What is the property tax rate in Kentucky?
Kentucky property tax averages 0.74% of value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). That puts Kentucky 29th of the 47 states this site covers, just under Indiana at 0.76% and well below Ohio at 1.36%.
Rates in Kentucky are quoted in cents per $100 of assessed value. A bill adds the state rate, the county’s levies, the school district rate and, inside a city, the city rate, plus any special taxing districts that cover the parcel. Because assessed value is full fair cash value, a combined rate of 110 cents per $100 means a tax of about 1.1% of value.
How Kentucky values an apartment building
Your county PVA sets the fair cash value of each parcel as of January 1, the assessment date in KRS 132.220. Under KRS 132.690, the PVA must revalue real property at fair cash value in every year of the PVA’s term and examine each parcel at least once every four years, with an in-person visit when improvements have been added since the last look.
There is no fractional assessment ratio. The assessed value is meant to be 100% of what the property would sell for in an ordinary sale, and the PVA must revisit that figure every year. Kentucky’s homestead exemption under KRS 132.810 is for owner-occupants who are 65 or older or disabled, so it does not reduce the assessment on a rental building.
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Kentucky?
Not by itself, but it usually leads to one. Kentucky has no acquisition-value system and no rule that resets value at closing. Because the PVA revalues every year at fair cash value, an arm’s-length sale is strong evidence for the next January 1 assessment, and buyers should expect the value to move toward the price.
Kentucky also has no cap on how much an individual assessment can rise in a year. The limits that do exist work on revenue, covered next, and they do not stop a single building’s value from jumping after a sale.
Kentucky’s 4% limits on property tax revenue
Kentucky limits how much tax revenue rising values can bring in, rather than capping values. Under KRS 132.020, the state rate on real property starts at 31.5 cents per $100 and is cut each year so that aggregate real property revenue grows no more than 4% over the prior year, not counting new property. The Department of Revenue certifies the rate by July 1. In 2025 the state real property rate was 10.6 cents per $100, according to the Department of Revenue’s 2025 Property Tax Rate Book. The state rate was lowered again for 2026, the sixth yearly cut in a row according to July 2026 news reports. We could not confirm the 2026 figure from the Department of Revenue, so the examples on this page use the 2025 rates.
Local governments face a related rule. A city or urban-county government that wants a rate above its compensating rate, the rate that would raise about the same revenue as last year, must hold a public hearing, and under KRS 132.027 the part of a rate that would raise more than 4% above compensating-rate revenue, again excluding new property, can be put to voters through a recall petition under KRS 132.017. For owners, that means county-wide rates tend to fall when values rise sharply, even though an individual building’s bill can still go up.
Kentucky property tax rates: state, county, school and city
School districts carry the largest share of a Kentucky bill. The Department of Revenue’s 2025 Property Tax Rate Book lists statewide average real estate rates by type of district, shown below with the state rate.
The Rate Book also lists each county’s levies. Its county-wide totals count only the county-type levies, such as the fiscal court, health, extension and soil conservation, not schools or cities, so they are not a full measure of the tax in a county. For that reason the table shows statewide averages and one worked county rather than a ranking of counties.
- Outside a city, the average state, county and school rates add to about 108.44 cents per $100, or about 1.08% of value, before special districts.
- Inside a city with the average city rate, the total is about 129.81 cents, or about 1.30%.
- Check your own tax bill or county clerk for the exact districts on your parcel, since special district levies vary.
| Levy (2025) | Real estate rate per $100 | Tax on $2,000,000 of value |
|---|---|---|
| State | 10.6 cents | $2,120 |
| County districts, statewide average | 32.71 cents | $6,543 |
| School districts, statewide average | 65.13 cents | $13,025 |
| Cities, statewide average (cities with a rate) | 21.37 cents | $4,274 |
| Special districts, statewide average (districts with a rate) | 11.11 cents | $2,223 |
| Fayette County, county-type levies total | 18.68 cents | $3,736 |
| Fayette County school district | 79.8 cents | $15,960 |
How to appeal property taxes in Kentucky
Kentucky’s appeal window is short and comes early in the year. The tax roll is open for inspection for 13 days beginning the first Monday in May, under KRS 133.045. Before or during that period you must request a conference with the PVA or a deputy, who explains how the value was set. That conference is a required first step under KRS 133.120.
