Property Tax in Wilson County, Tennessee

What the Wilson County numbers mean

Read the two medians together: $1,743 is the middle tax bill among owner-occupied households in Wilson County, and $397,000 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 Wilson County is 0.44% (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.

The key figures for Wilson County

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.

Wilson County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Tennessee: #7 of 95 counties
• Median home value rank in Tennessee: #2 of 95
• Population rank in Tennessee: #10 of 95 (153,587 residents)
• Population density rank: #13 of 95 (269 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Tennessee: #19 of 95 (571 sq mi, 1.4% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $145; per $1,000 of home value: $0.44

How Wilson County compares

Set against its state, Wilson County's median bill of $1,743 is about 24% higher than the Tennessee median ($1,400). Against the country as a whole it is about 41% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #7 of 95 Tennessee counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Wilson County's median home, at $397,000, ranks #2 by value in Tennessee, while its derived rate of 0.44% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Wilson County: the median bill works out to about $145 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $439 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 153,587 people — the #10 most populous county in Tennessee, spread over 571 square miles, a density of about 269 people per square mile. Its median home value, $397,000, ranks #2 among the state's 95 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 1342 record a higher median tax bill than Wilson County — it sits in the top 43% nationally. The county holds roughly 2.2% of Tennessee's people. Its homes are worth more than the state norm (median $397,000 versus $256,800), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.44% adds up to about 4.39% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Fentress County, medians $519 — $1,224 less than Wilson County per year.

Counties nearest Wilson County in the Tennessee ranking

Wilson County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Wilson County beside the counties closest to it in population anywhere in the country — communities of a similar scale operating under different state and local tax systems. Ranked by median tax paid within this peer group of 9, Wilson County's $1,743 bill is the lowest.

The closest population match is Penobscot County, Maine (153,571 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $2,435 on a median home value of $193,800 — $692 less than Wilson County pays.

Staying within Tennessee, the counties nearest Wilson County by population are Sumner County (200,553 residents, median tax $1,944 on a median value of $364,000); Sullivan County (159,693 residents, median tax $1,205 on a median value of $190,800); Blount County (137,747 residents, median tax $1,387 on a median value of $275,700); Washington County (134,693 residents, median tax $1,278 on a median value of $231,700). 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

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 0.44%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $439 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $1,756. 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 Wilson County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.44% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Wilson 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 Wilson 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 Wilson 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

• Sullivan County, TN — $1,205
• Blount County, TN — $1,387
• Washington County, TN — $1,278
• Bradley County, TN — $1,174
• Sumner County, TN — $1,944
• Maury County, TN — $1,476

Frequently asked questions