The short answer
Tennessee's Property Tax Freeze is a real freeze on the tax amount. If you're 65 or older, own and live in your home, and your income is under your county's limit, your property tax stays at the amount you owed in the year you first qualified. That holds even when the county raises its rate or a reappraisal raises your home's value.
There are two catches. It's a local option: only counties and cities that have adopted it offer it. And you have to reapply every year with proof of income.
Where the freeze is available
According to the Tennessee Comptroller, these jurisdictions offer the freeze:
28 counties: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Coffee, Davidson, DeKalb, Franklin, Hamblen, Hancock, Haywood, Hickman, Knox, Madison, Montgomery, Perry, Putnam, Roane, Robertson, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Smith, Sumner, Union, Williamson and Wilson.
37 cities: Arlington, Bartlett, Brownsville, Burns, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Clinton, Collierville, Crossville, Dyersburg, Fairview, Gallatin, Goodlettsville, Gordonsville, Greenbrier, Hendersonville, Jackson, LaVergne, Lakeland, Lebanon, Lexington, Manchester, Memphis, Mt. Juliet, Millington, Murfreesboro, Oak Ridge, Piperton, Portland, Smyrna, South Carthage, Spring Hill, Springfield, Tullahoma, Westmoreland, White House and Whitwell.
County and city taxes are frozen separately. If you live in Memphis, the freeze applies to Shelby County's tax and, if you apply there too, to the City of Memphis tax. If your county offers it but your city doesn't (or the other way around), only part of your bill is frozen. Nashville is simpler: Davidson County and Nashville are one Metro government, so there's one application.
Hamilton County (Chattanooga's county) and several other large counties aren't on the list, so a Chattanooga homeowner can freeze the city tax but not the county tax.
2026 income limits
The limit is set county by county from a state formula, and each jurisdiction can adopt a higher "local option" limit. For the 2026 tax year (based on 2025 income):
- The lowest county limit is $38,470.
- The local option limit is $63,470. Davidson, Blount, Robertson and several other counties use it.
- A few higher-income counties have limits above that, up to about $69,000.
The income that counts is the combined income of all owners of the home, from all sources, including Social Security. You prove it each year with your tax return, or a signed statement if you weren't required to file. For your own county's exact number, ask the county trustee or look at the Comptroller's freeze table. Our Tennessee rates by city post lists the limits for the largest counties.
How the frozen amount works
- Base year. Your frozen amount is the tax on your home in the first year you qualify.
- Reappraisals and rate increases don't change it as long as you keep qualifying.
- If the tax would fall below the frozen amount (say, after a rate cut), you pay the lower figure, and that becomes your new frozen amount.
- Improvements raise it. Add a room or a garage and the base goes up in proportion to the added value.
- Moving resets it. If you sell and buy another home, the new home gets a new base amount.
- Missing a year resets it. If you go over the income limit or don't reapply, and later qualify again, you start over with a new, usually higher, base.
An example: a Nashville homeowner qualified in 2024 with a tax of $2,400. After the 2025 countywide reappraisal, the same house would owe $2,900. Under the freeze, the bill stays at $2,400, and it stays there every year the owner reapplies and qualifies.
How and when to apply
- Turn 65 by December 31 of the year you apply for. You don't need to have owned the home on January 1, but you must own it during the year and through the application deadline.
- Apply to the county trustee for county tax, and to the city's tax office for city tax if your city participates.
- Bring income proof for every owner: your federal return or a signed statement that you didn't have to file, plus Social Security statements.
- Meet the deadline. Applications are due 35 days after the tax delinquency date. With taxes delinquent on March 1, that means April 5 in most counties. For the 2026 tax year, the deadline is April 5, 2027. Some trustees open applications on November 1 and some require the current year's tax to be paid first, so check with yours.
Don't confuse it with "tax relief"
Tennessee also has a state-funded Property Tax Relief program, which is a rebate, not a freeze. It's open statewide to homeowners 65+ or disabled with 2025 income up to $38,470, and to disabled veterans with no income limit. It pays part of the tax on the first $33,600 of your home's value for seniors. You can get both: relief pays part of the bill, and the freeze stops the bill from rising. You apply for relief through the county trustee too.
Because the freeze limit is higher than the relief limit in most participating counties, a lot of seniors who are turned down for relief still qualify for the freeze. Ask about both.
Quick answers
Is the Tennessee tax freeze statewide?
No. Only the counties and cities that have adopted it offer it: 28 counties and 37 cities in 2026.
What is the income limit for the Tennessee tax freeze in 2026?
It depends on the county. The lowest is $38,470 and the local option limit is $63,470, based on the combined 2025 income of all owners.
Can disabled homeowners under 65 get the freeze?
The state program is for 65 and older. Disabled homeowners can apply for the separate tax relief rebate.
Related guides: senior freezes in other states, senior exemptions by state and disabled veteran exemptions.
Sources
Eligibility, the frozen-amount rules, the 35-day deadline, the 2026 local option limit and the list of participating counties and cities are from the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury's Property Tax Freeze page. County limits and the April 5, 2027 date are from county trustee pages (Blount, Robertson) and the Comptroller's 2026 freeze table. Tax relief figures are from the Comptroller's 2026 tax relief brochure. The Nashville example is illustrative. This is general information, not tax advice.