Property Tax in Washington County, Pennsylvania

What the Washington County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Washington County pay more than $2,445, 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 1.11% for Washington 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 Washington County

For context, the Pennsylvania medians are $3,241 of tax on $240,500 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Washington County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Pennsylvania: #32 of 67 counties
• Median home value rank in Pennsylvania: #24 of 67
• Population rank in Pennsylvania: #18 of 67 (209,778 residents)
• Population density rank: #22 of 67 (245 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Pennsylvania: #18 of 67 (857 sq mi, 1.9% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $204; per $1,000 of home value: $1.11

How Washington County compares

Set against its state, Washington County's median bill of $2,445 is about 25% lower than the Pennsylvania median ($3,241). Against the country as a whole it is about 18% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #32 of 67 Pennsylvania counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Washington County's median home, at $220,600, ranks #24 by value in Pennsylvania, while its derived rate of 1.11% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Washington County: the median bill works out to about $204 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $1,108 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 209,778 people — the #18 most populous county in Pennsylvania, spread over 857 square miles, a density of about 245 people per square mile. Its median home value, $220,600, ranks #24 among the state's 67 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 725 record a higher median tax bill than Washington County — it sits in the top 23% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.6% of Pennsylvania's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $220,600 versus $240,500), and a decade at the derived rate of 1.11% adds up to about 11.08% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Forest County, medians $1,162 — $1,283 less than Washington County per year.

Counties nearest Washington County in the Pennsylvania ranking

Washington County and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Washington County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 209,778 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Washington County's median bill of $2,445 is #5 of 9.

The closest population match is Clermont County, Ohio (209,862 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $3,141 on a median home value of $245,600 — $696 less than Washington County pays.

Staying within Pennsylvania, the counties nearest Washington County by population are Cumberland County (264,422 residents, median tax $3,180 on a median value of $261,900); Lackawanna County (215,834 residents, median tax $2,910 on a median value of $189,900); Butler County (195,870 residents, median tax $2,950 on a median value of $275,600); Monroe County (167,784 residents, median tax $4,435 on a median value of $241,200). 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

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. Washington County's medians imply a derived rate of 1.11%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $4,432 a year, or around $369 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.

Illustrative bills in Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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

• Lackawanna County, PA — $2,910
• Butler County, PA — $2,950
• Monroe County, PA — $4,435
• Beaver County, PA — $2,672
• Centre County, PA — $3,282
• Franklin County, PA — $2,634

Frequently asked questions