Virginia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Charlottesville city Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Charlottesville city pays $3,915 a year, an effective rate of 0.80%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,915
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.80%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +96%
- vs U.S. average
- #28 of 133
- rank in VA
The verdict
Homeowners in Charlottesville city pay a median $3,915 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.80%, more affordable than 50% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,915
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.80%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1567 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +96%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($486,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Virginia. Population: 45,437. Owner-occupied homes: 8,767.
The median annual property tax in Charlottesville city is $3,915, which is 40% higher than the Virginia state average and 96% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.80% on a median home value of $486,700. Property taxes represent 5.2% of the median household income in this county.
Why Charlottesville city's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Charlottesville city pay a median annual property tax of $3,915, far above the national median and well above the Virginia state median. On a $486,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.80% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Charlottesville city run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.2% of the $74,824 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among Virginia counties by effective rate
Charlottesville city ranks #28 of 133 counties in Virginia by effective rate (79% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Charlottesville city's 0.80% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 50%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Charlottesville city 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
Charlottesville city sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 4.6% down, against a median home value that rose 47.9%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 41.1%, from $2,775 to $3,915.
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 41% from $2,775 to $3,915. 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: 6,093 of 8,767 owner-occupied homes (69.5%) 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.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 5.2% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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 Charlottesville city Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Charlottesville city homeowners, 6,093 of 8,767 owner-occupied homes (69.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.6% (143)
- $800 to $1,499 3.7% (323)
- $1,500 to $1,999 4.1% (360)
- $2,000 to $2,999 20.3% (1,780)
- $3,000 or more 69.5% (6,093)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Charlottesville city pay about the same bill, within a 1% gap either way.
Charlottesville city's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Charlottesville city's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Charlottesville city's median bill is 40% above the Virginia median and 96% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Charlottesville city moved from $2,775 in the 2020 release to $3,915 in 2024, a change of about 41%. 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.
Charlottesville city vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Charlottesville city | Virginia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.2% | - | - |
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 Charlottesville city's $3,915 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Charlottesville city's $3,915 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $392/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Virginia.
Charlottesville city bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,915 +7.3% | 0.80% |
| 2023 | $3,649 +8.1% | 0.81% |
| 2022 | $3,376 +13.4% | 0.85% |
| 2021 | $2,977 +7.3% | 0.84% |
| 2020 | $2,775 | 0.84% |
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.
Charlottesville city: tax takes 5.2% of income
Counties near Charlottesville city's median bill
On effective rate, Charlottesville city sits nearest San Juan County (UT), Edmunds County (SD), Hampton County (SC).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Clarke County (IA), Dolores County (CO), Nassau County (FL).
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
Charlottesville city: only 10% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,990 of 19,600 returns from Charlottesville city reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,207 - 42% 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
Charlottesville city bill FAQs
- How does Charlottesville city property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Charlottesville city run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.80% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Charlottesville city?
- Property taxes in Charlottesville city run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.2% of the $74,824 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Charlottesville city?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Charlottesville city jumped 41.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,775 to $3,915, 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 Charlottesville city, Virginia?
- The median annual property tax in Charlottesville city is $3,915, an effective rate of 0.80% on a $486,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Charlottesville city?
- Charlottesville city, Virginia scores F (31/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-47). 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 to do with Charlottesville city's HEAVY bill
Charlottesville city's $3,915 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 5.2% of Charlottesville city's $74,824 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Charlottesville city'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: 0.80%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,915/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Charlottesville city
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Charlottesville city (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Schoharie County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,914/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 2.03% vs Charlottesville city 0.80%.
Cuyahoga County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,910/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 2.00% vs Charlottesville city 0.80%.
Sacramento County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,921/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.73% vs Charlottesville city 0.80%.
Menominee County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,926/yr (near-tied bill ABS $11); rate 3.56% vs Charlottesville city 0.80%.
Virginia county set
State ACS overview for every published Virginia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Charlottesville city 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 Charlottesville city (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.