Property Tax Alabama: County Rates, Exemptions, and the 2027 Picture

Alabama homeowners pay some of the smallest property tax bills in the country: the median owner-occupant pays $788 a year on a home worth $209,900, an effective rate of 0.38 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 five-year American Community Survey. County averages stretch from 0.17 percent in Choctaw County to 0.59 percent in Jefferson County. The calculator below takes your county’s average effective rate, which is the median tax owners report divided by the median home value, and applies it to the number you enter, then sets your estimate beside what the typical owner in that county pays. Enter market value, meaning what the house would sell for or its appraised value, not the much smaller assessed value printed on your notice.

Why Alabama Bills Stay Small: the 10 Percent Assessment Class

The single biggest reason is the classification system written into the state constitution by Amendment 373, the 1978 “Lid Bill.” Every parcel falls into one of four classes, and each class is taxed on a fixed share of its fair market value. Utility property (Class I) is assessed at 30 percent, the catch-all Class II covering commercial and rental property at 20 percent, private passenger vehicles (Class IV) at 15 percent, and Class III, which covers agricultural and forest land plus single-family owner-occupied homes, at just 10 percent.

So a house the county appraises at $200,000 carries an assessed value of $20,000, and millage applies only to that $20,000. Amendment 373 also puts a ceiling on the total: property taxes on Class III land and homes can never exceed 1 percent of market value in a year, and if the combined levies would break that line, each jurisdiction’s share is cut back proportionately. On the $200,000 house, that ceiling is $2,000. Class III owners may also request current use valuation, which values land by its present use rather than its market potential. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s state profile put Alabama’s effective rate on a median owner-occupied home at 0.4 percent against 1.2 percent nationally, ranking it 50th.

Mills, and the Governments That Levy Them

Alabama expresses rates in mills, where one mill equals one tenth of a cent per dollar of assessed value, or $1 for every $1,000. The Alabama Department of Revenue describes the arithmetic in two steps: appraised value times the class ratio gives assessed value, and assessed value times the total millage gives the unadjusted bill, from which exemptions are subtracted.

The state itself takes 6.5 mills: 3 for the public school fund, 2.5 for the general fund, and 1 for human resources. Counties, cities, and school systems stack their own mills on top, within constitutional limits: counties get 5 mills for general purposes and 2.5 for public buildings, roads, and bridges, cities 5 mills plus up to 7.5 more by referendum, and every school district must levy at least 10 mills. Raising local millage takes approval from the local governing body, the Legislature, and the voters. The Department of Revenue posts each county’s millage table.

County by County: Jefferson on Top, Choctaw at the Bottom

Jefferson County, home to Birmingham, has the highest average effective rate at 0.59 percent ($1,409 median on a $240,000 median home). Greene follows at 0.55 percent, then Macon at 0.50, Lee at 0.48, Mobile at 0.47, and Shelby at 0.44. Shelby owners actually pay the largest median amount in the state, $1,423, because the county also has the highest median home value at $326,100.

At the low end, Choctaw County averages 0.17 percent ($207 on $123,400), with Bibb at 0.20, Clay at 0.21, Washington at 0.23, and Lamar at 0.24. Madison County sits at 0.40 percent, Montgomery at 0.41, Tuscaloosa at 0.32, and Baldwin, with the second highest home values, at just 0.30 percent. The middle of the 67 county rates is 0.32 percent, and 45 counties fall below the 0.38 percent statewide ratio, since the statewide figure leans toward the populous metro counties. One limit: Census medians for the bill cover only households that pay something, yet the value median includes all owners, and about 18 percent of Alabama owners report no tax at all, so these rates lean high.

Two worked examples, both from the same dataset the calculator uses. A $250,000 house in Jefferson County at 0.59 percent comes to about $1,475 a year, or $122.92 a month, $66 more than the county median bill. A $350,000 house in Baldwin County at 0.30 percent comes to about $1,050 a year, or $87.50 a month. The same $200,000 home costs roughly $340 in Choctaw County and $1,180 in Jefferson County. Because each rate is a ratio of two Census medians over owner-occupied homes, it already reflects the 10 percent class ratio and typical homestead exemptions; it shows the county norm, not your parcel’s official millage.

Homestead Classes H-1 Through H-4

Alabama’s homestead exemptions come from Code of Alabama Sections 40-9-19 through 40-9-21 and apply to a single-family home you own and occupy as your primary residence on October 1, on up to 160 acres. The Department of Revenue lists four state classes:

• H-1 (under 65, not disabled): $4,000 of assessed value exempt from the state levy.
• H-2 (65 or older, or adjusted gross income under $12,000, or permanently and totally disabled): exempt from the entire state portion, plus $5,000 of assessed value off county taxes.
• H-3 (65 or older with combined federal taxable income of $12,000 or less, or permanently and totally disabled at any income): exempt from all ad valorem taxes, including state, county, and school levies.
• H-4 (65 or older with adjusted gross income above $12,000): exempt from the state portion, plus $2,000 of assessed value off county taxes.

Counties may add their own exemption of up to $2,000 in assessed value, or $4,000 where authorized, with income limits that vary. Back to the $200,000 house: at 6.5 state mills its $20,000 assessed value owes $130 to the state; H-1 removes $4,000 of that assessment, leaving $104. The exemption is not automatic. You request it from your county revenue commissioner or tax assessor, and it is based on your status on October 1, with applications due by December 31.

The 7 Percent Cap From Act 2024-344

The most recent change is a limit on how fast taxable value can climb. Act 2024-344, passed as HB73, caps the annual increase in taxable assessed value on Class II and Class III real property at 7 percent. The base year took effect October 1, 2024, for bills collected beginning October 1, 2025, and the cap runs through the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2027. When it applies, this year’s taxable assessed value is set at 1.07 times last year’s.

The cap resets in specific situations: a change in ownership other than a family transfer, new improvements or significant upgrades, a change in class, inclusion in a tax increment district, or property that was never assessed before. It limits increases only, so a falling appraisal still flows straight through. With the cap scheduled to lapse after the 2027 fiscal year, watch for legislative action before that date.

Valuation Notices and the Board of Equalization

County assessors appraise property at fair market value, and the Department of Revenue directs them to update values annually. If you disagree with a valuation, file a written objection with your county Board of Equalization within 30 days of the notice under Code of Alabama Sections 40-3-20 and 40-3-24, describing the property and why the value is wrong. If the board’s final decision still looks wrong, a further appeal to circuit court must be perfected within 30 days after the board enters its final assessment. Recent sales of comparable nearby homes make the strongest evidence.

October Due Date, January Delinquency, May Tax Sale

Alabama runs its property tax year from October 1, which is also the lien date. Bills are due October 1 and become delinquent after December 31. The Department of Revenue lays out what follows for unpaid accounts: delinquent January 1, turned over to probate court in February, the court meets in March, the property is advertised in April, and the tax sale is held in May. An owner can generally redeem land sold for taxes within three years of the sale under Code of Alabama Section 40-10-120 Owners with a mortgage usually pay through escrow, which the monthly figure above helps you plan.

When These Figures Refresh

The county rates here come from the 2024 five-year ACS release. They will be updated with each December release. Two dates are worth marking for 2027: the December 31 homestead deadline tied to your October 1 status, and the scheduled end of the Act 2024-344 cap after the fiscal year starting October 1, 2027.

Data: Census Bureau ACS, 2024 five-year release. Each county ratio divides table B25103 (median real estate taxes paid) by table B25077 (median owner-occupied value). Rules and exemption amounts: Alabama Department of Revenue, Property Tax Division.