What is the property tax rate in Mississippi?
The property tax rate in Mississippi averages 0.58% of market value for owner-occupied homes, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2026 ranking based on the 2024 American Community Survey. That ranks 14th lowest of the 47 states covered on this site.
An apartment building is taxed on a different footing. Homeowners are assessed at 10% of true value and can claim a homestead exemption. Rental property is assessed at 15% and gets no homestead exemption. At the statewide average of 118.42 mills in the Department of Revenue’s 2024-2025 millage table, a Class II property pays about 1.78% of true value a year, roughly three times the headline rate.
How Mississippi assesses property: the five classes
State law requires the county tax assessor to appraise property at its true value. Assessed value is true value multiplied by the ratio for the property’s class, and the tax is assessed value times the millage rate. The Department of Revenue gives the formula as true value times assessment ratio times millage rate.
Apartment buildings fall in Class II, “all other real property,” because only single-family, owner-occupied homes qualify for Class I. A duplex or fourplex owner who lives in one unit should ask the assessor how the property is classified, since it is not a single-family home.
Furnished units and common-area equipment add a second, smaller bill. Taxable personal property is Class III, assessed at 15% of true value like the building, and the Department of Revenue says it is valued every year rather than on the four-year real property cycle. Keep the list of appliances and furniture you report current, so the personal property bill a buyer sees in due diligence matches what is actually in the units.
| Class | What it covers | Assessment ratio |
|---|---|---|
| Class I | Single-family, owner-occupied residential real property | 10% |
| Class II | All other real property, including apartments and commercial property | 15% |
| Class III | Personal property, except motor vehicles and utility property | 15% |
| Class IV | Public utility property | 30% |
| Class V | Motor vehicles | 30% |
How Mississippi millage works
One mill is one-tenth of a cent, or $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value, so 100 mills is $100 per $1,000. Counties, school districts, junior colleges, fire districts and other bodies each levy their own mills, and cities add municipal millage inside their limits.
Mississippi’s millage numbers look large because its assessment ratios are low. A Class II property assessed at 15% and taxed at 118 mills pays about the same as a property assessed at 100% and taxed at 17.8 mills. Compare buildings by tax as a share of true value, not by mills.
The Department of Revenue’s FAQ notes that a tax bill can rise either because the property’s value goes up or because local governments raise the millage rate, and it lists no cap on a property’s value. State law does limit growth in many local levies: under Miss. Code 27-39-321, total receipts from the covered levies generally cannot exceed the receipts of one of the three prior fiscal years plus 10%. School district levies, debt service, revenue from new construction and voter-approved levies are outside that limit, so it does not cap any one owner’s bill.
Mississippi property tax rates by county
Total county millage in Mississippi runs from about 85 mills to 172 mills in the Department of Revenue’s 2024-2025 millage table, with a statewide average of 118.42. The table combines county general, road and bridge, school, junior college, fire and other levies. Some figures are averages across a county’s districts, and a few counties sent no update, so the department used the prior year’s rates.
Clay, Panola and Winston counties show no school levy in the table, which makes their totals of 46 to 70 mills not comparable with the rest, so we left them out of the lowest group. City millage, such as in Jackson, Hattiesburg or Gulfport, comes on top of the county total.
| County | Total millage (2024-2025) | Approx. Class II rate on true value | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quitman | 171.83 | 2.58% | Highest |
| Holmes | 160.83 | 2.41% | Highest |
| Humphreys | 160.11 | 2.40% | Highest |
| Noxubee | 147.06 | 2.21% | Highest |
| Marion | 146.84 | 2.20% | Highest |
| Hancock | 96.00 | 1.44% | Lowest |
| Madison | 94.13 | 1.41% | Lowest |
| Amite | 91.06 | 1.37% | Lowest |
| Lafayette | 88.35 | 1.33% | Lowest |
| Choctaw | 84.61 | 1.27% | Lowest |
Does a sale trigger reassessment in Mississippi?
No sale trigger appears in the Department of Revenue’s guidance. Mississippi revalues real property on a schedule: tax assessors must revalue real property at least once every four years, while taxable personal property is valued every year.
