Property Tax in Madison County, Tennessee
Homeowners in Madison County, Tennessee pay a median of $1,161 a year in real estate taxes, on a median home value of $189,700. Those are the Census Bureau's published medians for the county (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023) — the typical bill and the typical home value for owner-occupied households.
What the Madison County numbers mean
A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Madison County pay more than $1,161, 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 0.61% for Madison 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 Madison County
| Measure | Madison County |
|---|---|
| Median real estate taxes paid per year | $1,161 |
| Median home value | $189,700 |
| Derived effective rate* | 0.61% |
| Equivalent monthly tax | $97 |
| Tax per $100,000 of value (derived) | $612 |
| Illustrative tax on a $400,000 home (derived rate) | $2,448 |
For context, the Tennessee medians are $1,400 of tax on $256,800 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.
Madison County at a glance
- Median tax rank in Tennessee: #28 of 95 counties
- Median home value rank in Tennessee: #44 of 95
- Population rank in Tennessee: #15 of 95 (98,845 residents)
- Population density rank: #19 of 95 (177 people per square mile)
- Land area rank in Tennessee: #24 of 95 (557 sq mi, 1.4% of the combined county land area)
- Median tax as a monthly figure: $97; per $1,000 of home value: $0.61
How Madison County compares
Set against its state, Madison County's median bill of $1,161 is about 17% lower than the Tennessee median ($1,400). Against the country as a whole it is about 61% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #28 of 95 Tennessee counties ranked by median taxes paid.
Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Madison County's median home, at $189,700, ranks #44 by value in Tennessee, while its derived rate of 0.61% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.
Some extra context for Madison County: the median bill works out to about $97 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $612 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 98,845 people — the #15 most populous county in Tennessee, spread over 557 square miles, a density of about 177 people per square mile. Its median home value, $189,700, ranks #44 among the state's 95 counties with data.
Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 2167 record a higher median tax bill than Madison County — it sits in the top 69% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.4% of Tennessee's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $189,700 versus $256,800), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.61% adds up to about 6.12% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Fentress County, medians $519 — $642 less than Madison County per year.
Counties nearest Madison County in the Tennessee ranking
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roane County, TN | $1,172 | $212,300 | 0.55% |
| Loudon County, TN | $1,163 | $292,600 | 0.40% |
| Tipton County, TN | $1,158 | $220,100 | 0.53% |
| Fayette County, TN | $1,092 | $316,000 | 0.35% |
Madison County and its population peers
For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Madison County with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 98,845 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Madison County's median bill of $1,161 is #7 of 9.
| County | Population | Median tax paid | Median home value | Derived rate* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burleigh County, ND | 98,986 | $2,764 | $314,700 | 0.88% |
| Floyd County, GA | 98,985 | $1,560 | $194,100 | 0.80% |
| Sutter County, CA | 98,971 | $3,111 | $399,400 | 0.78% |
| Dubuque County, IA | 98,948 | $2,848 | $226,100 | 1.26% |
| Lenawee County, MI | 98,823 | $2,412 | $181,100 | 1.33% |
| Sevier County, TN | 98,802 | $815 | $259,500 | 0.31% |
| Marshall County, AL | 98,712 | $699 | $183,400 | 0.38% |
| Roanoke city, VA | 98,677 | $1,828 | $180,500 | 1.01% |
The closest population match is Lenawee County, Michigan (98,823 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,412 on a median home value of $181,100 — $1,251 less than Madison County pays.
Staying within Tennessee, the counties nearest Madison County by population are Bradley County (109,743 residents, median tax $1,174 on a median value of $230,800); Maury County (104,855 residents, median tax $1,476 on a median value of $307,500); Sevier County (98,802 residents, median tax $815 on a median value of $259,500); Putnam County (81,366 residents, median tax $1,299 on a median value of $246,800). 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. Madison County's medians imply a derived rate of 0.61%; applied illustratively, a $400,000 home would owe about $2,448 a year, or around $204 a month spread evenly. Individual properties depart from the illustration in both directions.
Illustrative bills in Madison County at the derived rate
The derived rate of 0.61% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Madison County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.55% and the US figure of 0.98%:
| Home value | Illustrative tax / year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $918 | $76 |
| $250,000 | $1,530 | $128 |
| $350,000 | $2,142 | $178 |
| $500,000 | $3,060 | $255 |
| $750,000 | $4,590 | $382 |
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 Madison 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 Madison 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 Tennessee counties
Frequently asked questions
What is the median property tax in Madison County, Tennessee?
The median real estate tax paid in Madison County, Tennessee is $1,161 per year, on a median home value of $189,700 (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2023).
What is the effective property tax rate in Madison County, Tennessee?
The derived effective rate is 0.61% — the median bill ($1,161) expressed as a share of the median home value ($189,700). No authority sets a rate this way; it exists to make counties with different home prices comparable.
How does Madison County compare with the rest of Tennessee?
Madison County ranks #28 of 95 Tennessee counties with published data by median taxes paid. Its median bill of $1,161 is about 17% lower than the Tennessee median of $1,400.
How are property taxes calculated in Madison County, Tennessee?
The assessor estimates your property's market value; exemptions (such as a homestead exemption) reduce the taxable amount; and the result is multiplied by the combined rates of the local taxing districts — county, municipality, school district and any special districts. In Madison County, the median outcome of that process is a bill of $1,161 on a median home value of $189,700.
Can I appeal my property tax assessment in Madison County, Tennessee?
Yes. Request your property record card from the Madison County assessor's office and check it for errors, then compare your assessed value with recent sales of similar homes. If it still looks too high, file a formal appeal with the local review board named on your assessment notice before the deadline printed on the notice — windows are short, often 30 to 90 days.