Missouri Property Tax Calculator 2026

The Missouri Property Tax Calculator is a free, browser-based tool that estimates your annual and monthly Missouri property tax from a home's market value, using the statewide 0.89% effective rate, or your own, and the 19% residential assessment ratio. It also shows the assessed value and implied levy behind the bill. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

How Missouri Property Tax Works

Property tax in Missouri is an annual tax levied on real estate by local governments — primarily counties, municipalities, and school districts. The amount you owe is your property's assessed value — 19% of market value for a residence — multiplied by the combined levy of the districts it sits in, quoted per $100 of assessed value. On average, Missouri homeowners pay 0.89% of their home's value in property tax each year, 0.05 percentage points below the U.S. figure of 0.94%.

The effective rate combines all local levies: county tax, municipal tax, school district tax, and any special assessments. Because Missouri has multiple taxing jurisdictions, your actual rate depends heavily on where in the state your property is located. The 0.89% figure is all real-estate tax paid on owner-occupied homes in Missouri divided by their total value, as published in the Tax Foundation's Property Taxes by State and County, 2026 from Census Bureau American Community Survey data for 2020–2024. It is a statewide average — not a rate any single jurisdiction charges, and not your bill.

The Census Bureau puts the median owner-occupied home in Missouri at $230,300 and the median real-estate tax bill at $1,948 a year — roughly $162 per month when paid through a mortgage escrow account (American Community Survey, 2020–2024).

Who Collects Property Tax in Missouri — and How Rates Are Set

In Missouri, the county assessor (the city assessor in the City of St. Louis) values property, and the county collector sends the bill and collects the tax. State law sets the assessment ratios; school districts, counties, cities and special districts each set their own levy on the assessed value.

Levies are set annually by each taxing district based on its budget needs. Missouri assesses a home at 19% of its market value (agricultural land at 12%, commercial and other real property at 32%), with new values set on 1 January of each odd-numbered year and carried into the following even year. Levies are quoted per $100 of assessed value. So a combined levy of $6.00 per $100 on a home works out to 6.00 × 19% = 1.14% of market value — that is the figure to type into the rate field above. If your home's market value rises faster than neighboring properties, your share of the tax burden can increase even if the levy stays the same.

To find your exact rate, contact your county assessor's office or check its official website. Your most recent property tax bill will also show the breakdown of all levies applied to your parcel.

Missouri Property Tax Exemptions and Relief Programs

Missouri's main homeowner relief comes as credits. The Property Tax Credit (the circuit breaker) refunds part of the real estate tax or rent paid by residents who are 65 or older, 100% disabled, 100% service-disabled veterans, or 60 or older and receiving surviving-spouse Social Security benefits. For 2025 taxes (claims filed in 2026) the maximum is $1,100 for homeowners and $750 for renters. From the 2026 tax year it rises to $1,550 and $1,055, and the income limits become $42,200 for a single person and $48,000 for a married couple who owned and occupied the home all year, or $38,200 and $41,000 otherwise (RSMo 135.030). Separately, a county may freeze the home's tax bill for residents aged 62 or older, but only where the county has adopted that credit. Source: Missouri Department of Revenue — Property Tax Credit.

A veteran who became 100% disabled through military service qualifies for the Property Tax Credit and does not count VA payments as income. Agricultural land is assessed at 12% of its value rather than 19%. If you believe your assessment is incorrect, appeal in writing to your county Board of Equalization by the second Monday in July; its decision can be taken to the State Tax Commission by 30 September of the assessment year or within 30 days of the board's decision, whichever is later.

To apply for any exemption, contact your county assessor. Most exemptions require an annual or one-time application and proof of eligibility (residency, age, disability documentation, etc.).

Missouri's 19% Assessment Ratio and the Senior Property Tax Freeze

Missouri taxes residential property on 19% of its market value, not the full value. A home worth $250,000 has an assessed value of $47,500, and the local levy is applied to that figure. Agricultural land is assessed at 12% and commercial property at 32%, which is why one county's levy produces very different bills on different property types. Reassessment runs on a two-year cycle in odd-numbered years: new values are set as of 1 January of the odd year and carried into the following even year, so 2026 bills rest on the 1 January 2025 values (plus any new construction) and the next reassessment is 1 January 2027. That is why a bill can jump sharply one year and barely move the next.

