Property Taxes in the Raleigh-Durham Metro (NC)

1. How North Carolina property tax actually works

Every North Carolina county's tax office (most call it "Tax Administration"; some still say "Tax Assessor") assesses real property at 100% of its true (market) value as of the county's most recent general reappraisal, commonly called a revaluation -- not every January 1 the way Florida assesses, but on whatever multi-year cycle that county has adopted (see Section 2). The tax bill is then assessed value multiplied by a combined tax rate, expressed as cents (or dollars) per $100 of valuation rather than Florida-style mills. As in most states, several taxing units stack onto one bill: the county, a city or town if the property sits inside one, and any special district -- so a single "the rate is X" figure for a whole county always understates what a specific incorporated address actually owes once its municipal rate is added.

North Carolina has both a state income tax (currently a flat 3.99% for tax year 2026, down from 4.25% in 2025 and continuing a multi-year phasedown under Session Law 2023-134) and a state sales tax, so property tax doesn't carry the outsized share of the state's overall tax structure that it does in no-income-tax states -- see Section 7 of our relocating guide for the full picture.

Sources: NCDOR Individual Income Tax Rate Schedules (ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/individual-income-tax/tax-rate-schedules).

2. Revaluation cycles -- and Wake County's new shortened one

North Carolina has no Save Our Homes-style annual assessment cap and no recapture-on-sale rule the way Florida does. Instead, under G.S. 105-286, every county must conduct a general reappraisal at least every eight years, though a county may -- and many in the Triangle do -- choose a shorter cycle. Between revaluations, a property's assessed value normally stays fixed regardless of how much its market value moves (short of a physical change like new construction or an addition); then, when the next revaluation lands, the whole county's values reset to current market value all at once, which is what produces the periodic "sticker shock" this section covers.

Wake County is a genuinely notable case here: it had been on a four-year cycle (its last revaluation took effect January 1, 2024, and produced a 51% countywide value increase versus 2020), but the Board of Commissioners voted to shorten future cycles -- moving to a three-year cycle and then a two-year cycle, with revaluations now scheduled for January 1, 2027 and January 1, 2029 -- specifically to smooth out large, disruptive value jumps rather than let them accumulate. Durham County completed its most recent general reappraisal in 2025. We did not independently confirm the current revaluation schedule for Orange, Johnston, Chatham, Franklin, or Lee counties in this research pass beyond Orange County's own reference to a 2025 revaluation in its FY2025-26 budget coverage -- confirm the next scheduled reappraisal date for a specific county directly with that county's tax office.

One more mechanic worth knowing: state law requires that when a county revalues, it calculate and publish a revenue-neutral rate -- the tax rate that would raise the same total revenue as before, adjusted for the revaluation -- but elected boards are not required to adopt it, and frequently don't. Per UNC School of Government analysis cited by WFAE, 23 of the 29 North Carolina counties that revalued in 2025 adopted rates above revenue-neutral.

Sources: N.C. Gen. Stat. §105-286 (ncleg.gov); Wake County Government, "Wake County shortens revaluation cycle" (wake.gov/news/wake-county-shortens-revaluation-cycle) and WUNC, "Wake County hopes to end 'sticker shock' with two-year property revaluations" (wunc.org); Durham County Tax Administration, 2025 General Reappraisal (dconc.gov); WFAE, "Here's where NC homeowners pay the least and most property tax" (wfae.org, May 2026).

3. The property-tax-cap amendment on this November's ballot

North Carolina's constitution currently places no limit on how much a local government can raise its property tax levy. Session Law 2026-5 (House Bill 1089), enacted by the General Assembly on a party-line vote (NC Senate 31-15, NC House 71-46), puts a constitutional amendment on the November 3, 2026 statewide ballot that would add exactly that limit -- the amendment text itself reads: "The General Assembly shall enact general laws limiting the amount by which the levy of taxes on property may increase, which may include exceptions." The ballot question voters will actually see: "Constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments." It needs only a simple majority of votes cast to pass (North Carolina constitutional amendments do not require Florida's 60% supermajority).

What this would and wouldn't do if approved: unlike Florida's 2026 ballot measure, which specifies exact new exemption dollar amounts, North Carolina's amendment sets no numeric cap of its own -- it only directs the General Assembly to write implementing legislation later. If voters approve it this November, the actual limit (a percentage cap, any exceptions for schools or public safety, an effective date) would not exist until a future legislative session passes it. Treat this as pending, not current law, and revisit it after Election Day. A companion measure on the same ballot, Senate Bill 1080, would separately cap the state's constitutional maximum income tax rate at 3.5% (down from the current 7% ceiling -- note this is the constitutional ceiling, not the actual current rate, which is 3.99% for 2026 per Section 1); a separate Voter ID constitutional amendment is also on the same ballot. A different legislative proposal to pause countywide revaluations until 2027 passed the NC Senate but stalled in a House committee and had not been enacted as of this research pass.

