Connecticut mill rates explained: what they are and how to calculate your property tax

Last updated 2026-07-10

What is a mill rate for property tax?

A mill is one-thousandth of a dollar. A mill rate of 30 means you owe $30 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value on your property. That's the whole idea. The word traces back to the Latin "millesimum," meaning thousandth, and it's been the standard unit in Connecticut property taxation for well over a century.

Connecticut General Statutes Section 12-62 requires each town to assess real property at 70 percent of its fair market value. ^[1] That 70 percent figure is the "assessment ratio," and it's uniform statewide. That uniformity is unusual. Most states let towns pick their own ratios, which makes comparing bills across town lines a mess. In Connecticut, the mill rate alone tells you the effective tax rate on market value.

Here's the formula that matters: effective tax rate = mill rate x 0.70 / 1,000. At 40 mills, you're paying 2.80 percent of market value every year. At Hartford's 74.29 mills, you're paying 5.20 percent. That context tells you whether your assessment is fair, and whether a town 20 miles down the road makes financial sense.

How do you calculate property tax from a mill rate in Connecticut?

Three steps.

Step 1: Find your assessed value. Your assessed value is 70 percent of your property's appraised (fair market) value as set by the assessor. If your home's market value is $350,000, the assessed value is $245,000.

Step 2: Multiply assessed value by the mill rate. At 30 mills: $245,000 x 30 = $7,350,000.

Step 3: Divide by 1,000. $7,350,000 / 1,000 = $7,350. That's your annual property tax bill.

The shortcut: (Assessed Value / 1,000) x Mill Rate = Annual Tax. Same math, fewer zeros to fumble.

One more layer. Some Connecticut towns run a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30, others from January 1 to December 31. Your bill might cover a full year or arrive in two semi-annual installments. The math doesn't change. Just make sure you apply the right year's mill rate to the right assessment year. The assessed value used for a given tax year comes from the October 1 grand list of the prior calendar year. ^[2] So your July 2025 bill rests on the October 1, 2024 grand list.

Where do Connecticut mill rates come from and who sets them?

Each of Connecticut's 169 municipalities sets its own mill rate through the annual budget process. Voters or a representative town meeting approve a budget. The town then takes total spending, subtracts other revenues (state grants, fees, and the like), and divides the remainder by the town's net taxable grand list. The result is the mill rate.

Mill Rate = (Total Tax Revenue Needed) / (Net Grand List) x 1,000

The grand list sits in the denominator, so a growing grand list from new construction or revaluation can actually push the mill rate down even when spending climbs. That's why towns with expanding property bases tend to carry lower mill rates than towns with flat or shrinking ones, all else equal.

The motor vehicle mill rate is capped by state law. Public Act 22-118 (2022) set the cap at 32.46 mills for the 2022 grand list and 29 mills starting with the 2023 grand list, so even if a town's general rate is 60, your car gets taxed at no more than the cap. ^[3] Real property has no such ceiling, which is how Hartford, Bridgeport, and Waterbury run rates above 50.

Once the budget passes, the assessor certifies the grand list to the town council or board of finance, and the mill rate gets formally adopted. In most towns this happens in May or June, with bills going out shortly after.

What are the actual mill rates across Connecticut towns in 2024?

The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) publishes Connecticut's municipal mill rates each year. The most recent published dataset covers the 2024 fiscal year grand list (October 1, 2023 assessments). ^[4]

Here are selected rates from that dataset to show the range:

Town	2024 Mill Rate (Real Property)
Hartford	74.29
Waterbury	60.21
Bridgeport	54.37
New Britain	49.50
New Haven	43.88
Norwich	40.08
Torrington	36.10
Glastonbury	35.22
Simsbury	34.00
Stamford	24.21
Westport	16.86
Darien	15.88
Greenwich	11.78
Salisbury	11.59

The pattern is not subtle. Connecticut's highest-taxed cities are also its most financially strained municipalities. Hartford's rate runs more than six times Salisbury's. A home assessed at $300,000 in Hartford owes roughly $22,287 a year. The same assessed value in Salisbury owes about $3,477. ^[4]

That gap has real weight for buyers. Choosing a town 20 miles away can save $10,000 or more per year on the exact same purchase price. Worth knowing before you sign anything.

For current rates, the OPM table is the authoritative source: https://portal.ct.gov/OPM. Rates update annually, and OPM posts the schedule as a downloadable PDF or spreadsheet.

How does Connecticut's 70 percent assessment ratio affect what you actually pay?

Connecticut's 70 percent assessment ratio comes from CGS Section 12-62. ^[1] Every town's assessor is legally supposed to value your property at 70 percent of what it would sell for on the open market on the assessment date, October 1.

In practice, actual ratios drift. Revaluations are required every five years for most towns. Between them, market values move but assessments don't. A town with rising home prices might be assessing at only 55 percent of current market value by year four of the cycle. Towns with falling prices drift the other way.

