio County Rate Table by Zip Code, CountySalesTaxRateReport.csv
- Collected and verified September 9, 2026. Confidence: P on the rate components, P on the range (P read on a primary agency page, S strong but indirect, U unverified).