Sources: North Carolina Session Law 2026-5 / House Bill 1089 full text (ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/House/PDF/H1089v3.pdf); Ballotpedia, "North Carolina voters to decide on two measures related to property and income tax limits on the November 2026 ballot" (news.ballotpedia.org); NC Newsline, "NC Senate moves constitutional amendment on local property tax increases to the November ballot" (ncnewsline.com).

4. Relief for seniors and disabled homeowners

North Carolina runs two statewide relief programs for qualifying elderly or totally/permanently disabled homeowners, and a household can generally use only one:

• Homestead Property Exclusion (elderly/disabled exclusion, G.S. 105-277.1): for an owner age 65+ or totally and permanently disabled as of January 1, who owns and occupies the home as a primary residence. It's a one-time application (no annual reapplication) that excludes the greater of the first $25,000, or 50% of the home's assessed value, from taxation. The combined income limit for the applicant and spouse is $38,800 for 2025.
• Circuit Breaker Property Tax Deferment Program (G.S. 105-277.1B): same age/disability test, but requires the owner to have owned and occupied the home for the preceding five years, and requires annual reapplication. Property tax is capped at 4% of income for households at or below the $38,800 threshold, or 5% of income for households between $38,801 and $58,200 (2025 limit); tax above that cap is deferred rather than forgiven, and becomes due if the home is sold, transferred, or the owner dies.

Both sets of income limits are state-set figures that adjust annually for inflation -- the numbers above are 2025 figures as published by Wake County Tax Administration; confirm the current-year limit with your own county's tax office before applying, and ask which of the two programs actually saves you more, since a household that qualifies for both can only pick one.

Source: Wake County Government, "Need Help Paying Your Property Tax Bill?" (wake.gov/departments-government/tax-administration/tax-bill-help/need-help-paying-your-property-tax-bill), summarizing N.C. Gen. Stat. §§105-277.1 and 105-277.1B.

5. Representative figures by county and city

The figures below are each county's FY2025-26 countywide tax rate per $100 of valuation -- county-only, not a full bill. Add the municipal rate for any address inside an incorporated city or town.

We did not independently verify current municipal-only rates for Apex, Wake Forest, Morrisville, Holly Springs, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon, Rolesville, Clayton, Pittsboro, Louisburg, or Sanford in this research pass beyond the county figure above -- confirm a specific town's rate with that town's finance department before budgeting from it.

Sources: North Carolina Department of Revenue, "2025-2026 County Tax Rates" (ncdor.gov/2025-2026-county-tax-rates-finalxlsx/open); City of Raleigh, "Raleigh City Council Approves $1.78B Budget, No Tax Increase, for FY 2026" (raleighnc.gov); Town of Cary, Taxes and Assessments (carync.gov); City of Durham budget coverage (durhamnc.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3503); Chapelboro.com, "Here Are the Orange County Local Governments' Approved Budgets, Tax Rates for 2025-26."

6. Appealing your assessment

Unlike Florida's annual TRIM notice, most North Carolina counties only mail a formal notice of value in a year when a revaluation takes effect, not every year. An owner who disagrees with an assessment can generally start with an informal review directly with the county tax office, and separately has the right to a formal appeal to that county's Board of Equalization and Review (BER) -- a citizen board that hears property tax appeals, typically convening in the spring, with dates and filing deadlines set and posted locally by each county. Beyond the BER, an appeal can go to the state-level NC Property Tax Commission and, from there, to the NC Court of Appeals. We did not independently verify the current-year BER filing deadline for each of the seven Triangle counties on this page in this research pass -- confirm the specific deadline with your own county's tax office before relying on any date here.

7. How we keep this page current

The structural mechanics in Sections 1 and 2 (North Carolina's ad valorem system, the eight-year revaluation minimum, and the absence of any Save Our Homes-style cap) are settled state law and don't change often. Wake County's shortened revaluation cycle in Section 2, the November 2026 ballot amendment in Section 3, the income limits in Section 4, and the county and municipal rates in Section 5 are exactly the kind of figures that shift year to year or county to county -- we've flagged what wasn't independently re-verified in this pass rather than guess, and the ballot amendment in Section 3 in particular should be rechecked after Election Day for its actual outcome and any implementing legislation that follows. If you spot something on this page that's changed, or notice a broken link, we'd like to know -- see our contact information.