Pennsylvania Property Taxes 101: Your 2026 Guide

Pennsylvania levies no state property tax. Instead, three separate local bodies tax the same parcel:

• Your county: a single countywide millage rate
• Your municipality: your township, borough, or city.
• Your school district: almost always the largest of the three, often 60-70% of the total bill.

Each sets its own rate independently, which is why two homes with identical assessments in the same county can carry very different bills. School district boundaries, not county lines, drive most of the variation.

Assessment itself happens at the county level. Your county assessment office maintains the assessment roll and values every parcel. Under the Consolidated County Assessment Law (53 Pa. C.S. § 8801 et seq.), all property in a county must be assessed at the same ratio to market value, the uniformity requirement that makes Pennsylvania appeals winnable.

Why Your Assessment Looks Wrong

This is the part that confuses most Pennsylvania homeowners, and it is where the money is.

Pennsylvania counties do not reassess annually. Each county picks a base year and values every property as of that year. Your assessed value is not supposed to equal today's market value; it is supposed to equal what your home was worth in the base year. A Bucks County home assessed at $30,000 is not a $30,000 house. It is a house the county thinks was worth $30,000 in 1972.

Nothing in state law forces a county to update its base year. Some have gone more than fifty years! The result is an assessment roll that drifts steadily further from reality and unevenly. Neighborhoods that appreciated quickly become badly over-assessed relative to those that did not.

The Importance of the Common Level Ratio

The Common Level Ratio (CLR) is the bridge between base-year assessments and current market value.

The State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) calculates it annually for all 67 counties by comparing recent sale prices to assessed values and certifies it before July 1 for use through the following June 30.

In an appeal, the CLR is your lever. If you can prove your home's current market value, the CLR tells you what your assessment should be:

If your actual assessment is higher than that figure, you’re over-assessed and have a strong appeal case.

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue publishes the reciprocal of the CLR — the "CLR factor" — each July in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The ratios now in force took effect July 1, 2026, and run through June 30, 2027; they’re listed county by county later in this guide.

The spread is enormous: Philadelphia assesses at roughly 94% of market value, while Bucks County assessments sit at about 5.6% of it.

Source: PA Department of Revenue, 2025 Common Level Ratio Real Estate Valuation Factors, effective July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027.

Reassessment Years and the Act 1 Index

When a county reassesses, counties and municipalities must first roll their millage back, so the reassessment produces the same amount of revenue as the prior year. They may then, by a separate and specific vote in that same first year, raise the rate to collect up to 10% more than the prior year — 5% in Allegheny County.

However, this change applies to the overall revenue, not to your specific taxes. So your own taxes can still rise sharply if your assessment rose more than the county average.

Separately, Act 1 of 2006 limits how much a school district can raise its millage rate each year without voter approval, using an annually published index. Act 1 caps rate increases; it does nothing about assessment increases, which is why appealing your assessment is the more reliable lever.

A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. The math runs in three steps:

• Step 1: Assessed Value − Homestead/Farmstead Exclusion = Taxable Value
• Step 2: County mills + Municipal mills + School District mills = Total Millage
• Step 3: Taxable Value × (Total Millage ÷ 1,000) = Annual Property Tax

Worked Example: A Pittsburgh Home, Tax Year 2027

A homeowner in the City of Pittsburgh is assessed at $160,000 against Allegheny County's 2012 base year. Comparable sales support a current market value of $250,000. Under the 2027 Allegheny CLR of 49.3%, the correct assessed value is $123,250 — meaning the property is over-assessed by $36,750.

2026 millage for a City of Pittsburgh property: 6.43 (county) + 9.67 (city) + 10.25 (Pittsburgh School District) = 26.35 mills.

Millage rates: Allegheny County Treasurer, 2026 Tax Millage Listing and 2025-2026 School District Millages. Because Allegheny has no automatic reassessment, a reduction won on appeal carries forward until the county changes your value or reassesses — so the savings repeat annually.