The bigger recent change is the senior freeze created by Senate Bill 190 in 2023. It lets a county grant an eligible senior a credit equal to the difference between the current year's real property tax on their homestead and the tax in their initial credit year — in effect freezing the bill at that starting level, apart from new construction and improvements. The original law tied eligibility to Social Security retirement benefits; since Senate Bill 756 of 2024 the test is being a Missouri resident aged 62 or older who is the owner of record of the homestead, or holds a legal or equitable interest in it, lives in it as a primary residence and is liable for the tax. The catch is that it is opt-in by county: the county has to adopt an ordinance, or voters have to approve it after a petition. Check with your county collector before assuming your bill is capped. Sources: RSMo 137.115 (assessment ratios and reassessment) and RSMo 137.1050 (homestead property tax credit, persons 62 or older). Updated October 2026.

Market Value vs Assessed Value: How to Read Your Missouri Tax Bill

Most people compare a Missouri tax bill against the wrong number. The bill does not show a percentage of what your house is worth — it shows a levy applied to 19% of what your house is worth. That single step is why a Missouri levy looks alarmingly high next to the 0.89% effective rate quoted for the state, and why two counties with similar bills can advertise very different rates.

Work it through on a $230,000 home, the Census median. Market value is $230,000. Assessed value is 19% of that, or $43,700. The statewide effective rate of 0.89% produces a bill of about $2,047. Divide that bill by the assessed value and you get an implied levy of roughly 4.68% of assessed value, which a bill would show as about $4.68 per $100 of assessed valuation. Both numbers describe the same tax. The calculator above prints the assessed value and the implied levy alongside the annual figure so you can line them up against your own bill directly; to go the other way, multiply the levy per $100 on your bill by 0.19 and enter the result as the rate.

When you check your assessment, this is the order to read it in: confirm the market value the assessor assigned, confirm it was multiplied by 19% (not by 12% for agricultural or 32% for commercial), then confirm the levy applied is the one your taxing districts actually set. An error at the first step is the one you can rebut with recent comparable sales. For where Missouri sits against other states on effective rate, see the Tax Foundation property taxes by state and county data. Updated October 2026.

Tips to Manage Your Missouri Property Tax Bill

First, verify your assessment is accurate. Review your property record card at your county assessor's office and check for errors in square footage, bedroom/bathroom count, or lot size. Even small errors can inflate your assessed value and tax bill. If the assessment seems high, look up recent sale prices of comparable homes in your neighborhood and file an appeal if warranted.

Second, claim the credits you qualify for: the Property Tax Credit on your state return if you are 65 or older or 100% disabled and within the income limits, and the senior freeze credit if you are 62 or older and your county has adopted it. Third, if your mortgage servicer handles tax payments through escrow, review your escrow statement annually. Servicers sometimes over-estimate and hold excess funds — you may be entitled to a refund. Finally, Missouri property tax, on real estate and on personal property alike, is due by 31 December each year. From 1 January unpaid tax is delinquent and the collector adds a penalty (RSMo 139.100).

Missouri Personal Property Tax on Cars and the 33⅓% Ratio

This calculator covers real property — your house and land — and does not estimate vehicle tax. Missouri also taxes personal property, and for most households that means vehicles. Cars, trucks, boats, trailers and motorcycles are assessed at 33⅓% of true value, not the 19% used for a residence — about 1.75 times the residential ratio — and the local personal property levy is applied to that figure. As an illustration only: a vehicle valued at $20,000 has an assessed value of about $6,667, and if the levy on it matched the statewide implied levy on homes of roughly $4.68 per $100 of assessed value, the bill would be near $312. Use the rate on your own county statement for a real figure. The assessor takes the value from the trade-in figure in the October issue of the guide chosen by the State Tax Commission, and under the version of the law in force from 1 January 2026 a vehicle whose true value was under $50,000 on 1 January 2025 cannot be assessed for more than it was the previous year.

Two dates matter. You must file a personal property list with your county assessor between 1 January and 1 March, covering what you owned on 1 January — miss it and a penalty of $15 to $105, depending on assessed value, is added to the bill. The resulting bill is then due 31 December, the same deadline as the real property bill, and Missouri will not register or renew a vehicle without a receipt showing the previous year's personal property tax was paid, or a collector's statement that none was due. Because ownership is fixed on 1 January, selling a car in February does not remove it from that year's bill. Sources: RSMo 137.115, RSMo 137.345 and RSMo 301.025. Updated October 2026.