How Kansas property tax works
- Assessment rate: homes are assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
- Mill levies are tax per $1,000 of assessed value and add the state (1.5 mills), county, city, school district, community college and other districts.
- School levy exemption: the statewide 20-mill school levy doesn't apply to the first $75,000 of a home's appraised value. That's worth $172.50 a year. Proposals to raise it to $100,000 haven't become law.
A $350,000 home is assessed at $40,250. Multiply by the total mills ÷ 1,000 and subtract $172.50.
2025 total mill levies by city
Total mills levied in each city by all taxing units, for 2025 levies (bills due December 2025 and May 2026). Johnson County cities are shown by school district. The last column is the tax on a $350,000 home.
| City | County | Total mills | City levy | Tax on $350,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hutchinson | Reno | 166.190 | $6,517 | |
| Kansas City (Unified Government) | Wyandotte | 164.179 | 36.219 | $6,436 |
| Topeka | Shawnee | 155.400 | 37.126 | $6,082 |
| Manhattan (Riley County part) | Riley | 153.262 | 54.506 | $5,996 |
| Derby | Sedgwick | 139.941 | $5,460 | |
| Salina | Saline | 139.388 | $5,438 | |
| Lawrence | Douglas | 128.295 | $4,991 | |
| Leavenworth | Leavenworth | 122.455 | $4,756 | |
| Olathe (USD 233) | Johnson | 114.968 | 23.175 | $4,455 |
| Leawood (Blue Valley) | Johnson | 113.424 | 23.501 | $4,393 |
| Wichita | Sedgwick | 112.809 | 30.094 | $4,368 |
| Lenexa (Shawnee Mission) | Johnson | 110.623 | 26.234 | $4,280 |
| Shawnee (Shawnee Mission) | Johnson | 107.656 | 23.267 | $4,161 |
| Overland Park (Blue Valley) | Johnson | 104.463 | 14.540 | $4,032 |
| Overland Park (Shawnee Mission) | Johnson | 98.929 | 14.540 | $3,809 |
Johnson County suburbs are the cheapest major cities on the list, even with high home values. Overland Park's city levy is only 14.54 mills, and in the Blue Valley district the total matches what a real 2025 tax statement shows. Kansas City, Kansas, Topeka and Hutchinson are at the top, all above 155 mills.
School district matters in Johnson County: Blue Valley levies 53.62 mills (plus 2.8 for recreation), Shawnee Mission 50.89 and Olathe 61.95. Wichita's 112.809 matches the Sedgwick County 2025 levy sheet, down from 114.404 in 2024.
The revenue neutral rate
Under Kansas's Truth in Taxation law, each city, county and school district has a revenue neutral rate: the levy that would bring in the same revenue as last year at this year's values. A taxing body that wants to go above it must send notices and hold a public hearing. If your notice says a unit intends to exceed its revenue neutral rate, that hearing is your chance to object.
Refunds for seniors and low-income homeowners
- Homestead refund (K-40H): for households with income of $43,389 or less (2025) and a home appraised at $350,000 or less, up to $700.
- SAFESR refund: for seniors 65+ and disabled veterans with income of $58,041 or less.
- Low-income senior refund: for seniors with income of $25,380 or less.
You can claim only one of them. See rebate programs by state.
Deadlines and appeals
- Payments: first half due December 20, second half May 10.
- Appeals: you have 30 days after your valuation notice is mailed (around March 1) to appeal to the county appraiser. You can also pay under protest with the first half, unless you already appealed that year's value. See our appeal guide.
Where these numbers come from
City totals are from the League of Kansas Municipalities' Kansas Tax Rate and Fiscal Data Book 2026 (as republished in the University of Kansas Institute for Policy and Social Research's Kansas Statistical Abstract), cross-checked with the Sedgwick County 2025 levy sheet. Johnson County totals by school district are our sums from Johnson County's 2025 mill levies sheet and annual abstract. The school levy exemption is from the Kansas Department of Revenue, and the refund limits from its 2025 K-40H booklet. Payment dates and appeal rules are from Kansas law as summarized by the Kansas Legislative Research Department. The $350,000 examples are our calculations. For ZIP-level data, start from our Kansas page.