Assessed value vs appraised value: what actually differs and why it matters for your tax bill

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is assessed value of a home, exactly?

The assessed value is the dollar figure your county assessor places on your property to calculate your tax bill. It is not a market price. It is an administrative number, set by local government staff using mass appraisal models, then multiplied by your local tax rate (the mill rate or millage) to produce the taxes you owe each year.

Most counties do not assess at 100% of market value. They apply an assessment ratio, sometimes called the assessment level or equalization rate, that brings the taxable number down to a fraction of what the property would sell for. In California, Proposition 13 limits the assessed value of most homes to the purchase price plus no more than 2% annual inflation, no matter what the market does ^[1]. In many Illinois townships, the assessment level is set by law at one-third of market value ^[2]. In Georgia, residential property is assessed at 40% of fair market value ^[3].

The assessed value shows up on your tax notice, your county assessor's website, and the annual notice of assessment or change-in-value letter that most counties mail once a year. Watch for that mailed notice. It starts your appeal clock.

One more thing worth knowing. Some states use "taxable value" for the number that actually gets multiplied by the mill rate, and it can be lower still, because exemptions (homestead, senior, veterans) get subtracted from assessed value before tax is figured. So the chain runs: market value to assessed value to taxable value to tax bill.

What is appraised value, and who produces it?

Appraised value is an opinion of market value produced by a licensed or certified appraiser, or in some contexts by the county assessor acting in a mass-appraisal role. The term means different things depending on who is doing the appraising and why.

When your mortgage lender orders an appraisal, a state-licensed appraiser visits the property, reviews recent comparable sales, inspects the interior, and delivers a written report with a single value estimate. This is the appraised value most homeowners know from the home-buying process. It is a precise, property-specific estimate prepared for a specific date and a specific client (the lender), and it follows the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, commonly called USPAP ^[4].

When a county assessor says appraised value, they usually mean something else: the assessor's estimate of market value produced through computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) systems that model thousands of properties at once. Some states use the word "appraised value" in statute to mean what most states call assessed value. Texas is the prominent example. There, the appraisal district sets the "appraised value," then applies exemptions to reach a "taxable value" ^[5]. If you live in Texas, your appeal targets the appraised value set by the appraisal district, not a separate assessed value.

Short version. A lender appraisal is a careful, visit-based market estimate. The assessor's mass-appraisal figure is a modeled estimate, usually less accurate for any single property, which is exactly why appeals succeed as often as they do.

How do assessed value and appraised value differ? A side-by-side comparison

The table below lays out the differences. Both numbers matter, but for property taxes, assessed value (or the assessor's appraised value in Texas-style states) is the only one that controls your bill.

	Assessed Value	Appraised Value (lender)
Who produces it	County assessor or appraisal district	Licensed/certified appraiser
Purpose	Calculate property tax	Support a mortgage loan or sale
Inspection required	Usually no (mass model)	Yes, in-person visit
Updated	Annually or on a cycle	Only when ordered
Reflects market exactly	Rarely	Closer, but still an opinion
Legally appealable for tax	Yes	No (different process)
Typical relationship to market	10%-100% of market value, depending on state	Usually close to current market value
Governed by	State property tax code	USPAP, federal lending rules

The gap between the two numbers is not a mistake. It is built into the system. In a state with a low assessment ratio, a $400,000 home might carry an assessed value of $160,000 (at a 40% ratio). The lender's appraiser would still value it near $400,000. Neither number is wrong. They measure different things for different purposes.

Here is where it turns costly. When the assessor's mass-appraisal model overshoots, you pay for it. If your $400,000 home gets an assessed value equal to $450,000 in market terms, you are taxed on value your home does not have. That is the situation that warrants an appeal.

What is the assessment ratio, and how does your state set it?

The assessment ratio is the legal percentage of market value at which the assessor is supposed to value your property. It varies widely by state, and sometimes by property type inside a single state.

A few concrete examples ^[3][6]:

• Georgia: 40% for residential property
• Illinois (Cook County): 10% for residential, 25% for commercial (before equalization)
• New York: varies by municipality; many assessing units target 100%
• California: anchored to purchase price under Prop 13, not a fixed ratio of current market value
• Texas: 100% of market value (called appraised value in statute), then exemptions cut the taxable value
• Florida: 100% assessment target, but Save Our Homes caps annual increases at 3% for homestead properties

Knowing your state's ratio buys you a fast sanity check. Take the assessor's value for your property and divide it by the ratio. The result is the implied market value the assessor is using. If that number sits well above what you think your home is worth, or above what similar homes recently sold for, you have the start of an appeal argument.

