Property Tax in Sumner County, Tennessee

What the Sumner County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Sumner County pay more than $1,944, 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 0.53% for Sumner 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.

Sumner County by the numbers

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

Sumner County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Tennessee: #4 of 95 counties
• Median home value rank in Tennessee: #4 of 95
• Population rank in Tennessee: #8 of 95 (200,553 residents)
• Population density rank: #11 of 95 (379 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Tennessee: #32 of 95 (529 sq mi, 1.3% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $162; per $1,000 of home value: $0.53

How Sumner County compares

Of the 95 Tennessee counties with published data, 3 have a higher median property tax bill than Sumner County's $1,944, putting the county at #4 in the state. Its bill is about 39% higher than the state median of $1,400 and about 35% 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 0.53%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #4 within Tennessee.

Some extra context for Sumner County: the median bill works out to about $162 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $534 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 200,553 people — the #8 most populous county in Tennessee, spread over 529 square miles, a density of about 379 people per square mile. Its median home value, $364,000, ranks #4 among the state's 95 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1116 record a higher median tax bill than Sumner County — it sits in the top 36% nationally. The county holds roughly 2.9% of Tennessee's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $364,000 versus $256,800), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.53% adds up to about 5.34% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Fentress County, medians $519 — $1,425 less than Sumner County per year.

Counties nearest Sumner County in the Tennessee ranking

Sumner County and its population peers

Counties of a similar size can tax very differently. The table below shows the counties closest to Sumner County in population across the United States, with their median bills and home values. Within the group of 9, Sumner County ($1,944) ranks #7 of 9 by median tax paid.

The closest population match is Minnehaha County, South Dakota (200,689 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $3,090 on a median home value of $266,600 — $1,146 less than Sumner County pays.

Sumner County's nearest population neighbours within Tennessee are Williamson County (254,609 residents, median tax $2,891 on a median value of $673,700); Montgomery County (227,957 residents, median tax $1,671 on a median value of $248,300); Sullivan County (159,693 residents, median tax $1,205 on a median value of $190,800); Wilson County (153,587 residents, median tax $1,743 on a median value of $397,000). Comparing them is a reminder that even inside one state's rules, the bill follows local home values and local district rates more than anything decided at the state level.

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 0.53%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $534 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $2,136. 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 Sumner County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.53% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Sumner County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.55% 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 Sumner 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 Sumner 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 Tennessee counties

• Montgomery County, TN — $1,671
• Sullivan County, TN — $1,205
• Wilson County, TN — $1,743
• Williamson County, TN — $2,891
• Blount County, TN — $1,387
• Washington County, TN — $1,278

Frequently asked questions