Property Tax in Tompkins County, New York

What the Tompkins County numbers mean

The median is the midpoint of the county's actual bills: half of Tompkins County homeowners pay more than $6,374 a year and half pay less. The exact bill for any one home depends on its assessed value, exemptions, and which school, municipal and special districts cover it.

Set against the median home value of $271,500, the median bill works out to a derived effective rate of 2.35%. That rate is an estimate computed from the two medians — no county publishes a rate calculated this way — but it adjusts for home prices, which makes comparisons between counties more meaningful.

Tompkins County by the numbers

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

Tompkins County at a glance

• Median tax rank in New York: #9 of 62 counties
• Median home value rank in New York: #17 of 62
• Population rank in New York: #28 of 62 (102,879 residents)
• Population density rank: #22 of 62 (217 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in New York: #46 of 62 (474 sq mi, 1.0% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $531; per $1,000 of home value: $2.35

How Tompkins County compares

Of the 62 New York counties with published data, 8 have a higher median property tax bill than Tompkins County's $6,374, putting the county at #9 in the state. Its bill is about the same as the state median of $6,450 and about 115% 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 2.35%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #17 within New York.

Some extra context for Tompkins County: the median bill works out to about $531 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $2,348 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 102,879 people — the #28 most populous county in New York, spread over 474 square miles, a density of about 217 people per square mile. Its median home value, $271,500, ranks #17 among the state's 62 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 65 record a higher median tax bill than Tompkins County — it sits in the top 2% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.5% of New York's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $271,500 versus $403,000), and a decade at the derived rate of 2.35% adds up to about 23.48% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Hamilton County, medians $2,369 — $4,005 less than Tompkins County per year.

Counties nearest Tompkins County in the New York ranking

Tompkins County and its population peers

Counties of a similar size can tax very differently. The table below shows the counties closest to Tompkins County in population across the United States, with their median bills and home values. Within the group of 9, Tompkins County ($6,374) ranks the highest by median tax paid.

The closest population match is Moore County, North Carolina (102,840 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,784 on a median home value of $315,300 — $4,590 more than Tompkins County pays.

Inside New York itself, the counties closest to Tompkins County in population are Ontario County (112,405 residents, median tax $4,460 on a median value of $202,900); St. Lawrence County (107,796 residents, median tax $2,735 on a median value of $119,800); Putnam County (97,988 residents, median tax $10,001 on a median value of $448,000); Steuben County (93,034 residents, median tax $3,245 on a median value of $128,600). 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

The bill is built in stages. First the assessor puts a market value on the property. Exemptions — a homestead exemption above all — then reduce the taxable amount. Finally the combined local rate is applied. To see the scale: at the county's derived rate of 2.35%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $2,348 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $9,392. Real bills use the official assessment and district rates, not this derived figure, so treat the example as a sense of scale only.

Illustrative bills in Tompkins County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 2.35% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Tompkins County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.60% 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 Tompkins 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 Tompkins 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 New York counties

• Putnam County, NY — $10,001
• St. Lawrence County, NY — $2,735
• Ontario County, NY — $4,460
• Steuben County, NY — $3,245
• Wayne County, NY — $4,168
• Jefferson County, NY — $2,851

Frequently asked questions