Property Tax in Suffolk city, Virginia

What the Suffolk city numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Suffolk city pay more than $3,073, 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 0.93% for Suffolk city. 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 Suffolk city

For context, the Virginia medians are $2,686 of tax on $360,700 of value, and the US medians are $2,969 on $303,400. *Derived figures are estimates from Census medians, not official rates.

Suffolk city at a glance

• Median tax rank in Virginia: #15 of 133 counties
• Median home value rank in Virginia: #38 of 133
• Population rank in Virginia: #22 of 133 (96,638 residents)
• Population density rank: #50 of 133 (242 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Virginia: #46 of 133 (399 sq mi, 1.0% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $256; per $1,000 of home value: $0.93

How Suffolk city compares

Of the 133 Virginia counties with published data, 14 have a higher median property tax bill than Suffolk city's $3,073, putting the county at #15 in the state. Its bill is about 14% higher than the state median of $2,686 and about 4% higher 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 0.93%, versus 0.98% derived nationally, and the median home value ranks #38 within Virginia.

Some extra context for Suffolk city: the median bill works out to about $256 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $932 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 96,638 people — the #22 most populous county in Virginia, spread over 399 square miles, a density of about 242 people per square mile. Its median home value, $329,600, ranks #38 among the state's 133 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 422 record a higher median tax bill than Suffolk city — it sits in the top 14% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.1% of Virginia's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $329,600 versus $360,700), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.93% adds up to about 9.32% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Buchanan County, medians $404 — $2,669 less than Suffolk city per year.

Counties nearest Suffolk city in the Virginia ranking

Suffolk city and its population peers

For a like-for-like sense of scale, compare Suffolk city with its national population peers: the counties nearest to its 96,638 residents, listed in the table below with their own Census medians. Of the 9 counties in that group, Suffolk city's median bill of $3,073 is #4 of 9.

The closest population match is Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (96,670 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $951 on a median home value of $190,800 — $2,122 more than Suffolk city pays.

Suffolk city's nearest population neighbours within Virginia are Portsmouth city (97,299 residents, median tax $2,452 on a median value of $229,400); Roanoke County (96,793 residents, median tax $2,340 on a median value of $267,300); Frederick County (93,355 residents, median tax $1,807 on a median value of $355,000); Rockingham County (84,739 residents, median tax $1,532 on a median value of $287,900). 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

As an illustration of the arithmetic: at Suffolk city's derived rate of 0.93%, a home valued at $400,000 would carry a tax bill of roughly $3,728 a year. That is only an illustration using the derived rate — a real bill is computed from the property's assessed value, its exemptions, and the combined rates of its specific taxing districts, so it can be higher or lower.

The usual sequence is: the local assessor values the property; exemptions are applied; the taxable value is multiplied by the combined local rates; and the county bills and collects the tax, distributing it to the schools, municipalities and districts that levied it.

Illustrative bills in Suffolk city at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.93% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Suffolk city — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.74% 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 Suffolk city

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 Suffolk city; 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 Virginia counties

• Roanoke County, VA — $2,340
• Portsmouth city, VA — $2,452
• Roanoke city, VA — $1,828
• Montgomery County, VA — $2,174
• Frederick County, VA — $1,807
• Rockingham County, VA — $1,532

Frequently asked questions