Maryland · County property tax · ACS 2024
Harford County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Harford County pays $3,448 a year, an effective rate of 0.89%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,448
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.89%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +73%
- vs U.S. average
- #14 of 24
- rank in MD
The verdict
Homeowners in Harford County pay a median $3,448 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.89%, more affordable than 44% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,448
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.89%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1770 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +73%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($386,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Maryland. Population: 263,757. Owner-occupied homes: 81,092.
The median annual property tax in Harford County is $3,448, which is 16% lower than the Maryland state average and 73% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.89% on a median home value of $386,400. Property taxes represent 3.1% of the median household income in this county.
Why Harford County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Harford County pay a median annual property tax of $3,448, far above the national median and notably lower than the Maryland state median. On a $386,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.89% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Near the middle of Maryland counties by effective rate
Harford County ranks #14 of 24 counties in Maryland by effective rate (42% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Harford County's 0.89% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 44%).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Harford County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $112,265 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Harford 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Harford County's effective rate fell 14.8% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 27.6%, leaving the median bill 8.6% higher at $3,448. That rate move is larger than the one in 63% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
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
Very little moved here between 2020 and 2024: the typical bill went from $3,174 to $3,448, a change of 9%. The comparison describes county-level medians only; individual assessments and bills can differ.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 46,815 of 81,092 owner-occupied homes (57.7%) 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.
Earnings are in the national top quarter and the rate is above the midpoint, so the median bill represents 3.1% of median household income. A headline bill conflates the dollar figure with the proportion; the two come apart here, and the ratio above is the second of them.
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 Harford County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Harford County homeowners, 46,815 of 81,092 owner-occupied homes (57.7%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.4% (1,934)
- $800 to $1,499 5.2% (4,217)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.0% (6,463)
- $2,000 to $2,999 22.1% (17,942)
- $3,000 or more 57.7% (46,815)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,721 homes here (4.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Maryland handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Harford County pay about the same bill, a 1% gap.
Harford County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Harford County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Harford County's median bill is 16% below the Maryland median and 73% above the U.S. median.
Same rate as Maryland, a smaller bill
The effective rate here sits within 8% of the Maryland median, yet the median bill runs 16% below it. When the rate matches and the cheque does not, the difference is in what is being taxed, not how heavily: the same percentage applied to cheaper housing produces $3,448 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Harford County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Harford County | Maryland Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.1% | - | - |
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 Harford County's $3,448 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Harford County's $3,448 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $345/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Maryland.
Harford County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,448 +0.7% | 0.89% |
| 2023 | $3,424 +1.2% | 0.93% |
| 2022 | $3,384 +4.3% | 0.96% |
| 2021 | $3,245 +2.2% | 1.03% |
| 2020 | $3,174 | 1.05% |
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.
Harford County: tax-to-income at 3.1%
Counties near Harford County's median bill
On effective rate, Harford County sits nearest Union County (KY), Newton County (GA), Cheboygan County (MI).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Grant County (WI), Bowie County (TX), Vernon Parish (LA).
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
Harford County: only 15% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 20,120 of 133,440 returns from Harford County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,446 - 40% 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 Maryland
Harford County bill FAQs
- How does Harford County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Harford County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.89% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Harford County?
- Harford County, Maryland 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 (+$38). 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 is the average property tax in Harford County, Maryland?
- The median annual property tax in Harford County is $3,448, an effective rate of 0.89% on a $386,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Harford County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Harford County climbed 8.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,174 to $3,448, 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Harford County?
- Property taxes in Harford County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $112,265 median household income.
What to do with Harford County's HEAVY bill
Harford County's $3,448 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Harford County ranks #14 of 24 Maryland counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Maryland overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Harford 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: 0.89%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,448/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Harford County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Harford County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Allegheny County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,451/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 1.52% vs Harford County 0.89%.
Chemung County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,451/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 2.45% vs Harford County 0.89%.
Livingston County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,454/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 0.97% vs Harford County 0.89%.
Spokane County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,434/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 0.84% vs Harford County 0.89%.
Maryland county set
State ACS overview for every published Maryland county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Harford 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 Harford County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.