Property Tax in Cecil County, Maryland

What the Cecil County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $3,059 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Cecil County, and $311,800 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 Cecil County is 0.98% (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.

The key figures for Cecil County

For context, the Maryland medians are $3,989 of tax on $397,700 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Cecil County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Maryland: #14 of 24 counties
• Median home value rank in Maryland: #15 of 24
• Population rank in Maryland: #13 of 24 (104,366 residents)
• Population density rank: #14 of 24 (301 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Maryland: #17 of 24 (346 sq mi, 3.6% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $255; per $1,000 of home value: $0.98

How Cecil County compares

Set against its state, Cecil County's median bill of $3,059 is about 23% lower than the Maryland median ($3,989). Against the country as a whole it is about 3% higher than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #14 of 24 Maryland counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Cecil County's median home, at $311,800, ranks #15 by value in Maryland, while its derived rate of 0.98% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Cecil County: the median bill works out to about $255 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $981 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 104,366 people — the #13 most populous county in Maryland, spread over 346 square miles, a density of about 301 people per square mile. Its median home value, $311,800, ranks #15 among the state's 24 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 425 record a higher median tax bill than Cecil County — it sits in the top 14% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.7% of Maryland's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $311,800 versus $397,700), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.98% adds up to about 9.81% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Somerset County, medians $1,603 — $1,456 less than Cecil County per year.

Counties nearest Cecil County in the Maryland ranking

Cecil County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Cecil 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, Cecil County's $3,059 bill is #4 of 9.

The closest population match is Dallas County, Iowa (104,136 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $4,849 on a median home value of $333,400 — $1,790 less than Cecil County pays.

Inside Maryland itself, the counties closest to Cecil County in population are Washington County (155,033 residents, median tax $2,444 on a median value of $275,900); St. Mary's County (114,372 residents, median tax $3,392 on a median value of $390,900); Wicomico County (104,117 residents, median tax $2,120 on a median value of $238,900); Calvert County (93,791 residents, median tax $3,858 on a median value of $440,200). 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

Think of the final bill as three ingredients: the assessed value of the property, the exemptions subtracted from it, and the combined rate of every district the property sits in. Cecil County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.98%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $3,924 a year, or around $327 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Cecil County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.98% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Cecil 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 Cecil County

If your bill looks wrong, work through these steps:

1. Get your property record card from the assessor and check the basics — living area, lot size, bedrooms, condition, and any exemptions you should have.
2. Compare your assessed value with recent sale prices of similar homes in Cecil County.
3. Talk to the assessor's office informally first; clear errors are often fixed without a hearing.
4. If needed, file a formal appeal with the local review board before the deadline on your assessment notice, with your evidence attached.
5. Keep paying the bill as issued while the appeal runs, unless your notice says otherwise — unpaid taxes accrue penalties regardless of an appeal.

More Maryland counties

• Wicomico County, MD — $2,120
• St. Mary's County, MD — $3,392
• Calvert County, MD — $3,858
• Allegany County, MD — $1,609
• Washington County, MD — $2,444
• Worcester County, MD — $2,629

Frequently asked questions