Property tax by ZIP code in Tennessee
Enter a Tennessee ZIP and see the median property tax paid, median home value, and effective tax rate from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey — plus how it compares to the Tennessee state median.
Look up a Tennessee ZIP code
Enter a 5-digit Tennessee ZIP code above to see its property tax data.
ZIP doesn't have ACS data — typically because it's a PO-box-only ZIP, a single-business ZIP, or a small area where the Census suppresses small-sample estimates. Try a nearby ZIP.
ZIP isn't a Tennessee ZIP code. This page covers Tennessee only. Other states are launching state by state — check back, or use our state-by-state median page in the meantime.
Tennessee property tax is entirely a local tax — the state has levied no property tax of its own since 1949. Each county assessor of property appraises your home, applies the 25% residential assessment ratio, and the county and any city set their own rates. Because Tennessee has no broad state income tax and leans on sales tax, its effective property-tax rate runs among the lowest in the country — around 0.50% of value statewide.
Enter a 5-digit Tennessee ZIP to see its median property tax, median home value, and effective rate from the US Census American Community Survey 2020–2024 vintage, plus how the ZIP compares to the Tennessee state and US national medians. The explainer below covers the classification system, the reappraisal cycle and certified tax rate, and the Tax Relief and Tax Freeze programs.
How Tennessee property tax works
Tennessee assesses property locally and by classification. Your county assessor appraises the property at market value, then applies a statutory assessment ratio that depends on use: residential and farm property is assessed at 25% of appraised value, commercial and industrial at 40%, and tangible personal property at 30%. So a home appraised at $300,000 carries an assessed value of $75,000, and the county and city rates apply to that figure — not the full market value.
Counties do not reappraise every year. State law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601) puts each county on a four-, five-, or six-year reappraisal cycle, so assessed values can lag the market between cycles and then reset in a reappraisal year. To keep a reappraisal from becoming an automatic tax increase, Tennessee's certified tax rate law requires local governments to roll the rate back to a revenue-neutral level after values rise; exceeding the certified rate requires public notice and a hearing.
Tennessee's main homeowner relief comes through two state programs administered with the county trustee. The Property Tax Relief Program reimburses qualifying low-income homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled (a 2024-income limit of $37,530 for the 2025 tax year, calculated on the first $32,700 of market value), with a more generous benefit for disabled veterans and their surviving spouses (no income limit, calculated on the first $175,000 of value). The separate Property Tax Freeze lets income-qualified owners 65 and older lock their tax at a base-year amount in participating counties and cities. (Income limits and the market-value figures are set annually, so confirm the current year's numbers with the Comptroller before applying.)
One measure worth keeping straight: a proposed constitutional amendment, SJR 1, is on the November 2026 ballot. It would bar the state from levying a property tax — constitutionalizing a status quo that has held since 1949. It does not cap county or city property taxes, which are where essentially all Tennessee property tax is levied.
Why your actual bill differs
The numbers above describe a typical homeowner in this ZIP — not your specific bill. A few things move bills away from the median:
- County and city rates stack. A home inside a municipality pays both the county rate and the city rate; an otherwise identical home in the unincorporated county pays only the county rate.
- Where your county is in its reappraisal cycle. Because counties reappraise only every four to six years, assessed values can sit below market until a reappraisal year resets them — and the certified-rate rollback is meant to offset, not erase, the change.
- Relief programs. The Property Tax Relief reimbursement and the Property Tax Freeze can each cut or cap a qualifying owner's bill well below the ZIP median.
Tennessee has no single statewide bill lookup — it's handled by the county trustee. Many counties and cities share the TennesseeTrustee.org search-and-pay portal; larger counties such as Knox run their own. Start with your county trustee's office.
Methodology
Data on this page comes from the US Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 vintage (released January 29, 2026), at the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) level. After filtering ZCTAs the Census suppresses for privacy or small-sample reasons, this page covers 583 Tennessee ZIPs.
Topcoding in Tennessee. The Census caps median property tax at $10,000, reporting anything higher as $10,001. Because Tennessee's effective rates are so low, no Tennessee ZIP in this dataset reaches the cap — every median shown here is a true value.
See the full methodology page for source details (Census table IDs, the comparison-median rule, calculator formulas), how we handle topcoding across every state, and the refresh cadence.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the median tax in my ZIP different from what I pay?
Median is the middle of the distribution, not your bill. Tennessee assesses homes at 25% of appraised value, but combined county and city rates vary widely, and your county's place in its four-to-six-year reappraisal cycle changes the value the rate applies to. The Tax Relief and Tax Freeze programs shift a qualifying owner's bill further from the ZIP median.
Why might my ZIP show $10,001 as the median tax?
That's the Census topcode for privacy, but it doesn't appear in Tennessee — the state's low effective rates keep every ZIP in this dataset below the $10,000 cap, so the figures here are true medians.
Where do I find my actual Tennessee property tax bill?
Through your county trustee. Tennessee has no statewide pay-your-bill portal; many counties and cities use the shared TennesseeTrustee.org site, while larger counties like Knox and Davidson (Nashville) run their own.
When does Tennessee data update on this page?
Annually, when the Census Bureau releases a new ACS 5-year vintage. The 2020–2024 vintage released January 29, 2026. The next vintage (2021–2025) typically follows the next year, though the Census has not yet posted its release date.
Why don't you cover other states yet?
State-by-state rollout. Each state needs its own context section (assessment method, exemptions, local taxing structure) to be genuinely useful. High-search-volume states are going live first.