Run the numbers. An assessed value of $180,000 in Georgia (40% ratio) means the assessor believes your market value is $450,000. If the real number is closer to $380,000, the assessor is about 18% high, and you may be overpaying.

Does a higher appraised value automatically raise your property taxes?

No, and this trips up a lot of homeowners. A lender appraisal has no legal connection to your tax bill. Your lender ordered it. Your assessor never saw it and is not bound by it.

Your taxes go up only when the assessor changes your assessed value. That is supposed to happen from the assessor's own mass-appraisal analysis of market sales, not because a mortgage company ran an appraisal on your house.

A sale, though, often does trigger a reassessment. In California, a change of ownership resets assessed value to the purchase price under Proposition 13 ^[1]. In many other states, the assessor feeds recent sale data into the mass-appraisal model, so a cluster of high sales on your street can push up assessed values for everyone, including neighbors who never sold.

The practical upshot. If you just paid $500,000 for a home, expect your assessed value to drift toward that price at the next reassessment cycle in most states. If you refinanced and the appraisal came in at $520,000, that number stays between you and your lender.

Can the assessor use a lender appraisal against you?

Sometimes, yes, but rarely as a direct trigger. Here is the honest picture.

In most states, appraisal reports are not public record and the assessor has no formal access to them. But your sale price almost always gets recorded, since deeds are public, so the assessor sees what you paid. A sale is treated as the best evidence of market value in most property tax codes.

If you appeal and submit a lender appraisal as evidence, you have handed the assessor and the review board a formal document that might confirm or even exceed the value the assessor set. Read the number before you file anything. If the lender's appraised value comes in higher than the assessor's implied market value, leave it out. The whole point of an appeal is to prove the assessor's value is too high, so your evidence has to support a lower number.

Want a credible appraisal built for an appeal? Hire a local licensed appraiser and tell them it is for a tax appeal. Ask for a retrospective appraisal as of the assessment date, which is often January 1 of the tax year. That gives you a professional opinion of value aimed straight at the assessor's number, on the right date.

How do you find the assessed value of your home?

Assessed value is public record in every state. There are three easy ways to pull it.

Start with the annual assessment notice the county mailed you. Most counties send it once a year, usually in spring, though timing varies. It shows the previous assessed value, the new assessed value, and usually the appeal deadline. Keep this document. It is the starting gun for your appeal window.

Second, search your county assessor's website. Nearly every county with a working assessor's office has an online parcel search where you look up your property by address or parcel number and see the assessed value, property characteristics (square footage, bedroom count, year built), and sometimes the comps the assessor used. Los Angeles County runs one of the more detailed online parcel portals in the country.

Third, read your property tax bill. It typically shows the taxable value (which can differ from assessed value after exemptions) and the tax rate applied. Working backward from the bill, you can back out the assessed value before exemptions.

Find a discrepancy between the notice and the bill, or between the assessor's database and what is physically true about your home (wrong square footage, a bathroom that does not exist)? Write it down. Factual errors are among the easiest grounds for a successful appeal.

Which value should you appeal, and when?

You appeal the assessor's value, not the lender's appraised value. In most states the number you challenge is officially the assessed value. In Texas and a handful of other states, it is called the appraised value on your notice from the appraisal district. Either way, you are challenging the government's number on your annual notice.

Timing decides everything. Appeal deadlines are strict in most states, and missing the window costs you a full year. A few reference points ^[6][7]:

• Most counties: 30 to 90 days from the date on the assessment notice
• California: September 15 or 60 days from the notice date, whichever is later (depends on county)
• Texas: May 15 or 30 days from the date the notice was mailed, whichever is later
• Georgia: 45 days from the date of the assessment notice
• Illinois (Cook County): 30 days from publication of the assessment roll

Miss your county's deadline and some states offer a second path (an equalization board, state tax tribunal, or circuit court), but those routes run slower and cost more. The informal or administrative appeal at the county level is almost always the fastest, cheapest way in.

