Florida has no state income tax, which makes property tax the single largest recurring levy most homeowners pay. But Florida's property tax bill is not simply your home value multiplied by a flat rate. It is a chain of four moves: the property appraiser sets a market (just) value, the Save Our Homes constitution caps how fast that value can rise on a homestead, you subtract exemptions such as the $50,000 homestead, and the remaining taxable value is taxed at the combined millage rate printed on your annual TRIM notice.
This calculator walks that exact chain so you can estimate what a Florida home actually costs in taxes each year, compare a new purchase against a long-time homestead, and see how much the Save Our Homes cap is quietly saving you.
How to Use
- Enter the Home Just Value (Market) — the current market value of the property as shown by your county property appraiser. For a new buyer this is usually the purchase price.
- Set the Prior-Year Assessed Value. If this is your first year in the home, leave it equal to the market value, because the Save Our Homes cap resets at the sale. Long-time owners should enter the assessed value from last year's TRIM notice.
- Adjust the Save Our Homes Annual Cap. The legal default is 3% (or the change in CPI if that is lower); raise or lower it only if your county publishes a different CPI figure.
- Choose your Homestead Exemption. Select $50,000 if the home is your permanent primary residence and you have filed by March 1; otherwise choose $0.
- Enter the County & Local Millage and School Millage from your TRIM notice. A mill is one dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable value; most Florida counties run a combined total somewhere around 15 to 25 mills.
- Read the result card. It breaks the bill into assessed value, taxable value, county and school tax, the annual and monthly amount, the effective rate, and the dollar saving produced by the Save Our Homes cap.
The single most common mistake is applying the millage to the full market value. Florida taxes the taxable value — assessed value after the cap and after exemptions — not the sticker price of the home.
The Florida Property Tax Formula
Florida ad-valorem tax works like this:
Annual Tax = (Assessed Value − Exemptions) × (Combined Millage ÷ 1,000)
Where the assessed value itself is constrained by Save Our Homes:
Assessed Value = min(Just Value, Prior-Year Assessed Value × (1 + 3% cap))
One mill equals $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. So a combined 25 mills is effectively a 2.5% levy — but only on the taxable value, which is almost always lower than the market value for a long-time homesteader.
On a $300,000 home with no exemption and a 25-mill combined rate, the math is $300,000 × 25 ÷ 1,000 = $7,500. Apply the standard $50,000 homestead exemption and the taxable value falls to $250,000, cutting the bill to $6,250 — a $1,250 reduction from one exemption alone.
Save Our Homes then stacks on top. If your home's market value has climbed from $300,000 to $400,000 over several years, but your prior assessed value was $300,000, the appraiser may only raise that assessed value by the 3% cap — to $309,000 rather than $400,000. The tax you pay on that $91,000 gap is exactly what this calculator reports as "Save Our Homes Savings."
Why New Buyers Pay More Than Long-Time Owners
This is the defining quirk of Florida property tax. When a home sells, Save Our Homes disappears and the assessed value resets to the just (market) value. A neighbor who bought ten years ago may have a market value of $600,000 but an assessed value capped far below it; the buyer who just paid $600,000 will be assessed at $600,000 on day one. Two identical homes on the same street can carry very different tax bills purely because of purchase date.
That reset is why moving in Florida can feel punishing even when market values are stable, and why "portability" (transferring part of your Save Our Homes benefit to a new home) matters for downsizers and upgraders alike. Always estimate the tax on the assumed assessed value of a fresh purchase, not the seller's old bill.
Examples
Example 1 — First-year buyer with homestead. A couple buys a home for $300,000, files for homestead, and faces a combined 25-mill rate (17 county/local + 8 school). Because they just bought, prior assessed value equals market value, so the Save Our Homes cap does not compress anything. Taxable value is $300,000 − $50,000 = $250,000. Annual tax = $250,000 × 25 ÷ 1,000 = $6,250, or about $521 per month. Without the homestead exemption the same home would bill $7,500.
Example 2 — The Save Our Homes effect. The same owners stay for years. Their home's market value rises to $400,000, but last year's assessed value was $300,000. The appraiser raises assessed value by only 3%, to $309,000. After the $50,000 homestead, taxable value is $259,000 and the annual tax is $6,475. Compared with being taxed on the full $400,000 market value, Save Our Homes is saving them roughly $2,275 per year.
Example 3 — A high-value home. A $1,000,000 homestead at 25 mills with the $50,000 exemption carries a taxable value of $950,000. Annual tax is $23,750, averaging about $1,979 per month. The effective rate lands near 2.38% of market value — useful when comparing Florida's no-income-tax trade-off against higher-tax states.
FAQ
How is Florida property tax calculated?
Start with the assessed value (which Save Our Homes caps at 3% growth for homesteads), subtract exemptions such as the $50,000 homestead, then multiply the taxable value by your combined millage rate divided by 1,000. One mill equals $1 per $1,000 of taxable value.
What is the Save Our Homes cap?
Save Our Homes is a Florida constitutional amendment that limits annual increases in the assessed value of a homesteaded property to 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. It applies only after you receive the homestead exemption, and it resets to market value whenever the home is sold.
What is the Florida homestead exemption and how do I get it?
The homestead exemption removes up to $50,000 from your assessed value: the first $25,000 applies to all taxes including school district tax, and the next $25,000 applies to non-school levies. You must own and occupy the home as your permanent residence and file with your county property appraiser, typically by March 1.
What is a millage rate?
A millage rate is the local tax rate expressed in "mills." One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. Your TRIM notice lists millage for each authority — county, city, school board and special districts — and you add them together to get the combined rate.
Why is my tax bill higher than the seller's?
Because Save Our Homes resets at sale. The previous owner's assessed value was capped for years, while your new purchase is assessed at full market value on day one. This is normal in Florida and is the single biggest reason to estimate tax from the purchase price rather than the prior owner's bill.
When do Florida property tax bills arrive and when are they due?
Counties mail Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices in August with proposed values and rates, and the final tax bills go out in November. Payment is typically due by March 31 of the following year, with discounts for early payment (commonly up to 4% if paid in November).
Disclaimer
This Florida property tax calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or real-estate advice. Estimates are based on the millage and values you enter; actual rates, exemptions and assessed values are set by your county property appraiser and taxing authorities each year. Confirm your official figures on the TRIM notice and with your local property appraiser before making a purchase or refinancing decision.