If the conference does not settle it, file an appeal with the county clerk no later than one workday after the inspection period ends. The appeal must give your reasons, identify the property and state your opinion of its fair cash value. The county board of assessment appeals holds a hearing, and its decision can go to the Board of Tax Appeals, under KRS 133.120 as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 172. You must appear before the county board to keep that right. An appeal does not delay the bill: you pay tax on the value you claim, and if the final value is higher you owe the difference plus interest from the original due date.
- January 1: assessment date.
- First Monday in May, for 13 days: tax roll inspection and PVA conference.
- One workday after inspection ends: last day to file with the county clerk.
- Bring a rent roll, two or three years of operating statements and any recent appraisal.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Kentucky apartment building
Take a 26-unit building in Lexington-Fayette County that the PVA values at $1,400,000. Using the 2025 state rate of 10.6 cents, Fayette’s county-type levies of 18.68 cents and the school rate of 79.8 cents, the combined rate is 109.08 cents per $100. The yearly tax is about $15,271 before any service-district charges on the bill.
A buyer pays $2,000,000. If the PVA moves the January 1 value to the price, the tax becomes about $21,816, an increase of $6,545 a year. At an illustrative 7% cap rate, $6,545 of lost NOI is worth about $93,497 of value to the buyer.
The same $2,000,000 building in a city with the statewide average rates would pay about $25,962, and one outside a city about $21,688. The Tax Foundation’s 0.74% homeowner average suggests $14,800, which understates the tax on a rental that gets no homestead exemption.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Fayette, current PVA value | $1,400,000 | $15,271 |
| Fayette, value reset to $2M sale price | $2,000,000 | $21,816 |
| Statewide averages, inside a city | $2,000,000 | $25,962 |
| Statewide averages, outside a city | $2,000,000 | $21,688 |
| 0.74% statewide homeowner average | $2,000,000 | $14,800 |
Kentucky property tax compared with neighboring states
Kentucky’s 0.74% homeowner average is low for the region, using the Tax Foundation’s 2026 figures. Only Tennessee and West Virginia, at about half a percent, are lower among its neighbors, and Illinois is more than twice Kentucky’s rate.
An owner trading out of a Cincinnati-area building in Ohio for one across the river in Kenton or Campbell County may see the tax line drop as a share of price. Check the actual parcel’s rates first, since school levies differ widely from one Kentucky district to the next.
| State | Effective rate (Tax Foundation 2026) |
|---|---|
| Illinois | 1.88% |
| Ohio | 1.36% |
| Missouri | 0.89% |
| Virginia | 0.78% |
| Indiana | 0.76% |
| Kentucky | 0.74% |
| Tennessee | 0.52% |
| West Virginia | 0.51% |
How property tax affects your sale price
Kentucky’s yearly revaluation means a buyer will expect the tax to follow the price within a year or so. If the PVA’s value on your building is well below what a buyer will pay, the buyer will model the higher bill and price the building on the NOI that remains. In the Fayette example, the gap between a $1,400,000 assessment and a $2,000,000 price is worth about $93,000 to a buyer at a 7% cap rate.
You can narrow the gap with documents. Give buyers the last three tax bills, the PVA’s current value, the result of any recent conference or appeal and the list of districts on the bill. If your building was revalued close to market in the last year, say so, since it carries less risk of a step up than one the PVA has not revisited.
Timing matters too. Because value is set as of January 1, the first bill a buyer pays after closing may still reflect your old value, with the step up coming in a later assessment. Have the purchase contract prorate the current year’s tax on the bill actually issued.
Selling an apartment building in Kentucky
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Kentucky, from Louisville and Lexington to Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green and Owensboro. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your actual tax bill and the value the PVA is likely to set after a sale, so the tax line holds steady through closing.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Kentucky capital gains tax on real estate, and for tenant rules, Kentucky landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
