Virginia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Albemarle County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Albemarle County pays $3,719 a year, an effective rate of 0.75%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,719
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.75%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +87%
- vs U.S. average
- #39 of 133
- rank in VA
The verdict
Homeowners in Albemarle County pay a median $3,719 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.75%, more affordable than 55% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,719
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.75%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1425 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +87%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($495,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Virginia. Population: 114,919. Owner-occupied homes: 30,269.
The median annual property tax in Albemarle County is $3,719, which is 33% higher than the Virginia state average and 87% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.75% on a median home value of $495,400. Property taxes represent 3.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Albemarle County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Albemarle County pay a median annual property tax of $3,719, far above the national median and well above the Virginia state median. On a $495,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.75% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Near the middle of Virginia counties by effective rate
Albemarle County ranks #39 of 133 counties in Virginia by effective rate (71% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Albemarle County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.6% of the $104,392 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Albemarle County's 0.75% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 55%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Albemarle County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
The rate held while the market moved
Albemarle County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 2.0% up, against a median home value that rose 31.8%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 34.4%, from $2,767 to $3,719.
Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 34% from $2,767 to $3,719. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 19,098 of 30,269 owner-occupied homes (63.1%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 3.6% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Albemarle County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Albemarle County homeowners, 19,098 of 30,269 owner-occupied homes (63.1%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 4.0% (1,212)
- $800 to $1,499 6.0% (1,831)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.0% (1,818)
- $2,000 to $2,999 19.0% (5,765)
- $3,000 or more 63.1% (19,098)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
545 homes here (1.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Virginia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Albemarle County pay about the same bill, within a 3% gap either way.
Albemarle County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Albemarle County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Albemarle County's median bill is 33% above the Virginia median and 87% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Albemarle County moved from $2,767 in the 2020 release to $3,719 in 2024, a change of about 34%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Albemarle County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Albemarle County | Virginia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 3.6% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Is Albemarle County's $3,719 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Albemarle County's $3,719 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $372/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Virginia.
Albemarle County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,719 +6.8% | 0.75% |
| 2023 | $3,482 +4.8% | 0.74% |
| 2022 | $3,323 +14.4% | 0.74% |
| 2021 | $2,905 +5.0% | 0.75% |
| 2020 | $2,767 | 0.74% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Albemarle County: tax-to-income at 3.6%
Counties near Albemarle County's median bill
On effective rate, Albemarle County sits nearest Llano County (TX), Sherman County (OR), Malheur County (OR).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Dallas County (TX), San Mateo County (CA), Kings County (CA).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Albemarle County: only 13% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 7,070 of 54,920 returns from Albemarle County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,595 - 48% of those reporters sat in the $200k+ AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Virginia
Albemarle County bill FAQs
- How does Albemarle County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Albemarle County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.75% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Albemarle County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Albemarle County jumped 34.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,767 to $3,719, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.
- What is the average property tax in Albemarle County, Virginia?
- The median annual property tax in Albemarle County is $3,719, an effective rate of 0.75% on a $495,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Albemarle County?
- Albemarle County, Virginia scores D (40/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-111). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Albemarle County?
- Property taxes in Albemarle County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.6% of the $104,392 median household income.
What to do with Albemarle County's HEAVY bill
Albemarle County's $3,719 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Albemarle County ranks #39 of 133 Virginia counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Virginia overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Albemarle County's HEAVY median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.75%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,719/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Albemarle County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Albemarle County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
St. Johns County, FL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,721/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.76% vs Albemarle County 0.75%.
Rock County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,703/yr (near-tied bill ABS $16); rate 1.60% vs Albemarle County 0.75%.
Baltimore County, MD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,736/yr (near-tied bill ABS $17); rate 1.07% vs Albemarle County 0.75%.
Summit County, UT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,701/yr (near-tied bill ABS $18); rate 0.35% vs Albemarle County 0.75%.
Virginia county set
State ACS overview for every published Virginia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Albemarle County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Albemarle County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.