The statute quoted directly: property is assessed "at a uniform rate of seventy per cent of present true and actual value," per CGS Section 12-62a. That uniform number is what makes the mill rate a clean read on tax burden.

When a full revaluation lands after years of rising prices, assessed values jump and plenty of homeowners get surprised by large increases even if the mill rate holds flat. Here's the effective tax rate math again: multiply the mill rate by 0.70 and divide by 1,000. At Greenwich's 11.78 mills, that's 0.825 percent of market value. At Hartford's 74.29 mills, 5.20 percent. On a $400,000 home, the difference is $3,300 versus $20,800 a year.

If your town just finished a revaluation and your assessment jumped, the mill rate usually drops at the same time. Towns are supposed to adjust the rate so the revaluation stays revenue-neutral in year one. That adjustment does not always fully offset your individual hit, especially if your property's value rose faster than the town average.

What is the motor vehicle mill rate cap and how does it differ from real property?

Connecticut capped the motor vehicle mill rate at 32.46 mills for fiscal year 2022-2023 and then dropped it to 29 mills for the following year, under Public Act 22-118. ^[3] The cap was part of a state budget deal built to ease the car-tax load in high-mill-rate cities.

Real property gets no such cap. Towns can set real estate mill rates as high as the budget demands. That's the source of the dramatic split between the car tax and the property tax in places like Bridgeport or Waterbury.

The state partly reimburses towns for the revenue lost to the motor vehicle cap through grants. The policy has held steady since 2022, though the exact cap level is a legislative decision that can shift year to year.

For homeowners, the point is short: your real property bill uses the full town mill rate with no ceiling. Only vehicles get the statutory cap.

How do Connecticut mill rates compare to other states?

Raw mill rates don't compare cleanly across state lines because assessment ratios vary. A 10-mill rate in a state that assesses at 100 percent of value works out the same as a 14.3-mill rate in Connecticut, which assesses at 70 percent.

The better yardstick is effective tax rate as a percent of market value. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence publish an annual survey, the "50-State Property Tax Comparison Study," that normalizes for assessment ratios. ^[5] Connecticut lands consistently among the top five highest effective property tax states for residential property.

For 2023, that study put Connecticut's statewide average effective rate for homestead (owner-occupied) property near 1.63 percent of market value, against a national median around 1.00 percent. New Jersey, Illinois, and New Hampshire typically rank above Connecticut, but the state sits firmly in the high-tax tier.

For how property taxes work in other high-tax jurisdictions, see our guides on nyc property tax, la county property tax, and miami dade property taxes.

How do you find your town's current mill rate?

Three reliable ways.

OPM's annual mill rate table. The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management publishes the official schedule for all 169 municipalities each year. It's the most authoritative source. Go to portal.ct.gov/OPM and find the Finance or Grants section, then the Mill Rates listing. ^[4]

Your town's assessor or tax collector website. Most Connecticut towns post the current rate on their assessor or tax collector page. Search "[town name] CT mill rate" and the official .gov or .org site usually comes up first.

Your property tax bill. Every Connecticut bill states the mill rate applied. If you have a recent one, it's right there. Confirm you're reading the real property rate, not the motor vehicle rate, because some towns print both.

Be careful with third-party mill rate sites. They often lag by a year or more. For any decision with real money attached, verify against OPM or your town assessor directly.

Can you appeal your property tax assessment in Connecticut to lower your bill?

Yes, and it's one of the most underused rights homeowners have. If your assessed value sits above 70 percent of what your property would actually sell for, you're overpaying. The mill rate is fixed. The one lever you control is the assessed value.

The process starts with the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) in your town. The deadline to file is February 20 of the assessment year (some towns set an earlier date), and you must submit a written request to the BAA before that date. ^[6] The board schedules a hearing, usually in March, and issues its decision by April 1.

To build a case, you need evidence that your assessed value tops 70 percent of market value. Comparable sales of similar homes within the past 12 months, ideally clustered around October 1 of the assessment year, are the most persuasive proof. Your assessor's office keeps a public record of all sales, so request the prior year's sales data.

If the BAA denies your appeal or hands you less relief than you think is warranted, you can take it to Superior Court within two months of the decision under CGS Section 12-117a. ^[7] That's a more formal path and usually needs an attorney or real preparation time.

The self-filed route works for most homeowners. Contingency firms charge 25 to 50 percent of your first-year tax savings. Win a $2,000 reduction and that's $500 to $1,000 in fees. If you'd rather keep that money, TaxFightBack's DIY appeal kit walks you through gathering evidence and filing with the BAA, step by step.

For a wider view of how property taxes work and where appeals pay off, see our property tax taxation guide.

What exemptions can reduce your Connecticut property tax beyond the mill rate?

