Property Tax in Franklin County, Washington

What the Franklin County numbers mean

A median is the middle household: half of owner-occupied households in Franklin County pay more than $2,638, 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 0.76% for Franklin 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.

Franklin County by the numbers

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

Franklin County at a glance

• Median tax rank in Washington: #22 of 39 counties
• Median home value rank in Washington: #23 of 39
• Population rank in Washington: #14 of 39 (97,676 residents)
• Population density rank: #13 of 39 (79 people per square mile)
• Land area rank in Washington: #27 of 39 (1,241 sq mi, 1.9% of the combined county land area)
• Median tax as a monthly figure: $220; per $1,000 of home value: $0.76

How Franklin County compares

Set against its state, Franklin County's median bill of $2,638 is about 40% lower than the Washington median ($4,361). Against the country as a whole it is about 11% lower than the US median ($2,969). That places the county #22 of 39 Washington counties ranked by median taxes paid.

Remember what drives the ranking: bills follow home values as much as rates. Franklin County's median home, at $345,700, ranks #23 by value in Washington, while its derived rate of 0.76% compares with a derived US figure of 0.98%.

Some extra context for Franklin County: the median bill works out to about $220 a month, and the derived rate equals roughly $763 of tax per $100,000 of home value. The county is home to 97,676 people — the #14 most populous county in Washington, spread over 1,241 square miles, a density of about 79 people per square mile. Its median home value, $345,700, ranks #23 among the state's 39 counties with data.

Zooming out: of 3133 counties nationwide with published Census figures, only 611 record a higher median tax bill than Franklin County — it sits in the top 20% nationally. The county holds roughly 1.3% of Washington's people. Its homes are worth less than the state norm (median $345,700 versus $519,800), and a decade at the derived rate of 0.76% adds up to about 7.63% of the median home's value in tax. The cheapest county in the state, Garfield County, medians $1,306 — $1,332 less than Franklin County per year.

Counties nearest Franklin County in the Washington ranking

Franklin County and its population peers

Population is a useful lens on these figures, so the table below sets Franklin 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, Franklin County's $2,638 bill is #3 of 9.

The closest population match is Putnam County, New York (97,988 residents), where the median real estate tax paid is $10,001 on a median home value of $448,000 — $7,363 less than Franklin County pays.

Franklin County's nearest population neighbours within Washington are Cowlitz County (111,539 residents, median tax $2,988 on a median value of $367,400); Grant County (100,428 residents, median tax $2,268 on a median value of $275,700); Island County (86,747 residents, median tax $3,765 on a median value of $535,300); Lewis County (83,925 residents, median tax $2,433 on a median value of $341,500). 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 0.76%, each $100,000 of value corresponds to about $763 of tax a year, and a $400,000 home to roughly $3,052. 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 Franklin County at the derived rate

The derived rate of 0.76% is only an estimate built from medians, but applying it to different home values gives a sense of scale for Franklin County — and a quick way to compare with the state derived rate of 0.84% 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 Franklin 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 Franklin 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 Washington counties

• Grant County, WA — $2,268
• Island County, WA — $3,765
• Lewis County, WA — $2,433
• Cowlitz County, WA — $2,988
• Chelan County, WA — $3,235
• Clallam County, WA — $2,860

Frequently asked questions