Property Tax in Surry County, North Carolina

What the Surry County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,033 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Surry County, and $166,400 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 Surry County is 0.62% (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.

Surry County by the numbers

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

Surry County at a glance

• Median tax rank in North Carolina: #83 of 100 counties
• Median home value rank in North Carolina: #71 of 100
• Population rank in North Carolina: #38 of 100 (71,407 residents)
• Population density rank: #46 of 100 (134 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in North Carolina: #34 of 100 (532 sq mi, 1.1% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $86; per $1,000 of home value: $0.62

How Surry County compares

Of the 100 North Carolina counties with published data, 82 have a higher median property tax bill than Surry County's $1,033, putting the county at #83 in the state. Its bill is about 43% lower than the state median of $1,815 and about 65% lower 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 0.62%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #71 within North Carolina.

Some extra context for Surry County: the median bill works out to about $86 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $621 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 71,407 people — the #38 most populous county in North Carolina, spread over 532 square miles, a density of about 134 people per square mile. Its median home value, $166,400, ranks #71 among the state's 100 counties with data.

Nationally, Surry County's median bill of $1,033 ranks #2322 of 3133 counties with published data — inside the top 74% of counties by tax paid. The county accounts for about 0.7% of North Carolina's population, its median home value is about 36% below the state median, and at the derived rate the median home would hand over roughly 6.21% of its value in tax across a decade. Within the state, the distance from Surry County to the most expensive county, Orange County ($4,105), is $3,072 a year.

Counties nearest Surry County in the North Carolina ranking

Surry County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Surry 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, Surry County's $1,033 bill is #7 of 9.

The closest population match is McKinley County, New Mexico (71,172 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $1,362 on a median home value of $72,100 — $329 less than Surry County pays.

Inside North Carolina itself, the counties closest to Surry County in population are Chatham County (78,319 residents, median tax $2,671 on a median value of $397,800); Franklin County (71,962 residents, median tax $1,732 on a median value of $240,900); Carteret County (68,652 residents, median tax $1,369 on a median value of $304,200); Wilkes County (65,983 residents, median tax $1,003 on a median value of $161,400). 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 Surry County's derived rate of 0.62%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $2,484 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 Surry County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.62% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Surry 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 Surry 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 Surry 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

• Franklin County, NC — $1,732
• Carteret County, NC — $1,369
• Wilkes County, NC — $1,003
• Rutherford County, NC — $1,053
• Lee County, NC — $1,707
• Chatham County, NC — $2,671

Frequently asked questions