Counties like Gwinnett, Bexar, and Maricopa each publish appeal instructions and deadlines on their assessor websites. Bookmark the page for your specific county.

What evidence actually works to lower your assessed value?

Recent comparable sales carry the most weight in a property tax appeal. Comps, in short. You want sales of similar homes (similar size, age, condition, neighborhood) that closed near the assessment date at prices below the assessor's implied market value for your home. Three to five strong comps, well chosen, beat a vague argument about the market almost every time.

A formal appraisal from a licensed appraiser is the strongest single piece of evidence, especially past the informal hearing at a board of equalization or a state tax tribunal. Expect to pay $300 to $600 for a residential appraisal, depending on your market ^[4]. That cost pays for itself if your tax savings over two or three years clear it.

Other evidence that helps:

• Photographs of deferred maintenance, structural problems, or conditions the mass model cannot see
• Repair estimates from licensed contractors for major defects
• The assessor's own property record card, especially where it shows errors (wrong square footage, phantom bathrooms, a finished basement that is actually bare studs)
• A recent listing or offer (within 6 months) that did not sell at or above the assessed price

Counties like Cook County with formalized appeal systems publish the specific data the assessor relies on, which lets you hunt for errors directly in their model.

TaxFightBack's DIY appeal kit walks you through pulling comps from public records, building them into a defensible packet, and presenting them at your hearing without hiring a contingency firm that skims 30% to 50% of your refund.

Does the assessed value affect your home's sale price or refinance?

Not directly, but the link is not zero either.

Buyers and their agents sometimes glance at assessed value as a rough reference, mostly in markets where the assessment ratio runs close to 100%. If your assessed value is $400,000 and you list at $500,000, a buyer's agent might raise an eyebrow. In Georgia (40% ratio) or Illinois (variable ratio), a sharp buyer knows assessed value says nothing about market price until you know the ratio.

For a refinance, the lender's appraiser sets the value that governs the loan. The assessor's number does not enter the calculation.

Where assessed value does move sale price is through the tax bill it produces. A $9,000 annual property tax bill is a real carrying cost buyers fold into affordability. Two nearly identical homes can sell for very different prices if one carries a much heavier tax load, because buyers think in total monthly payment (principal, interest, taxes, insurance).

So if your assessed value tops your neighbor's on a comparable property, you take the hit twice. You pay more in taxes every year, and the heavier tax burden can shave what buyers will offer.

State-by-state snapshot: how assessment ratios and appeal windows vary

There is no national standard for any of this. Every state writes its own rules, and some hand further discretion to counties or municipalities. The table below covers ten large states with big populations of homeowners asking this exact question ^[3][5][6][7].

State	Assessment ratio (residential)	Appeal deadline (typical)	Who you appeal to
California	Purchase price + ≤2%/yr (Prop 13)	Sept 15 or 60 days from notice	County Assessment Appeals Board
Texas	100% of market (called appraised value)	May 15 or 30 days from notice	Appraisal Review Board
Georgia	40% of fair market value	45 days from notice	County Board of Equalization
Illinois	33.33% (most downstate), 10% residential (Cook)	30 days from roll publication	County Board of Review
Florida	100% (Save Our Homes caps increases at 3%/yr for homestead)	25 days from TRIM notice	Value Adjustment Board
New York	Varies by municipality (often 100% in reassessment years)	Grievance Day (usually 3rd Tue in June)	Board of Assessment Review
Arizona	10% of full cash value (residential)	60 days from notice	County Assessor (informal), then State Board
Ohio	35% of true value	31 days from notice	County Board of Revision
Missouri	19% of true value (residential)	July 10 or 30 days from notice	County Board of Equalization
Michigan	50% of true cash value (called State Equalized Value)	Board of Review in March	March Board of Review, then Michigan Tax Tribunal

Georgia homeowners in specific counties can find the current year's appeal deadline and the form they need on the county assessor pages for Gwinnett, Bibb, Cherokee, Coweta, and Madison.

Common mistakes homeowners make when confusing these two values

The most expensive mistake is assuming a low lender appraisal will drop your taxes on its own. It will not. The assessor does not know about your lender appraisal, and will not respond to it, unless you formally submit it in an appeal.