Even when you can't touch the mill rate, several Connecticut exemptions shrink the assessed value the rate gets applied to, which cuts your bill directly.

Veterans exemption. Connecticut gives a $5,000 assessed value exemption to honorably discharged veterans under CGS Section 12-81(19). Surviving spouses may qualify too. ^[8]

Elderly and disability credits. The state's elderly and totally disabled circuit breaker program (CGS Section 12-170aa) provides a tax credit of up to $1,250 for qualifying homeowners 65 or older, or totally disabled, based on income thresholds that adjust periodically. ^[9] Individual towns may add their own exemptions on top.

Manufacturing exemption. Certain machinery and equipment used in manufacturing is exempt from personal property tax. This one applies to businesses, not homeowners.

Farmland classification. Agricultural land can qualify for use-value assessment instead of fair market value assessment, which drops the taxable base sharply.

Most exemption applications are due by October 1 of the assessment year, or a date the town sets. Miss it and you wait another year. Contact your town assessor for the forms and deadlines specific to your municipality.

What happens to your tax bill when Connecticut revalues property?

Every five years at minimum, Connecticut towns must revalue all real property to bring assessments back to 70 percent of current market value. ^[1] The last wave of revaluations in high-growth towns, finished around 2021 to 2023, produced some of the largest assessment increases homeowners had seen in decades.

When a revaluation inflates the grand list, towns are supposed to cut the mill rate proportionally so total revenue stays roughly the same. People call it revenue-neutral revaluation. In practice, towns often use a revaluation year to push through a modest budget increase, so the rate doesn't fall quite as far as the raw math suggests, and many homeowners still see bigger bills.

Here's the part people miss. A revaluation is not proof your new assessment is correct. The assessor runs mass appraisal models that apply neighborhood-level adjustments, and individual properties come out wrong all the time. Sales comparison is still the test. If comparable homes near you sold for less than your new assessed value implies (remember, assessed = 70 percent of market), you have grounds to appeal.

To track how your bill shifts year to year, read the town's grand list report, published by the assessor each January. It shows the prior year and current year assessed values for every property. It's a public record, usually on the town website or available through a Freedom of Information request.

To see how Connecticut stacks up against other states, our guides on hennepin county property tax and williamson county property tax show how different these systems get.

How does the mill rate affect renters and commercial property owners?

Renters pay property taxes indirectly. Landlords fold the cost into rent over time, so high-mill-rate cities like Hartford or Waterbury carry a built-in cost disadvantage for rental housing.

Commercial property in Connecticut is assessed at the same 70 percent of fair market value rule as residential, and the same mill rate applies. But a high mill rate bites harder on commercial owners because returns on commercial real estate start lower, and businesses have fewer appeal protections than homeowners in some towns.

Some towns set different rates for different property classes. Connecticut law generally requires a uniform mill rate, with limited exceptions for special taxing districts. If you own commercial property and your town has a special services district, you may pay a supplemental mill on top of the base rate.

For those running commercial property across multiple markets, our guides on contra costa county property tax and san mateo county property tax show how California's very different Prop 13-style system works by comparison.

One practical note. TaxFightBack's appeal resources work for any property owner, residential or commercial, who wants to challenge an over-assessed property without handing a slice of the savings to a contingency firm.

Frequently asked questions

What is a mill rate in Connecticut property tax?

A mill rate is the tax owed per $1,000 of assessed property value. Connecticut towns set their own rates annually through the budget process. The 2024 rates ran from about 11.59 mills (Salisbury) to 74.29 mills (Hartford). Because the state requires a uniform 70 percent assessment ratio, comparing mill rates across Connecticut towns is a fair apples-to-apples read on tax burden.

How do I calculate my Connecticut property tax bill from the mill rate?

Take your assessed value (70 percent of your home's appraised market value), divide by 1,000, then multiply by your town's mill rate. Example: $245,000 assessed value at a 35 mill rate: $245,000 / 1,000 x 35 = $8,575 per year. Your assessed value is on your property card, which your town assessor publishes and which you can request anytime.

Why does Hartford have such a high mill rate compared to Greenwich?

Mill rates reflect budget needs divided by the total taxable grand list. Hartford has a large municipal budget against a smaller, lower-value property base, plus heavy tax-exempt property (hospitals, universities, state buildings). Greenwich has an enormous grand list of high-value homes and modest per-property budget costs. The result is a six-fold gap in mill rates despite both being Connecticut towns.

What is the motor vehicle mill rate cap in Connecticut?

Connecticut capped the motor vehicle mill rate at 32.46 mills for fiscal year 2022-2023, then dropped it to 29 mills the following year, under Public Act 22-118. Even if your town's real property rate is 60 mills, your car is taxed at no more than the cap. Real property has no equivalent cap. The state reimburses towns for the shortfall through grants.

