Property Tax in Davidson County, North Carolina

What the Davidson County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Davidson County pay more than $1,262, and half pay less. Your own bill is set by your home's assessed value, the exemptions you qualify for, and the local taxing districts your property sits in — so individual bills vary widely around the median.

Dividing the median tax by the median home value gives a derived effective rate of 0.63% for Davidson County. It is an estimate built from two survey medians, not the county's official rate, but it is a fair way to compare the local tax burden with other counties where home values are very different.

The key figures for Davidson County

For context, the North Carolina medians are $1,815 of tax on $259,400 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Davidson County at a glance

• Median tax rank in North Carolina: #52 of 100 counties
• Median home value rank in North Carolina: #53 of 100
• Population rank in North Carolina: #17 of 100 (171,063 residents)
• Population density rank: #17 of 100 (309 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in North Carolina: #31 of 100 (552 sq mi, 1.1% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $105; per $1,000 of home value: $0.63

How Davidson County compares

The median tax bill in Davidson County is about 30% lower than the state median ($1,815 for North Carolina) and about 57% lower than the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #52 out of 100 North Carolina counties with published Census data — 51 counties in the state have a higher median bill.

Comparisons cut both ways: a county can have a modest rate but high bills because homes are expensive, or a high rate but modest bills because homes are cheaper. Davidson County's derived rate of 0.63% sits below the derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Davidson County: the median bill works out to about $105 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $631 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 171,063 people — the #17 most populous county in North Carolina, spread over 552 square miles, a density of about 309 people per square mile. Its median home value, $200,100, ranks #53 among the state's 100 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 2003 record a higher median tax bill than Davidson County — it sits in the top 64% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.6% of North Carolina's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $200,100 versus $259,400), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.63% adds up to about 6.31% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Hyde County, medians $753 — $509 less than Davidson County per year.

Counties nearest Davidson County in the North Carolina ranking

Davidson County and its population peers

Counties of a similar size can tax very differently. The table below shows the counties closest to Davidson County in population across the United States, with their median bills and home values. Within the group of 9, Davidson County ($1,262) ranks #8 of 9 by median tax paid.

The closest population match is McLean County, Illinois (170,882 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $4,503 on a median home value of $198,300 — $3,241 less than Davidson County pays.

Davidson County's nearest population neighbours within North Carolina are Alamance County (174,286 residents, median tax $1,440 on a median value of $221,200); Pitt County (172,279 residents, median tax $1,649 on a median value of $194,300); Catawba County (162,051 residents, median tax $1,319 on a median value of $218,100); Rowan County (148,487 residents, median tax $1,411 on a median value of $216,100). Comparing them is a reminder that even inside one state's rules, the bill follows local home values and local district rates more than anything decided at the state level.

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. Davidson County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.63%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $2,524 a year, or around $210 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Davidson County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.63% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Davidson County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.70% 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 Davidson 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 Davidson 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 North Carolina counties

• Pitt County, NC — $1,649
• Alamance County, NC — $1,440
• Catawba County, NC — $1,319
• Iredell County, NC — $1,843
• Rowan County, NC — $1,411
• Orange County, NC — $4,105

Frequently asked questions