The second mistake is skipping the appeal because the assessed value looks lower than what you paid. In states with low ratios, a low-looking assessed value can still sit too high against the legal ratio. Run the check: assessed value divided by assessment ratio equals the assessor's implied market value. Compare that to actual recent sales of comparable homes, not to your purchase price.

The third mistake is confusing the appeal deadline with the tax payment deadline. Two different dates. Miss the payment and you owe a penalty. Miss the appeal deadline and you lose the right to challenge the value for a full year. Both sting, but the appeal deadline is the one most people blow.

A fourth mistake shows up often in Texas. Homeowners file a homestead exemption and figure it shields them from overassessment. The homestead exemption cuts your taxable value. It does not fix an inflated appraised value. You still have to appeal the underlying appraised value separately if it is too high.

San Diego and Los Angeles homeowners face specific California quirks around base year values and the Prop 13 purchase-price anchor that are worth understanding before you file. The San Diego property tax and Los Angeles County property tax pages carry county-specific guidance.

Should you hire an appraiser, a consultant, or do it yourself?

For most residential appeals at the informal or board-of-equalization level, you do not need to hire anyone. A tidy packet of three to five comparable sales, pulled from your county's public sales records or a site like Zillow or Redfin (labeled with source and date), wins a reduction in most cases. The hearing officer wants evidence, not legal argument.

A paid appraiser earns its keep in a few situations: when the potential annual tax savings top $1,000, when you are heading to a formal tribunal or tax court, or when your property has odd characteristics (waterfront, agricultural land, historic designation, heavy deferred maintenance) that a mass model handles badly. A USPAP-compliant retrospective appraisal, dated as of the assessment date, carries more weight than comps alone at a formal hearing ^[4].

Contingency-fee firms advertise hard in high-value markets. They typically take 25% to 50% of the first year's tax savings. On a $3,000 reduction, that is $750 to $1,500 out of your pocket for work you could finish in an afternoon. If your property is complex or the value at stake is very large, a contingency firm earns its cut. For a typical residential appeal, it does not.

The Lake County and St. Louis County assessor offices, among others, publish detailed self-help instructions for filing without representation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between assessed value and appraised value?

Assessed value is the government's number for tax purposes, usually a set percentage of market value. Appraised value is a professional opinion of what your home would sell for, used for mortgages and sales. Your tax bill is based on assessed value. A lender appraisal has no direct legal effect on your property taxes unless you submit it as evidence in an appeal.

Is the appraised value usually higher or lower than the assessed value?

In most states, appraised (market) value is higher than assessed value because most states apply an assessment ratio below 100%. Georgia assesses at 40% of market value, so a $400,000 home carries a $160,000 assessed value. In Texas and some other states the target is 100%, so the two should be close, though the assessor's mass model can still differ from a formal appraisal.

How is the assessed value of a home calculated?

The county assessor uses a computer-assisted mass appraisal model that factors in recent sales, property characteristics (size, age, construction type), and neighborhood trends. The resulting market value estimate is then multiplied by the state or local assessment ratio to produce the assessed value. Assessors rarely inspect individual properties for routine annual reassessments.

Does a high appraisal raise your property taxes?

A lender appraisal does not directly raise your property taxes. The assessor sets taxes independently using their own mass-appraisal analysis. If your home sells at a high price (which is public record), the assessor may use that sale price to raise your assessed value at the next reassessment. The sale price, not the lender's appraisal report itself, is what the assessor sees.

Can I use my lender's appraisal to appeal my property taxes?

Yes, but be careful. Only use it if the lender's appraised value is lower than the market value the assessor is implying. If your assessed value represents a market assumption higher than the appraisal, submit the appraisal as evidence. If the appraisal is higher than the assessor's implied value, submitting it could backfire and validate or raise your assessed value.

What does tax assessed value of my home mean on my tax bill?

The tax assessed value is the dollar amount the county uses as the base to calculate what you owe. The county multiplies this number (after subtracting any exemptions to get a taxable value) by the local mill rate. A $200,000 assessed value with a 1.5% effective tax rate produces a $3,000 annual tax bill. The assessed value on your bill may sit well below your home's market value depending on your state's assessment ratio.

How often does assessed value change?

Most states reassess annually, though many run a two- or four-year cycle. California reassesses primarily on a change of ownership or new construction. Michigan reassesses annually but caps increases at 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, for qualifying properties. After a reassessment, the county mails a notice of new assessed value that triggers your appeal window.

