Maryland’s midpoint homeowner pays $4,093 a year in property tax on a house valued at $419,900, a 0.97 percent share in Census Bureau figures. Across the 23 counties and Baltimore City that share runs from 0.65 percent in Talbot County to 1.46 percent in Baltimore City. This Maryland property tax calculator applies the ratio local owners actually pay to your value and compares the result with the local middle bill. Enter full market value, not the phased-in number: the state assesses homes at 100 percent of what they would sell for.
One State Assessor, Three Groups, Three-Year Phase-In
No county assessor values your home here. The State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) does it for every jurisdiction. More than two million property accounts are split into three groups, and each group is reassessed once every three years, so about a third of the state gets a new notice each December.
Maryland Property Tax Calculator (2027)
Pick one of the 23 counties or Baltimore City and enter what the home is worth on the open market. You get a yearly figure and a monthly escrow amount built from the share of value that owners in that jurisdiction really pay, per the Census Bureau's ACS 2024 five-year estimates.
An estimate, not a bill: your value times the jurisdiction's ratio of median real estate taxes paid to median owner-occupied value (US Census ACS 2024 five-year). Those medians come from owners already receiving whatever Homestead Tax Credit or income-based Homeowners' Tax Credit applies, so the ratio runs below the posted rate per $100, and a recent buyer, whose cap starts over after a sale, can pay closer to the posted rate. Town levies inside incorporated municipalities and special district charges are not modeled separately. Confirm the assessment with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) and the amount due with your county or Baltimore City finance office.
When a new value comes in higher, the increase is not taxed all at once. SDAT spreads it evenly over the next three years. A decrease applies in full at once. The most recent round, Group 2 for 2026, covered 789,178 properties and 57,543 sales. Values rose 12.7 percent overall and 13.2 percent for homes, a clear slowdown from the 20.1 percent jump in 2025 and 23.4 percent in 2023. Group 3 gets its new values effective January 1, 2027, from notices mailed in late December 2026.
The Homestead Cap: 10 Percent for the State, 0 to 10 Locally
The Homestead Tax Credit then limits how much the taxable assessment on a principal residence can grow each year. The state portion of the bill is capped at 10 percent growth. Each county and Baltimore City picks its own cap from 0 to 10 percent.
For fiscal year 2027, SDAT lists these local caps: Anne Arundel and Garrett 2 percent; Prince George’s and St. Mary’s 3 percent; Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Allegany, and Cecil 4 percent; Charles 7 percent; Calvert, Montgomery, and Somerset 10 percent; and most other counties 5 percent. Talbot and Worcester use 0 percent, meaning a homeowner’s county taxable assessment does not rise at all while the credit lasts. Worcester moved from 3 percent to 0 for this fiscal year.
The Department of Legislative Services offers an example. A home reassessed from $300,000 to $420,000 would normally have $40,000 phased in each year. With a 10 percent cap, the taxable amount rises only $30,000, then $33,000, then $36,300. In Anne Arundel, with a 2 percent county cap, the first year’s county credit on that same house would be $34,000 times $0.968 per $100, or $329.12, plus $11.20 on the state side.
Two rules matter. You must file a one-time application with SDAT, a requirement dating to a 2007 law, and the credit ends when the home sells. A buyer starts fresh at the full phased-in value, which is why a recent purchase often carries a bigger bill than the house next door.
Rates per $100: 11.2 Cents to the State, the Rest Local
Maryland quotes rates in dollars per $100 of assessment. Every property pays the state rate of $0.112. On top of it comes the county rate, or the Baltimore City rate, and a town rate if the home sits inside an incorporated municipality such as Annapolis, Frederick, or Salisbury. The state puts no limit on local rates.
For 2026 to 2027, SDAT’s table shows Baltimore City far above the rest at $2.248. Most counties sit between roughly $0.93 and $1.14: Charles $1.141, Frederick $1.11, Baltimore County $1.10, Howard $1.044. A cluster on the Eastern Shore runs near 80 cents, including Wicomico at $0.7799, Queen Anne’s at $0.80, Worcester at $0.815, and Talbot at $0.818. Some counties bill added charges that the table’s county column does not capture, so Montgomery owners should check the county’s own estimator.