Allegheny County has not conducted a countywide reassessment since 2012. Fourteen years of appreciation have driven the Common Level Ratio steadily down, and every drop widens the gap between what the county says your home is worth and what it should be assessed at.

The Allegheny CLR Has Fallen Every Year

The 2027 ratio of 49.3% corresponds to the CLR factor of 2.03 published by the PA Department of Revenue (reflecting the 2025 CLR certified by STEB) effective July 1, 2026.

Filing Window: Tax Year 2027 Is Open Now

Allegheny County restructured its appeal calendar under County Council Ordinance 06-24-OR, moving appeals into the year before the tax year so that taxing bodies can budget around the outcome. Appeals for tax year 2025 were due October 1, 2024; for 2026, September 2, 2025.

For tax year 2027, the county is accepting annual appeals from July 1, 2026 through September 1, 2026. There is no filing fee. Appeals may be submitted online through the Real Estate Portal, by email, by mail, or in person, but not by fax.

Appeals are heard by the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review (BPAAR). The county provides at least 21 days' notice for residential hearings and 30 days for commercial. Hearings are commonly conducted by telephone.

Allegheny County Relief Programs

• Homestead/Farmstead Exclusion (Act 50): Reduces assessed value by $18,000 for county real property tax only. Apply through the Office of Property Assessments by March 1. Individual municipalities and school districts may adopt their own additional exclusions.
• Act 77 Senior Citizen Tax Relief: A flat 30% discount on county real estate tax. Requires age 60 or older (or widow/widower 50-60, or permanently disabled and 18-60), ten continuous years of ownership and occupancy in Allegheny County, and gross household income of $30,000 or less. Administered by the County Treasurer.
• City of Pittsburgh Act 77: Pittsburgh administers its own parallel program with a 40% discount on the city portion of the bill for qualifying owners.

The Reassessment Question

There is current litigation seeking to compel a countywide reassessment that remains pending in the Court of Common Pleas and Commonwealth Court, and legislation to mandate regular reassessments statewide sits in committee.

Until something changes, the appeal process is the only route to a corrected assessment in Allegheny County — and the falling CLR makes it a favorable one.

Philadelphia works nothing like the rest of Pennsylvania but is more similar to other states and counties.

Under the Actual Value Initiative (AVI), the Office of Property Assessment (OPA) values property at 100% of market value and revalues citywide on a regular cycle rather than freezing to a base year. The Common Level Ratio is therefore close to 1:1, and the CLR is not the lever it is elsewhere. Your appeal argument is simply that OPA's market value is wrong.

Tax Year 2027 Notices Were Mailed in June 2026

OPA began mailing Notices of Valuation for tax year 2027 on June 29, 2026, following a citywide revaluation of more than 580,000 properties using Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal, aerial and street-level imagery, and market data.

The City estimates the change in the Real Estate Tax bill for the median-valued residential property at approximately $97 for tax year 2027 and has engaged an independent third-party consultant to evaluate the accuracy and equity of the revaluation.

A $97 citywide median increase reveals little about any single property. Mass appraisal creates parcel-by-parcel winners and losers, so a modest median can conceal large individual swings.

Philadelphia Key Dates

The two appeal tracks are separate, and you can pursue both.

The First Level Review is an informal desk review by OPA; the application arrives with your Notice of Valuation.

The formal appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) is an independent hearing and carries the later deadline. Filing an FLR does not preserve your BRT rights; if you want the formal appeal, file it by October 5.

