Philadelphia Property Taxes, Explained

How the rate splits

For 2026, the Philadelphia real estate tax rate is 1.3998% of a property’s assessed value. It splits two ways: 0.6159% funds the City, and 0.7839% funds the School District of Philadelphia. There is no separate township or borough tax, because the city and the county are the same government. That is the whole rate. A suburb stacks a county rate, a municipal rate, and a school-district rate; Philadelphia does not.

Assessed at market value

This is where the city and its suburbs part ways. Many suburbs still assess homes on a base year from decades ago, which is why their millage looks enormous while the real rate is a fraction of it. Philadelphia is the opposite. The Office of Property Assessment keeps values at market value, most recently with citywide revaluations for the 2025 and 2027 tax years, so a Philadelphia home assessed at $250,000 is, roughly, a $250,000 home. New 2027 assessment notices started mailing in late June 2026; if yours looks wrong, the informal first-level review deadline is September 1, 2026. The state’s Common Level Ratio for the city is 94.34%, close to full value, so there is little gap between the assessed number and the market number to reconcile.

The Homestead Exemption is the biggest saving

If you own your home and live in it, the Homestead Exemption removes $100,000 from the assessed value before the rate applies. On the 1.3998% rate, that is about $1,399 off your bill every year. You apply once, it is free, and it renews on its own. It is the first thing an owner-occupant should claim.

Other relief worth checking

The Homestead is the one nearly every owner-occupant should claim. Philadelphia adds others for people who qualify: the Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP) caps assessment increases for owners who have held a home for years, a Senior Citizen Tax Freeze locks the bill for lower-income older owners, and monthly installment plans spread the payment out. If one fits your situation, it is worth the application.

How it compares to the suburbs

At about 1.3998% of market value before the Homestead, Philadelphia sits in the same range as many of its suburbs, and some suburbs run higher. Where the city stands apart is the exemption: $100,000 off the base is a large, flat benefit that matters most on lower-priced homes, where it can cut the bill by a third or more. A Philadelphia listing on NookLocal shows the tax bill recorded for the property; suburban listings recompute the bill from current millage. To compare a city home to a suburban one on the same terms, put the flat 1.3998% here next to the district-by-district effective rates in our county tax guides.

If your assessment looks too high

You can appeal to the Board of Revision of Taxes. The window is set each year, and the case is simple: comparable homes are assessed for less, or your home’s market value is lower than the city’s number. Because the assessment is meant to track market value, an appeal is most likely to land when values in your area have softened or the city’s figure is plainly out of step with recent sales.

Tax data: City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue and Office of Property Assessment, and the Pennsylvania State Tax Equalization Board (Common Level Ratio). This is an explainer, not tax advice. Confirm the current rate, the exemption amount, and your own eligibility with the City before you rely on them.