Orange County, North Carolina property tax
The median homeowner in Orange County, North Carolina pays $4,105 a year in property tax on a home worth $428,500, an effective rate of 0.96%. The national effective rate is 0.98%.
What the rate means here
Orange County taxes property at 0.96%, within a rounding error of the national 0.98%. That makes the $4,105 median bill mostly a statement about local house prices rather than about local tax policy.
It ranks #8 of 98 North Carolina counties by effective rate, against a statewide 0.70%, and #1,129 nationally. The state runs from 1.21% in Northampton County down to 0.37% in Jackson County.
The median home costs 4.84 times the median household income of $88,553, against 3.86 nationally, so housing absorbs an unusually large share of what people here earn. Renters pay 18.8% of median income in gross rent. The county has 147,292 residents, which is small enough that the medians describe a reasonably coherent market.
The rate is derived rather than quoted. How and why.
What that costs at different home values
Arithmetic at the county effective rate, before any exemption or assessment cap.
Housing and income
| Orange County | North Carolina | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effective property tax | 0.96% | 0.70% | 0.98% |
| Median tax bill | $4,105 | $1,815 | $2,969 |
| Median home value | $428,500 | $259,400 | $303,400 |
| Median gross rent | $1,387 | $1,162 | $1,348 |
| Median household income | $88,553 | $69,904 | $78,538 |
| Home price to income | 4.84× | 3.71× | 3.86× |
| Rent as share of income | 18.8% | 19.95% | 20.6% |
| Owner-occupied | 64.24% | 66.37% | 65.02% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 five-year estimates. Population 147,292.
Nearby counties of similar size
| County | Rate | Median bill | Home value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowan County | 0.65% | $1,411 | $216,100 |
| Brunswick County | 0.57% | $1,789 | $314,700 |
| Randolph County | 0.72% | $1,236 | $171,600 |
| Harnett County | 0.74% | $1,642 | $220,700 |
| Catawba County | 0.60% | $1,319 | $218,100 |
Orange County property tax: common questions
What is the property tax rate in Orange County, North Carolina?
The effective rate is 0.96% of home value, from a median tax bill of $4,105 against a median home value of $428,500. That is 0.02 points below the national 0.98%.
How much is property tax on a $400,000 home in Orange County?
Roughly $3,840 a year at the county effective rate of 0.96%.
Is Orange County expensive compared with the rest of North Carolina?
It ranks #8 of 98 North Carolina counties by effective property tax rate, and #1129 of 2,826 nationally. That is 0.26 points above the North Carolina average of 0.70%.
What does housing cost in Orange County?
The median home is worth $428,500 and median gross rent is $1,387 a month. Median household income is $88,553, which puts the home at 4.84 times annual income and rent at 18.8% of it.