That does not mean a sale is invisible. A recorded sale price is evidence of true value that an assessor may consider at the next reappraisal. A buyer who pays well above the value on the roll should expect the gap to close when the county reappraises, which could be the next year or up to four years out depending on where the county is in its cycle. Ask the assessor’s office when the next countywide reappraisal is due.
How to appeal your property value in Mississippi
Appeals go to the county Board of Supervisors. According to the Department of Revenue, an appeal must normally be filed by the first Monday in August preceding the date the taxes are due. Request a hearing with the board, and contact the county chancery clerk, who handles the filing.
Bring evidence of true value: a recent appraisal, the rent roll and operating statement, comparable sales and photos of condition problems. For an income property, the clearest argument is usually that the assessed true value implies a price no buyer would pay given the building’s net operating income.
- First Monday in August: usual deadline to appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
- February 1 of the next year: taxes due on property assessed the prior year; if February 1 falls on a weekend or holiday, payment the following Monday is on time.
Property tax exemptions for Mississippi apartments
Rental apartments do not qualify for the homestead exemption. The Department of Revenue says the property must be your primary residence, and the lower Class I ratio is limited to single-family, owner-occupied homes. An owner who rents out a former home moves it into Class II at 15% and loses the homestead exemption.
We did not find a general state exemption for market-rate apartment buildings. If your building has tax credits, a payment-in-lieu agreement or another local incentive, check its end date and whether it carries over to a buyer, because a buyer will price the bill that applies after closing.
How Mississippi compares with its neighbors
On the Tax Foundation’s 2026 homeowner figures, Mississippi’s 0.58% is close to its neighbors: Louisiana is at 0.55%, Arkansas 0.56% and Tennessee 0.52%, while Alabama is the lowest of the 47 states on this site at 0.37%. Mississippi ranks 14th lowest of those 47.
For a rental owner, those numbers say little, because each state treats rental property differently from homes. Mississippi assesses rentals at 15% of true value against 10% for owner-occupied homes. Alabama assesses rental apartments at 20% against 10% for homes. In both states the ratio, more than the headline rate, decides what an apartment building pays, so compare buildings by their actual tax bill as a share of value. An owner weighing a sale in Mississippi and a purchase across the state line should run both bills from the county millage and the class ratio, not from the state averages.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Mississippi apartment building
Take a 24-unit building with a true value of $2,000,000. As Class II property, its assessed value is 15%, or $300,000. At the statewide average of 118.42 mills, the yearly tax is $35,526, or 1.78% of value. In Quitman County at 171.83 mills, it would be $51,549. In Madison County at 94.13 mills, before city millage, it would be $28,239.
Now the sale. Suppose the roll still carries the building at a true value of $1,500,000 from the last reappraisal. Its assessed value is $225,000 and its bill at 118.42 mills is about $26,645. The buyer pays $2,000,000. When the county next reappraises and moves the true value to the price paid, the bill rises to $35,526, an increase of about $8,882 a year.
That increase comes straight off the buyer’s net operating income. At an illustrative 6% cap rate, $8,882 a year is worth about $148,000 of price. A careful buyer underwrites the post-reappraisal bill from the start, so the tax a building will pay at its sale price, not the current bill, is what shows up in offers.
| Scenario | Assessed value | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide average, 118.42 mills | $300,000 | $35,526 |
| Quitman County, 171.83 mills | $300,000 | $51,549 |
| Madison County, 94.13 mills | $300,000 | $28,239 |
| On the roll at $1,500,000, 118.42 mills | $225,000 | $26,645 |
| Same building at the 10% Class I ratio (comparison) | $200,000 | $23,684 |
What to check on your tax bill before you sell
A buyer will ask for the last three tax bills. Have them ready, along with these.
- The class and true value on the roll, and the year of the last reappraisal.
- Whether the parcel is inside a city or a special district that adds millage.
- Any incentive, abatement or payment-in-lieu agreement and its end date.
- Any pending appeal with the Board of Supervisors.
- Personal property assessments on appliances and furniture, which are valued every year as Class III.
Selling an apartment building in Mississippi
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Mississippi, including in higher-millage counties. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite the tax bill a building will carry after a reappraisal, and we tell you how we got there.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Mississippi capital gains tax on real estate. For the notice, deposit and eviction rules a buyer inherits, see Mississippi landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
