Property Tax in Franklin County, Pennsylvania

What the Franklin County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $2,634 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Franklin County, and $236,300 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 Franklin County is 1.11% (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.

Franklin County by the numbers

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

Franklin County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Pennsylvania: #28 of 67 counties
• Median home value rank in Pennsylvania: #16 of 67
• Population rank in Pennsylvania: #23 of 67 (156,626 residents)
• Population density rank: #26 of 67 (203 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Pennsylvania: #27 of 67 (772 sq mi, 1.7% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $220; per $1,000 of home value: $1.11

How Franklin County compares

Set against its state, Franklin County's median bill of $2,634 is about 19% lower than the Pennsylvania median ($3,241). Against the country as a whole it is about 11% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #28 of 67 Pennsylvania counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Franklin County's median home, at $236,300, ranks #16 by value in Pennsylvania, while its derived rate of 1.11% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Franklin County: the median bill works out to about $220 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,115 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 156,626 people — the #23 most populous county in Pennsylvania, spread over 772 square miles, a density of about 203 people per square mile. Its median home value, $236,300, ranks #16 among the state's 67 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 613 record a higher median tax bill than Franklin County — it sits in the top 20% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.2% of Pennsylvania's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $236,300 versus $240,500), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.11% adds up to about 11.15% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Forest County, medians $1,162 — $1,472 less than Franklin County per year.

Counties nearest Franklin County in the Pennsylvania ranking

Franklin County and its population peers

Counties of a similar size can tax very differently. The table below shows the counties closest to Franklin County in population across the United States, with their median bills and home values. Within the group of 9, Franklin County ($2,634) ranks #5 of 9 by median tax paid.

The closest population match is Hampshire County, Massachusetts (156,595 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $5,326 on a median home value of $363,400 — $2,692 less than Franklin County pays.

Staying within Pennsylvania, the counties nearest Franklin County by population are Beaver County (166,993 residents, median tax $2,672 on a median value of $185,500); Centre County (158,041 residents, median tax $3,282 on a median value of $308,100); Lebanon County (143,592 residents, median tax $3,180 on a median value of $227,300); Schuylkill County (143,259 residents, median tax $2,147 on a median value of $140,400). The spread in their median bills — all under the same state framework — shows how much of the property tax burden is decided county by county and district by district.

How the tax is worked out

As an illustration of the arithmetic: at Franklin County's derived rate of 1.11%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $4,460 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 Franklin County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.11% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Franklin County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 1.35% 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 Franklin 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 Franklin 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 Pennsylvania counties

• Centre County, PA — $3,282
• Beaver County, PA — $2,672
• Monroe County, PA — $4,435
• Lebanon County, PA — $3,180
• Schuylkill County, PA — $2,147
• Cambria County, PA — $1,487

Frequently asked questions