How Georgia property tax works
Georgia taxes 40% of a property's fair market value. The millage rate is tax per $1,000 of that assessed value. To get the effective rate on market value, multiply the millage by 0.4 and divide by 10: 35 mills is about 1.4%.
Your total millage adds the county, the school district and your city if you live in one, plus special service districts for fire, police or recreation in many unincorporated areas. Georgia's state property tax levy is zero.
2025 millage rates in metro Atlanta
These totals add every 2025 levy on the Department of Revenue's digest for the area, including bonds. They don't include tax allocation districts, community improvement districts or homestead exemptions. The last column is the tax on a $350,000 home before any exemption.
| Area | County | Total millage | Effective rate | Tax on $350,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douglasville | Douglas | 41.449 | 1.66% | $5,803 |
| Atlanta (Fulton County part) | Fulton | 39.909 | 1.60% | $5,587 |
| South Fulton | Fulton | 38.518 | 1.54% | $5,393 |
| Unincorporated Clayton | Clayton | 38.298 | 1.53% | $5,362 |
| Unincorporated Gwinnett | Gwinnett | 34.860 | 1.39% | $4,880 |
| Unincorporated Douglas | Douglas | 31.413 | 1.26% | $4,398 |
| Alpharetta | Fulton | 31.869 | 1.27% | $4,462 |
| Marietta | Cobb | 31.122 | 1.24% | $4,357 |
| Roswell | Fulton | 31.068 | 1.24% | $4,350 |
| Sandy Springs | Fulton | 30.850 | 1.23% | $4,319 |
| Unincorporated Cobb | Cobb | 30.130 | 1.21% | $4,218 |
| Johns Creek | Fulton | 29.861 | 1.19% | $4,181 |
| Unincorporated Fayette | Fayette | 27.393 | 1.10% | $3,835 |
| Unincorporated Cherokee | Cherokee | 26.251 | 1.05% | $3,675 |
| Unincorporated Paulding | Paulding | 24.875 | 1.00% | $3,482 |
| Unincorporated Forsyth | Forsyth | 24.522 | 0.98% | $3,433 |
| Unincorporated Hall | Hall | 23.805 | 0.95% | $3,333 |
The school district is the biggest piece almost everywhere. Atlanta Public Schools levies 20.5 mills, against 17.08 for Fulton County Schools and 18.7 for Cobb and Gwinnett. The part of Atlanta in DeKalb County pays DeKalb's county rate instead of Fulton's, so its total is slightly different.
The rest of Georgia
| Area | Total millage | Effective rate | Tax on $350,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savannah | 40.538 | 1.62% | $5,675 |
| Columbus (urban service district) | 39.145 | 1.57% | $5,480 |
| Unincorporated Chatham County | 35.291 | 1.41% | $4,941 |
| Athens-Clarke | 31.050 | 1.24% | $4,347 |
| Warner Robins | 29.122 | 1.16% | $4,077 |
| Augusta (urban service district) | 28.921 | 1.16% | $4,049 |
| Valdosta | 26.959 | 1.08% | $3,774 |
| Macon-Bibb | 24.249 | 0.97% | $3,395 |
| Unincorporated Columbia | 23.836 | 0.95% | $3,337 |
| Unincorporated Houston County | 21.846 | 0.87% | $3,058 |
Consolidated governments such as Athens-Clarke and Macon-Bibb have urban and rural service districts with different rates. These are the main county-wide figures on the state digest.
Homestead exemptions
- The statewide homestead exemption takes $2,000 off your assessed value (worth $5,000 of market value) for county and school taxes. It's small, but most counties and school districts add much larger local exemptions, especially in metro Atlanta. File with the county by April 1.
- Seniors: owners 65 and older with household income of $10,000 or less get $4,000 off county taxes, and those 62 and older get up to $10,000 off school taxes under the same income limit. Many counties and school districts offer far more generous senior exemptions with higher limits. See senior exemptions.
The floating homestead (HB 581)
Georgia's 2024 law, approved by voters as Amendment 1, created a statewide floating homestead exemption: once your home is homesteaded, its taxable value can only rise with inflation, no matter how fast the market rises. 2024 values are the base, and the first inflation adjustment applies for 2026. Local governments could opt out by March 1, 2025, and many large school districts and several metro counties did, including the City of Atlanta. Where your county or school district opted out, its share of your bill isn't capped.
A 2026 law (SB 33, the HOME Act) extends the inflation cap to jurisdictions that had opted out, according to the Georgia Municipal Association, and creates new local sales tax options for homestead relief. Check your annual assessment notice, which since 2025 shows an estimated rollback rate instead of an estimated tax.
Appeals and due dates
- Appeal: file with the county Board of Tax Assessors within 45 days of the date your assessment notice was mailed. You can choose the Board of Equalization, arbitration or (for some property) a hearing officer. See our appeal guide.
- Due date: the default is December 20, but many counties bill earlier or in installments. Check your bill.
Where these numbers come from
Millage rates are from the Georgia Department of Revenue's 2025 Georgia County Ad Valorem Tax Digest Millage Rates (March 2026); totals are our sums of the levies that apply in each area. Exemptions, deadlines and appeal rules are from Department of Revenue guidance, and the floating homestead rules from DOR Informational Bulletin 2025-01. SB 33 details are from the Georgia Municipal Association. For ZIP-level data, start from our Georgia page.