Property Tax in Carroll County, Maryland

What the Carroll County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $3,837 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Carroll County, and $406,400 is the middle home value. Neither figure describes a specific property — together they describe the typical homeowner's situation in the county.

The derived effective rate for Carroll County is 0.94% (median tax ÷ median value). Treat it as an estimate for comparison only: it comes from survey medians of different households, not from the county's rate schedule.

Carroll County by the numbers

*Estimate derived from Census medians (tax ÷ value), not an official rate.

Carroll County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Maryland: #7 of 24 counties
• Median home value rank in Maryland: #7 of 24
• Population rank in Maryland: #9 of 24 (174,318 residents)
• Population density rank: #10 of 24 (389 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Maryland: #10 of 24 (447 sq mi, 4.6% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $320; per $1,000 of home value: $0.94

How Carroll County compares

Of the 24 Maryland counties with published data, 6 have a higher median property tax bill than Carroll County's $3,837, putting the county at #7 in the state. Its bill is about 4% lower than the state median of $3,989 and about 29% higher than the national median of $2,969.

Rates and values pull in opposite directions: an expensive housing market can produce big bills at ordinary rates. Here the derived rate is 0.94%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #7 within Maryland.

Some extra context for Carroll County: the median bill works out to about $320 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $944 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 174,318 people — the #9 most populous county in Maryland, spread over 447 square miles, a density of about 389 people per square mile. Its median home value, $406,400, ranks #7 among the state's 24 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 247 record a higher median tax bill than Carroll County — it sits in the top 8% nationally. The county holds roughly 2.8% of Maryland's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $406,400 versus $397,700), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.94% adds up to about 9.44% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Somerset County, medians $1,603 — $2,234 less than Carroll County per year.

Counties nearest Carroll County in the Maryland ranking

Carroll County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Carroll County beside the counties closest to it in population anywhere in the country — communities of a similar scale operating under different state and local tax systems. Ranked by median tax paid within this peer group of 9, Carroll County's $3,837 bill is #3 of 9.

The closest population match is Scott County, Iowa (174,302 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $3,221 on a median home value of $212,500 — $616 more than Carroll County pays.

Inside Maryland itself, the counties closest to Carroll County in population are Frederick County (280,341 residents, median tax $4,463 on a median value of $437,700); Harford County (262,509 residents, median tax $3,424 on a median value of $367,300); Charles County (168,710 residents, median tax $4,179 on a median value of $402,300); Washington County (155,033 residents, median tax $2,444 on a median value of $275,900). Same state, same broad tax framework — yet the median bills still differ, because assessed values and the mix of county, municipal and school-district rates are set locally.

How the tax is worked out

As an illustration of the arithmetic: at Carroll County's derived rate of 0.94%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $3,776 a year. That is only an illustration using the derived rate — a real bill is computed from the property's assessed value, its exemptions, and the combined rates of its specific taxing districts, so it can be higher or lower.

The usual sequence is: the local assessor values the property; exemptions are applied; the taxable value is multiplied by the combined local rates; and the county bills and collects the tax, distributing it to the schools, municipalities and districts that levied it.

Illustrative bills in Carroll County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.94% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Carroll County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.00% and the US figure of 0.98%:

Illustration only: real bills are computed from the assessed value, exemptions, and the combined rates of the property's actual taxing districts.

Checking your assessment in Carroll County

Most successful appeals are won on facts, not arguments. Start with the property record card held by the Carroll County assessor: wrong square footage, an extra room, or a missing homestead exemption are common and fixable. Next, line your assessed value up against recent sales of genuinely similar homes nearby. Many disputes end at an informal conversation with the assessor's office; if yours does not, file the formal appeal with the review board named on your notice before its deadline, evidence attached, and keep paying the bill in the meantime so penalties do not build up.

More Maryland counties

• Charles County, MD — $4,179
• Washington County, MD — $2,444
• St. Mary's County, MD — $3,392
• Cecil County, MD — $3,059
• Wicomico County, MD — $2,120
• Calvert County, MD — $3,858

Frequently asked questions