assessed value

A family standing in the doorway of an empty living room in a new house.

The value your local assessor puts on your property for tax.

The valuation assigned to property for tax purposes, frequently a statutory fraction of market value.

What that means in practice

It is not the same as what the house would sell for. Many places tax only a set fraction of market value, and reassessment can lag the market by years. Your bill follows this number, not the listing price.

Assessed value is determined administratively and may diverge substantially from market value through assessment ratios, caps on annual increases, and reassessment lags. ⚠️ Comparing nominal millage across jurisdictions without adjusting for assessment practice produces misleading conclusions, which is why effective rate measures are preferred.

Questions people ask

Who actually charges this?

It is a local levy. The state may cap or constrain it, but assessed value is decided close to home, which is why neighboring towns differ.

Is this one of those terms that needs three other terms to explain it?

No — this one holds up by itself. That is unusual enough in tax vocabulary to be worth saying.

Is this the standard name for it?

Yes. assessed value is settled usage. Several terms nearby go by two or three names each.

At what level is this levied and administered?

Property taxation is administered locally — by counties, municipalities and school districts — with states typically providing enabling statute, assessment standards and occasionally rate or growth caps. Effective rates therefore vary substantially within a single state.

Does this term resolve independently?

This term resolves largely independently of other defined terms, with limited cross-references. It is therefore usable as an entry point; more heavily cross-referenced provisions generally require it rather than the reverse.

Is this designation the settled one?

This designation is the settled term of art with limited alternative usage, so it maps reliably to statutory and agency references. Terms with multiple colloquial designations require more care when searching source material.