Ohio · County property tax · ACS 2024
Franklin County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Franklin County pays $4,244 a year, an effective rate of 1.47%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,244
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.47%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +113%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 88
- rank in OH
The verdict
Homeowners in Franklin County pay a median $4,244 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.47%, more affordable than 12% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,244
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.47%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2767 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +113%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($288,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Ohio. Population: 1,333,048. Owner-occupied homes: 292,123.
The median annual property tax in Franklin County is $4,244, which is 50% higher than the Ohio state average and 113% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.47% on a median home value of $288,400. Property taxes represent 5.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Franklin County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Franklin County pay a median annual property tax of $4,244, far above the national median and far above the Ohio state median. On a $288,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.47% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Franklin County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.6% of the $75,176 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among Ohio counties by effective rate
Franklin County ranks #9 of 88 counties in Ohio by effective rate (90% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Franklin County's 1.47% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 12%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Franklin 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 gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Franklin County rose 55.1%, from $185,900 to $288,400. The effective rate fell 22.6% over the same span, a steeper move than in 89% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 20.0%, to $4,244. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $3,536 to $4,244, a gain of 20%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 188,616 of 292,123 owner-occupied homes (64.6%) 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.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 5.6% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to here.
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 Franklin County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Franklin County homeowners, 188,616 of 292,123 owner-occupied homes (64.6%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 4.7% (13,802)
- $800 to $1,499 7.7% (22,618)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.8% (19,726)
- $2,000 to $2,999 13.8% (40,197)
- $3,000 or more 64.6% (188,616)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
7,164 homes here (2.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Ohio handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Franklin County pay about the same bill, a 4% gap.
Franklin County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Franklin County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Franklin County's median bill is 50% above the Ohio median and 113% above the U.S. median.
Franklin County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Franklin County | Ohio Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.6% | - | - |
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 Franklin County's $4,244 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Franklin County's $4,244 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $424/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Ohio.
Franklin County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,244 +3.3% | 1.47% |
| 2023 | $4,110 +3.3% | 1.55% |
| 2022 | $3,977 +7.3% | 1.64% |
| 2021 | $3,708 +4.9% | 1.82% |
| 2020 | $3,536 | 1.90% |
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.
Franklin County: tax takes 5.6% of income
Counties near Franklin County's median bill
On effective rate, Franklin County sits nearest Warren County (NY), Essex County (NY), Thurston County (NE).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Owen County (IN), Cheyenne County (NE), Northumberland County (PA).
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
Franklin County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 38,590 of 645,260 returns from Franklin County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,150 - 33% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k 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 Ohio
Franklin County bill FAQs
- How does Franklin County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Franklin County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.47% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Franklin County?
- Property taxes in Franklin County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.6% of the $75,176 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Franklin County, Ohio?
- The median annual property tax in Franklin County is $4,244, an effective rate of 1.47% on a $288,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Franklin County?
- Franklin County, Ohio scores F (17/100) 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 B- (+$181). 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.
- Are property taxes increasing in Franklin County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Franklin County jumped 20.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,536 to $4,244, 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 to do with Franklin County's HEAVY bill
Franklin County's $4,244 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 5.6% of Franklin County's $75,176 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Franklin 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: 1.47%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,244/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Franklin County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Franklin County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Barnstable County, MA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,239/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.67% vs Franklin County 1.47%.
Berks County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,239/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 1.65% vs Franklin County 1.47%.
Wayne County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,250/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 2.50% vs Franklin County 1.47%.
Juneau City and Borough, AK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,251/yr (near-tied bill ABS $7); rate 0.95% vs Franklin County 1.47%.
Ohio county set
State ACS overview for every published Ohio county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Franklin County stamps STEEP · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Franklin County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.