Is assessed value a good estimate of what my home is worth?

Generally, no. Because most states use assessment ratios below 100% and mass-appraisal models that update infrequently, assessed value is a poor proxy for current market value. The assessor's implied market value (assessed value divided by the assessment ratio) is a better comparison point, but even that can lag the market by one to three years in a fast-moving market.

How do I find the assessed value of my home?

Check your annual assessment notice from the county, search your county assessor's online parcel lookup (available in virtually every county), or read your property tax bill. All three are public record. The parcel lookup usually shows the assessed value, the previous year's value, and the property characteristics the assessor has on file. Errors in those characteristics are a valid appeal ground.

Can my assessed value be higher than my home's market value?

Yes, and this is one of the most common reasons to appeal. In states that target 100% assessment, if the assessor's model uses stale data or mischaracterizes your property, the assessed value can exceed current market value. Even in states with low ratios, if the implied market value (assessed value divided by the ratio) exceeds what similar homes sold for, you are over-assessed and have grounds to appeal.

What is the assessment ratio and how does it affect my taxes?

The assessment ratio is the legally required percentage of market value at which your property must be assessed. It directly scales your tax bill. A 40% ratio on a $400,000 home yields a $160,000 assessed value. A 100% ratio yields a $400,000 assessed value. The same tax rate applied to each produces very different bills. Knowing your state's ratio lets you check whether the assessor's implied market value is reasonable.

What happens if I successfully appeal and lower my assessed value?

Your tax bill drops proportionally for the year of the appeal, and in most counties the reduced assessed value carries forward as the new baseline. Some states also issue a refund or credit for taxes already paid on the over-assessed value. The new lower value is the starting point for future assessments, though the assessor can raise it again in later years if market values rise.

Does the assessed value affect my homeowners insurance?

No. Homeowners insurance is based on the cost to rebuild your home (replacement cost value), not on assessed value or market value. Replacement cost can run higher or lower than either number depending on construction costs, labor markets, and the age of your home. If your insurer is using assessed value to set your coverage, that is a problem worth raising with your agent.

Do I need a lawyer to appeal my property tax assessment?

Not for most residential appeals. The informal and board-of-equalization levels are built for self-represented homeowners, and the burden of proof is simply showing the assessor's value exceeds market value. Bring comparable sales and any documentation of property condition. A lawyer or tax consultant makes sense if you are going to a state tax tribunal, if the property is commercial, or if the dollar amount at stake is very large.

Sources

1. California Board of Equalization, Proposition 13 Overview: California's Proposition 13 limits assessed value increases to 2% per year and resets to purchase price on change of ownership
2. Illinois Department of Revenue, Property Tax Assessment: Most Illinois townships assess residential property at one-third (33.33%) of market value
3. Georgia Department of Revenue, Property Tax Overview: Georgia law requires residential property to be assessed at 40% of fair market value
4. Appraisal Foundation, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP): Licensed appraisals must comply with USPAP; residential appraisal fees typically range from $300 to $600
5. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Basics: Texas property tax code requires appraisal districts to appraise property at 100% of market value, referred to as appraised value in statute
6. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Significant Features of the Property Tax (state assessment ratios): Assessment ratios and appeal deadlines by state, including Arizona at 10% for residential, Ohio at 35%, Missouri at 19%
7. National Conference of State Legislatures, Property Tax Assessment Policies by State: State-by-state summary of assessment ratios, reassessment cycles, and appeal deadlines for residential property
8. Cook County Assessor's Office, Residential Appeal Guide: Cook County residential properties are assessed at 10% of market value; appeals are filed with the Board of Review within 30 days of publication
9. Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight: Florida assesses at 100% of just value; Save Our Homes amendment caps annual increases for homestead properties at 3% or the CPI, whichever is lower; TRIM notice appeal window is 25 days
10. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Property Tax Assessment: New York property assessment practices vary by municipality; Grievance Day in most jurisdictions falls on the third Tuesday in June
11. Michigan Department of Treasury, Property Tax Millage Rates and State Equalized Value: Michigan assesses residential property at 50% of true cash value, called State Equalized Value; annual increases are capped at 5% or inflation for existing homeowners