How often do Connecticut mill rates change?

Every year. Towns set a new rate each spring after the budget vote, and it applies to the October 1 grand list from the prior year. Small towns may see rates hold nearly flat for years if budgets and grand lists grow at similar rates. Towns undergoing revaluation often see a notable rate drop that year, though total bills don't always fall proportionally.

Where can I find the official mill rate for my Connecticut town?

The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM) publishes the official mill rate table for all 169 municipalities each year at portal.ct.gov/OPM. Your town's assessor or tax collector website also posts the current rate, and your property tax bill states the rate applied. Always verify against OPM or the town directly; third-party sites often run a year or more behind.

What does Connecticut's 70 percent assessment ratio mean for my tax calculation?

Connecticut General Statutes Section 12-62 requires assessors to value property at 70 percent of fair market value. So if your home is worth $400,000 on the open market, the assessed value should be $280,000. The mill rate applies to that $280,000. This 70 percent ratio is uniform statewide, which makes comparing tax burdens across towns simpler than in states with varying ratios.

Can I appeal my Connecticut property tax assessment if my mill rate seems too high?

You can't appeal the mill rate itself, but you can appeal your assessed value. If your assessed value tops 70 percent of your property's actual market value, you're overpaying. File with your town's Board of Assessment Appeals by February 20 of the assessment year. If the BAA denies relief, you can appeal to Superior Court under CGS Section 12-117a. Comparable recent home sales are the best evidence.

What is the deadline to appeal my Connecticut property assessment?

The standard deadline to file with your town's Board of Assessment Appeals is February 20 of the assessment year, under CGS Section 12-111. Some towns set an earlier date, so check with your local BAA. The board holds hearings in March and issues decisions by April 1. Missing this deadline usually means waiting a full year before you can appeal again.

How do Connecticut property taxes compare to other states?

Connecticut ranks among the top five highest effective property tax states nationally. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study put Connecticut's effective residential rate near 1.63 percent of market value, well above the national median around 1.00 percent. States typically ranked higher include New Jersey, Illinois, and New Hampshire. Connecticut's high rates reflect both mill rates and the 70 percent assessment ratio.

Does a Connecticut revaluation automatically mean my tax bill goes up?

Not necessarily. When a revaluation raises the total grand list, towns cut the mill rate to collect roughly the same revenue. But if your property's value rose more than the town average, your bill climbs even as the rate falls. Revaluations also aren't infallible: mass appraisal models make errors. If your new assessed value looks high against what comparable homes sold for, it's worth appealing.

What exemptions can reduce my Connecticut property tax bill?

Connecticut offers several assessment exemptions. Veterans get a $5,000 assessed value reduction under CGS Section 12-81(19). Qualifying elderly or disabled homeowners may receive a state tax credit of up to $1,250 through the circuit breaker program under CGS Section 12-170aa. Farmland may qualify for use-value assessment. Application deadlines are typically October 1. Contact your town assessor for the specific forms and income thresholds that apply.

How is the Connecticut mill rate calculated by the town?

The town divides its total property tax revenue need by the net taxable grand list, then multiplies by 1,000. Example: if a town needs $50 million from property taxes and its grand list totals $2 billion, the rate is ($50,000,000 / $2,000,000,000) x 1,000 = 25 mills. A growing grand list from new construction or rising values lets the town hold or reduce the rate even with modest budget increases.

Sources

1. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Property Tax Overview (CGS Section 12-62): Connecticut requires all real property to be assessed at 70 percent of fair market value and mandates revaluation at least every five years.
2. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Property Tax Overview: The assessed value used for a given tax year is based on the October 1 grand list from the prior calendar year.
3. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Mill Rate Table FY2024: OPM publishes the official annual mill rate schedule for all 169 Connecticut municipalities; 2024 rates ranged from 11.59 (Salisbury) to 74.29 (Hartford).
4. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence, 50-State Property Tax Comparison Study: Connecticut's statewide average effective residential property tax rate was approximately 1.63 percent of market value, well above the national median of roughly 1.00 percent.
5. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Board of Assessment Appeals Overview: The standard deadline to file with the Board of Assessment Appeals is February 20 of the assessment year.
6. Connecticut Judicial Branch, Connecticut Practice Book and Statutes (CGS Section 12-117a): Property owners may appeal a Board of Assessment Appeals decision to Superior Court within two months of the decision.
7. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Veterans Property Tax Exemptions (CGS Section 12-81): Honorably discharged veterans receive a $5,000 assessed value exemption from Connecticut property tax.
8. Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Elderly and Disabled Homeowners Tax Relief Program (CGS Section 12-170aa): Connecticut's elderly and totally disabled circuit breaker program provides a property tax credit of up to $1,250 for qualifying homeowners aged 65 or older or totally disabled.