What is the property tax rate in Georgia?
The property tax rate in Georgia averages 0.79% of market value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). That figure blends in homestead exemptions that rental buildings never get, so it understates what an apartment owner pays.
Georgia bills are built from millage. The Georgia Department of Revenue explains that one mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value, and that the average county and municipal millage rate is about 30 mills. Because assessed value is 40% of fair market value, 30 mills works out to about 1.2% of market value for a property with no exemptions, which describes most apartment buildings.
How Georgia sets assessed value
Every county board of tax assessors values each property at fair market value and mails an annual assessment notice for real property. Assessed value is then 40% of that figure. The DOR’s own example: a $100,000 property has an assessed value of $40,000. At 25 mills, that comes to $1,000 of tax.
Millage comes from several bodies. The county commission and the board of education each adopt a rate every year, special districts for fire or police may add more, and cities levy their own rates on the county’s assessed values. The state levy has been zero since January 1, 2016. So two buildings with the same market value in the same county can pay different bills if one sits inside a city and the other in the unincorporated area.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Georgia?
Georgia has no rule that resets value because a building sold, but it also has nothing that protects an apartment building’s value from rising to market. Assessors revalue property at fair market value every year, and an arm’s-length sale price is about the clearest evidence of market value they can get.
In practice, a buyer should expect the sale price to show up in the next assessment notice. The underwriting question is how far the current assessment sits below the price. A building valued by the county at $1.6 million that trades for $2 million is likely to see its assessment move toward the higher number.
Are there caps on property tax increases in Georgia?
Not for apartment buildings. The homestead exemptions and base-year freezes that limit increases for Georgia homeowners require the owner to live in the home as a primary residence, according to the DOR’s homestead exemption page, so rental property does not qualify.
One protection does apply to every owner. Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-299(c), a value set by an appeal decision or a signed agreement cannot be raised by the assessors for the next two years, unless both sides agree in writing. The protection ends if the assessors find substantial additions or improvements on inspection, if the owner skipped the hearing or offered no evidence, or if the owner files a new appeal or a return at a different value.
Georgia property tax rates in metro Atlanta counties
Total millage in Georgia’s large metro counties runs from about 24 to 44 mills. The rates below come from each county’s tax commissioner or government and are labeled by year, because some counties have already posted 2026 rates and others have not. They cover the unincorporated area; city residents pay city millage on top.
A statewide ranking of all 159 counties is not shown here, because the Department of Revenue’s 2025 county digest is not published in a form we could read reliably. Ask the county tax commissioner for the exact rate in your tax district.
| County (unincorporated) | Total millage | Year | Tax per $1M of market value |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeKalb | 44.090 | 2026 | $17,636 |
| Gwinnett | 34.86 | 2026 | $13,944 |
| Cobb (school, general and fire) | 30.15 | 2025 | $12,060 |
| Forsyth | 24.522 | 2025 | $9,809 |
How to appeal your property value in Georgia
You have 45 days from the date your assessment notice was mailed to file an appeal with the county board of tax assessors, according to the DOR. The appeal goes to the county, not the state, and you choose a route when you file.
Most owners pick the Board of Equalization. Owners of non-homestead real property valued above $500,000, which covers most apartment buildings, can instead ask for a hearing officer, who must be a state-certified appraiser. Arbitration is the third route for disputes over value: you file with the assessors and then submit a certified appraisal within 45 days of their acknowledgment.
- Day 0: the county mails the annual assessment notice.
- Day 45: last day to file the appeal with the board of tax assessors.
- Board of Equalization: value, uniformity, taxability or denial of an exemption.
- Hearing officer: non-homestead real property valued over $500,000.
- Arbitration: value only, backed by a certified appraisal.
Property tax exemptions for Georgia apartments
Georgia offers no general statewide exemption for apartment buildings. Homestead exemptions, including the $2,000 state standard exemption and the larger local ones, apply only to an owner’s primary residence.
Any reduction for an apartment owner usually comes from an appeal or a negotiated local incentive for a new development. If your building has one, read its terms before you sell, since the buyer will want to know whether it continues or ends at closing.
Georgia property tax changes in 2026
Two property tax bills signed by Governor Kemp on May 11, 2026 are worth knowing about, though neither cuts the bill on a typical apartment building. SB 33 creates a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST), which lets local governments use sales tax revenue to give homeowners property tax relief. Like other homestead relief, it is aimed at owner-occupied homes.
HB 445 expands the right of business owners to appeal reassessments of certain high-value tangible personal property to a hearing officer, under qualifications and procedures the law sets. Apartment buildings often carry personal property such as appliances and equipment, so ask your assessor whether the new appeal route applies to yours.
Effective rate or millage: which number to use
Use the millage for your tax district when you estimate a bill for a specific building, and the 0.79% effective rate only to compare Georgia with other states. The Tax Foundation figure divides median taxes paid by median home value for owner-occupied homes, after their homestead exemptions.
For a rental building, the quick conversion is millage times 0.4, read as a percentage of market value. Thirty mills becomes 1.2%, 44 mills becomes about 1.76%, and 24.5 mills becomes about 0.98%. That simple step explains why an apartment owner in DeKalb can pay more than twice the statewide homeowner average.
What to check on your assessment notice before you sell
Your annual notice and tax bill already answer most of a buyer’s questions about taxes.
- The fair market value the county used, and how it compares with your expected price.
- The millage for each levying body, including any city and special district rates.
- Whether the value was set by an appeal or agreement in the last two years.
- Any pending appeal, and the date the 45-day window closed.
- Any local incentive or abatement on the account and when it ends.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Georgia apartment building
Take a 24-unit building with a fair market value of $2,000,000. Its assessed value is 40% of that, or $800,000. At the DOR’s statewide average of about 30 mills, the yearly tax is $24,000, or 1.2% of value. In unincorporated DeKalb at 44.090 mills the same building would owe $35,272; in Gwinnett at 34.86 mills, $27,888; in Forsyth at 24.522 mills, about $19,618.
Now the sale. Say the county had the building at $1,600,000 before it sold for $2,000,000. At 30 mills, the seller’s bill was $19,200. If the assessor moves the value to the sale price the next year, the buyer pays $24,000, which is $4,800 a year more. At an illustrative 6% cap rate, that $4,800 of lost NOI takes about $80,000 off what a buyer can pay, and an experienced buyer will build that into the offer from the start.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide average, about 30 mills | $800,000 | $24,000 |
| Unincorporated DeKalb, 44.090 mills | $800,000 | $35,272 |
| Unincorporated Gwinnett, 34.86 mills | $800,000 | $27,888 |
| Forsyth, 24.522 mills | $800,000 | $19,618 |
| Before sale, valued at $1.6M, 30 mills | $640,000 | $19,200 |
How property tax affects your sale price
Property tax is one of the largest operating costs on a Georgia apartment building, and buyers price it at the bill they expect to pay after the sale, not the one you pay today. A low assessment relative to market value helps your NOI while you own the building but does little for your price, because a buyer assumes it will catch up.
Two things help. If you won an appeal in the past two years, the 48-5-299(c) protection may hold the value for part of the buyer’s first year, so share that decision. And gather the last three tax bills and assessment notices before you go to market, so a buyer can see the millage history for your district.
Selling an apartment building in Georgia
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Georgia, including properties in high-millage areas such as unincorporated DeKalb County. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite taxes from your actual notices and the county’s current millage, so you can see how the post-sale assessment shapes the price.
For the tax on the sale itself, see our page on Georgia capital gains tax on real estate. For the eviction and deposit rules a buyer inherits, see Georgia landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