Census Ratios From Talbot to Baltimore City
Because the homestead cap holds back taxable values for long-time owners, what people really pay as a share of market value is lower than the posted rates suggest. The Census ratios show it. Talbot is lowest at 0.65 percent, then Worcester at 0.73, and Garrett and Queen Anne’s at 0.78. Baltimore City tops the list at 1.46 percent, followed by Howard at 1.17, Prince George’s at 1.12, Baltimore County at 1.07, and Allegany at 1.06. The middle jurisdiction sits near 0.90 percent. Seventeen of the 24 fall below the statewide 0.97, because several high-ratio places, among them Prince George’s, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City, hold large shares of the state’s homeowners.
Estimates from the tool:
- Baltimore City, $250,000: 1.46 percent gives $3,650.00 a year, or $304.17 a month, which is $296 above the city’s $3,354 median bill. Split into two installments, each half is $1,825.00.
- Montgomery County, $600,000: 0.87 percent gives $5,220.00 a year and $435.00 a month, $319 below the local $5,539 median.
- Talbot County, $400,000: 0.65 percent gives $2,600.00 a year and $216.67 a month, $47 under the $2,647 median.
A $350,000 house works out to about $5,110 in Baltimore City and $2,275 in Talbot. At $600,000, Howard County’s 1.17 percent comes to $7,020, or $1,800 more than Montgomery. Howard has the largest middle bill ($6,987); Montgomery has the priciest median home ($640,300).
Run Baltimore City’s posted numbers on that same $250,000 house and you get $2.36 per $100 ($2.248 plus $0.112), or $5,900.00, far above the $3,650.00 Census estimate. The Census ratio divides the median payment owners report by the median value of owner-occupied homes and already reflects capped assessments, phase-in lag, and credits. A buyer who just closed loses that cushion and should expect something closer to the posted-rate math. Recent buyers should treat the calculator’s figure as a floor and check it against the phased-in assessment times the combined rate.
Income Relief and the Disabled Veteran Exemption
The Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit caps the bill itself based on income. Household income must be $60,000 or less, and net worth under $200,000, not counting the home or retirement accounts. The allowed tax is 0 percent of the first $8,000 of income, 4 percent of the next $4,000, 6.5 percent of the next $4,000, and 9 percent above $16,000. At $40,000 of income that limit is $2,580, so if the tax on the first $300,000 of assessment were $3,500, the credit would be $920. You apply every year, by October 1, and filing by April 15 gets the credit onto the July bill.
A veteran the VA has declared permanently 100 percent disabled from a service-connected condition owes no property tax on the dwelling under Tax-Property Section 7-208, and a surviving spouse who has not remarried can keep the exemption. Counties and Baltimore City may layer local credits on top of these, so ask your finance office what applies.
45 Days to Appeal, Then the Board and the Tax Court
You have 45 days from the date printed on the reassessment notice to file with SDAT for a hearing at the supervisor level. If that result is not acceptable, the next step is the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board for your jurisdiction, within 30 days of the final notice, and after that the Maryland Tax Court, within 30 days of the board’s order, where you must appear in person. In the two years between notices, a petition for review is due by the first working day after January 1. A buyer who takes title after January 1 but before July 1 gets 60 days from the transfer to appeal.
July Bills, Two Installments, and the Tax Sale
Maryland’s tax year runs July 1 to June 30, and bills go out in July or August. Owner-occupants can pay in two parts under Tax-Property Section 10-204.3: the first half is payable without interest through September 30 and the second through December 31. The county may add a service charge of up to 1.5 percent on the second half; it does not apply when both halves are paid by September 30.
Late balances draw interest of two-thirds of 1 percent a month unless the county or town sets a different rate; Frederick County, for example, may charge up to 1 percent. Taxes that stay unpaid lead to the county’s annual tax sale, held on a date local law sets, conducted by the local collector.
When These Numbers Refresh
The Census ratios update each December with the next ACS five-year release. SDAT’s Group 3 notices carry values effective January 1, 2027, and counties adopt fiscal 2028 rates next spring. SDAT is also extending the vacant land revaluation that reached 11,539 Baltimore City parcels in 2026 to Group 3 and Group 1.
Sources: Census Bureau ACS 2024 five-year data, tables B25103 (taxes paid) and B25077 (home value); Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation 2026 to 2027 tax rate and homestead cap table and program pages; Maryland Code, Tax-Property Article. Verify your assessment with SDAT and your amount due with your county or Baltimore City finance office.