Philadelphia's property tax looks intimidating, but the math behind it is a single line: your assessed value times one citywide rate. Once you know the rate, you can estimate your own bill on the back of an envelope — and, more usefully, you can see what would happen if your assessed value were lower. This page shows you how the arithmetic works, then points you to your real numbers.
Philadelphia levies a combined City and School District real estate tax of 1.3998% of assessed value — call it about 1.4%. There is only one rate, and it applies to every residential parcel in the city, so the lever that actually moves your bill is your assessed (market) value, not the rate. The estimate is simply:
Annual tax ≈ assessed value × 1.3998% (about 1.4%)
Here is that arithmetic worked through at a few round numbers. These are illustrative examples to show how the multiplication behaves — none of them is anyone's actual or expected bill, and your real figure depends on your own assessed value and any exemptions:
Notice the pattern: because the rate is fixed, the bill scales straight up and down with the assessed value. That is exactly why it matters whether your assessed value is right — the whole formula pivots on that one number. If you want the deeper mechanism behind how the City arrives at these figures, see how Philadelphia property taxes are calculated.
If the property is your primary residence, the Homestead Exemption changes the arithmetic by lowering the value the rate is applied to. In other words, you subtract the exemption from your assessed value first, and only then multiply by 1.3998%. That makes the estimated bill smaller for owner-occupants who qualify.
We're deliberately not printing a dollar amount here: the Homestead Exemption reduces your taxable value, but you should confirm the current amount at phila.gov, because it changes and it only applies once you've been approved. Our Homestead Exemption guide explains who qualifies and how to apply. Roughly, the calculation with the exemption becomes: (assessed value − exemption) × 1.3998%.
Every worked example above starts from an assessed value you plug in — so the estimate is only as good as that input. Your real assessed (market) value is set by the Office of Property Assessment, printed on your annual assessment notice, and searchable by address on the City's property records. Once you have that number, the formula above turns it into an estimate in one step. Our check-your-assessment guide shows exactly where to find it and how to read what you see.
Here's the limit of any calculator, ours included: it can multiply your assessed value by the rate, but it cannot tell you whether that assessed value is itself correct. The formula faithfully computes the tax on whatever value it's given — including a value that's too high. If the City's number is inflated relative to what genuinely comparable homes have sold for, the calculator will cheerfully return a bill that's too big, and you'll pay it every year until the assessment is corrected.
That's the question worth your attention. Instead of accepting the assessed value as fixed and estimating the tax on it, turn it around: is the assessed value defensible in the first place? Start with is my home over-assessed? to test your number against real sales, and how much can I save? to see what a correction would be worth — since at about 1.4% of assessed value, every dollar the assessment is too high costs you a fraction of it in tax, every single year.
Take your assessed (market) value from the Office of Property Assessment, subtract any exemptions you qualify for such as the Homestead Exemption, and multiply what remains by the tax rate of roughly 1.4% (1.3998%). The result is an estimate of your annual tax. Because exemptions and the assessed value itself can change, treat the figure as illustrative arithmetic and confirm your real numbers at phila.gov.
The combined City and School District real estate tax rate is 1.3998% of assessed value — about 1.4%. That single rate applies citywide, so the thing that actually drives your bill up or down is your assessed value, not the rate.
For an owner-occupied primary residence, the Homestead Exemption reduces your taxable value before the rate is applied, which lowers the annual tax. It only applies once you're approved. Confirm the current exemption amount and your eligibility at phila.gov, and see our Homestead guide for how to apply.
Your assessed (market) value is set by the Office of Property Assessment and is printed on your annual assessment notice and available by address on the City's property search. Our check-your-assessment guide walks through exactly where to look it up.
A calculator only tells you what the rate does to your assessed value — it can't tell you whether that value is itself too high. If your assessment is inflated relative to what comparable homes actually sold for, you're overpaying every year until it's corrected. Check whether your home is over-assessed and, if it is, how much you could save by appealing.
TaxAssessmentIQ gives you a free, honest verdict from the City's own recorded sales — just enter your address, no sign-up and no account. If your home looks over-assessed, you can get a ready-to-file appeal packet for a flat, one-time price, backed by a money-back guarantee. If it isn't worth filing, we tell you that too — for free, before you pay anything.