Property Tax in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

What the Lawrence County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,983 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Lawrence County, and $136,700 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 Lawrence County is 1.45% (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.

Lawrence County by the numbers

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

Lawrence County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Pennsylvania: #46 of 67 counties
• Median home value rank in Pennsylvania: #56 of 67
• Population rank in Pennsylvania: #33 of 67 (85,423 residents)
• Population density rank: #23 of 67 (239 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Pennsylvania: #61 of 67 (357 sq mi, 0.8% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $165; per $1,000 of home value: $1.45

How Lawrence County compares

The median tax bill in Lawrence County is about 39% lower than the state median ($3,241 for Pennsylvania) and about 33% lower than the US median ($2,969 nationally). By median taxes paid, the county ranks #46 out of 67 Pennsylvania counties with published Census data — 45 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. Lawrence County's derived rate of 1.45% sits above the derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Lawrence County: the median bill works out to about $165 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,451 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 85,423 people — the #33 most populous county in Pennsylvania, spread over 357 square miles, a density of about 239 people per square mile. Its median home value, $136,700, ranks #56 among the state's 67 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1077 record a higher median tax bill than Lawrence County — it sits in the top 34% nationally. The county holds roughly 0.7% of Pennsylvania's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $136,700 versus $240,500), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.45% adds up to about 14.51% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Forest County, medians $1,162 — $821 less than Lawrence County per year.

Counties nearest Lawrence County in the Pennsylvania ranking

Lawrence County and its population peers

Counties of a similar size can tax very differently. The table below shows the counties closest to Lawrence County in population across the United States, with their median bills and home values. Within the group of 9, Lawrence County ($1,983) ranks #5 of 9 by median tax paid.

The closest population match is Newport County, Rhode Island (85,095 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $5,345 on a median home value of $559,700 — $3,362 less than Lawrence County pays.

Inside Pennsylvania itself, the counties closest to Lawrence County in population are Adams County (105,183 residents, median tax $3,569 on a median value of $256,100); Northumberland County (90,925 residents, median tax $1,778 on a median value of $151,600); Indiana County (83,213 residents, median tax $2,271 on a median value of $145,400); Crawford County (83,189 residents, median tax $2,099 on a median value of $143,400). 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

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 1.45%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $1,451 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $5,804. 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 Lawrence County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 1.45% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Lawrence 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 Lawrence County

Believe your assessment is too high? The practical order of attack is: obtain your record card and audit it line by line; collect comparable recent sales in Lawrence County; ask the assessor's office to correct anything plainly wrong; and, if the value still seems off, lodge a formal appeal ahead of the deadline printed on your assessment notice. Windows are short — often 30 to 90 days — and late appeals are usually rejected outright, however strong the case.

More Pennsylvania counties

• Indiana County, PA — $2,271
• Crawford County, PA — $2,099
• Northumberland County, PA — $1,778
• Clearfield County, PA — $1,488
• Somerset County, PA — $1,449
• Adams County, PA — $3,569

Frequently asked questions