Philadelphia Tax Rate and Relief Stack

Philadelphia's Real Estate Tax rate is 1.3998% of assessed value, split between the City (0.6159%) and the School District of Philadelphia (0.7839%). Philadelphia offers the deepest set of relief programs in the state:

• Homestead Exemption: Reduces the taxable assessed value of an owner-occupied home by $100,000 for 2027, saving most homeowners $1,399 a year. Every owner-occupant is eligible regardless of income. Applications due December 1, 2026. Once approved, you do not reapply unless ownership changes.
• Senior Citizen and Low-Income Real Estate Tax Freeze: Freezes your Real Estate Tax so it will not rise even if the rate or your assessment does. The income limit is $33,500 for a single person or $41,500 for a married couple. Applications due September 30, 2027.
• Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP): For owners of at least ten years who saw an assessment increase of 50% or more year-over-year, or 75% or more over five years, and meet income limits. Caps the taxable portion of the assessment. Applications due September 30, 2027.
• Real Estate Tax Installment Plan: Seniors and income-qualified homeowners can pay in eleven monthly installments instead of a lump sum. Applications due March 31, 2027.
• Owner-Occupied Payment Agreement (OOPA): Monthly payment plans for past-due Real Estate Tax, with some homeowners qualifying for $0/month. Accepted year-round.
• Active Duty Reserve and National Guard Tax Credit: A credit for the City portion of Real Estate Tax for eligible members called to active duty.

Worked Example: Philadelphia Homestead Exemption

The Homestead Exemption and an assessment appeal are independent and stack. Reducing your assessed value on appeal saves you money on top of the exemption.

Below are Pennsylvania's seven most populous counties. Because assessments are anchored to wildly different base years, the Common Level Ratio — not the millage rate — is the number that tells you whether your assessment is defensible.

CLR figures are the reciprocals of the CLR factors certified by the PA Department of Revenue effective July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027. Pennsylvania's statutory annual appeal deadline is August 1; because August 1, 2026 falls on a Saturday, it moves to Monday, August 3, 2026. Allegheny County operates on its own September 1 deadline under Ordinance 06-24-OR, and Philadelphia on the first Monday in October. Confirm your county's date with its assessment office before relying on it. Several counties, including Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester, charge a non-refundable filing fee.

Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion (Act 50 / Act 1)

Pennsylvania has no single, universal statewide homestead exemption. Instead, counties, municipalities, and school districts may each adopt their own homestead exclusion (funded in part by gaming revenue under Act 1). These remove a fixed dollar amount of assessed value — ranging from a few thousand dollars in many school districts to Philadelphia’s major $100,000 exemption.

You must apply through your county assessment office; the standard deadline is March 1 for the following tax year. Once approved, the exclusion continues until ownership changes or the property stops being your primary residence.

Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program (PTRR)

Pennsylvania's largest relief program, significantly expanded by Act 7 of 2023 and indexed annually to inflation. For rebates on property taxes or rent paid in 2025, the household income limit is $48,110, with only half of Social Security income counted.

Eligible claimants are age 65 or older, widows and widowers age 50 or older, and people with disabilities age 18 or older. Standard rebates run from $380 to $1,000. Residents of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton with high tax-to-income ratios may qualify for supplemental rebates on top of the standard amount.

File Form PA-1000 with the Department of Revenue. The statutory deadline is June 30, but the Department has extended it to December 31, 2026 for 2025 claims. Free filing assistance is available through the Department of Revenue, AARP Tax-Aide, and senior centers statewide.

Source: PA Department of Revenue and PA Treasury, 2026.

Disabled Veterans Real Estate Tax Exemption

Veterans with a 100% permanent service-connected disability may qualify for a total exemption from real estate tax on their primary residence, subject to a financial need determination. Applications go through your County Director of Veterans Affairs. Surviving spouses may retain the exemption.

Pennsylvania appeals turn on one question: what is your property worth today? Establish that, apply the CLR, and compare the result to your current assessment.

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Because most Pennsylvania counties have no scheduled reassessment, a reduction won on appeal is not a one-year win. It carries forward until the county changes your value, so the savings compound every year you stay in the home.

Rates, ratios, and deadlines current as of July 28, 2026. Common Level Ratios are recertified annually by STEB each July, and county appeal deadlines can change by ordinance. Verify your county's current figures with its assessment office before relying on them.