# Richmond-area property tax rates for 2026, and how escrow pays them

Source: https://nobullshitloans.com/virginia/property-taxes/
By Tyler Rood, Loan Officer, NMLS ID # 2064776, Edge Home Finance, LLC (NMLS ID # 891464). Updated 2026-11-09.

## The short answer

In 2026, property tax rates around Richmond, Virginia, are $0.83 per $100 of assessed value in Henrico, $0.89 in Chesterfield and $1.20 in the City of Richmond. Henrico and Chesterfield halves are due June 5 and December 5 (both December 2026 halves are due Monday, December 7); Richmond's are due January 14 and June 14. With a mortgage, your servicer collects one-twelfth of the yearly bill monthly, holds a small escrow cushion, and pays it for you.

Property tax is the part of your house payment nobody at the closing table controls, and the part most likely to change after you move in. Virginia cities and counties call it real estate tax. Here's the 2026 Chesterfield County property tax rate, the rates and due dates for its neighbors, the math that turns a rate into a monthly number, and how escrow pays the bill so you don't have to write a check for half a year's tax.

## A worked example: Chesterfield in 2026

The full county picture is on [buying in Chesterfield County](https://nobullshitloans.com/virginia/chesterfield/). Here is the tax math. Chesterfield charges 89 cents per $100 of assessed value for calendar year 2026, and the county's adopted fiscal 2027 budget keeps it there. The rate has drifted down: $0.91 in 2023, $0.90 in 2024, $0.89 in 2025. The bill comes in two halves, due June 5 and December 5. In 2026, December 5 falls on a Saturday, so the second half is due Monday, December 7.

**Worked example: 2026 Chesterfield tax on a home assessed at $350,000**
- Assessed value, in hundreds: 3,500
- times Rate per $100: $0.89
- equals: Yearly tax: $3,115
Note: Two halves of about $1,558, due June 5 and December 5.
Note: In your monthly payment, $3,115 divided by 12 is about $260.


Before you've picked a house, I plug Chesterfield taxes at 0.85% of the purchase price, then swap in the real bill from the title company once there's an address. That isn't the county's rate. It's my planning number, and it usually runs a little heavy: around Richmond, assessments usually sit below what homes sell for, so the real bill usually lands under it. On a home in the mid-$500,000s, my estimate came to about $390 a month, and the real bill came in at $350 to $370.

## Henrico, City of Richmond and nearby property tax rates for 2026

Every city and county sets its own rate and its own calendar, and they don't line up. Rates are per $100 of assessed value.

| Locality | Rate per $100 | Tax year | Due dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield County | $0.89 | 2026 | June 5 and December 5 (December 7 in 2026) |
| Henrico County | $0.83 | 2026 | June 5 and December 5 (December 7 in 2026) |
| City of Richmond | $1.20 | 2026 | January 14 and June 14 |
| Hanover County | $0.81 | 2026 | June 5 and October 5 |
| Powhatan County | $0.77 | Year not stated | June 5 and November 5 |
| Goochland County | $0.53, plus $0.32 in the Tuckahoe Creek Service District | Year not stated | June 5 and December 5 (December 7 in 2026) |
| Dinwiddie County | $0.64 | 2026 | June 5 and December 5 (December 7 in 2026) |
| Prince George County | $0.81 | Posted as of April 25, 2026 | First half June 5 in 2025; second half not confirmed |
| City of Colonial Heights | $1.20 | 2026 | May 15 and November 15, no grace period |
| City of Petersburg | $1.22 to $1.27 | City sources differ; 2026 not confirmed | Quarterly; dates not confirmed |
| City of Hopewell | $1.17 | 2025; 2026 not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| New Kent County | $0.60 | 2025; 2026 not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Charles City County | $0.69 | 2025; 2026 not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Amelia County | $0.46 | 2026 | One payment, November 1 |

*Source: each locality's treasurer, finance or budget page, and the Virginia Department of Taxation's 2025 local tax rate survey, read November 2026.*

How to read it: "Year not stated" means the locality posts the rate without naming the tax year. "Not confirmed" means I couldn't confirm it from the locality's own 2026 information, so check with the treasurer before you count on it. The Prince George June date comes from a 2025 news report. The City of Richmond kept $1.20 in its fiscal 2027 budget, and local reporting says its next reassessment comes in spring 2027.


**Chart: Yearly property tax on a $350,000 assessment, 2026 rates.** The same assessed value costs nearly three times as much in the City of Richmond as in Amelia County.

|  | Yearly tax |
|---|---|
| City of Richmond | $4,200 |
| City of Colonial Heights | $4,200 |
| Chesterfield County | $3,115 |
| Henrico County | $2,905 |
| Hanover County | $2,835 |
| Dinwiddie County | $2,240 |
| Amelia County | $1,610 |

_Each locality's 2026 rate times $3,500 (the assessment divided by $100). Localities without a confirmed 2026 rate, including Prince George, whose posted rate doesn't name a tax year, are left out. Goochland's Tuckahoe Creek district adds its own rate. Hypothetical example._


## How a tax rate turns into your payment

Divide the assessed value by 100, multiply by the rate, and you have the yearly bill. Divide that by 12 for the monthly piece. Here's the same assessment in three places:

| $350,000 assessment, 2026 rate | Yearly tax | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Henrico County, $0.83 | $2,905 | $242 |
| Chesterfield County, $0.89 | $3,115 | $260 |
| City of Richmond, $1.20 | $4,200 | $350 |

*Source: 2026 rates from the table above; math rounded to whole dollars.*

That spread is why I put the tax inside every payment when buyers compare houses across a county or city line. The lowest-priced house can carry the biggest tax bill, and the payment can flip.

**Worked example: Two houses $10,000 apart**
- City of Richmond home at $340,000, tax at $1.20 per $100: $340 a month
- minus Chesterfield home at $350,000, tax at $0.89 per $100: $260 a month
- equals: Extra tax on the cheaper house: $80
- minus Principal and interest saved by borrowing $9,500 less: $60
- equals: The cheaper house still costs: $20 more a month
Note: Taxes figured at each locality's full rate on the price, a cautious stand-in until the real bill is known. Example rate of 6.5% on a 30-year fixed, 5% down on both.
_Hypothetical example, rounded. Insurance and mortgage insurance left out._


Compare payments with the tax already in them, not prices. The [mortgage payment calculator](https://nobullshitloans.com/tools/mortgage-payment/) lets you pick the county and builds its rate into the payment.

## How an escrow account works

Escrow is an account your servicer runs to pay your tax and insurance bills. Each month, part of your payment goes into it: one-twelfth of the yearly property tax, one-twelfth of the homeowners insurance, and mortgage insurance if your loan has it. When a bill comes due, the servicer pays it from the account.


**How escrow pays your tax and insurance bills** You pay a twelfth of each yearly bill every month, and your servicer pays the bill from the account when it comes due.

1. Your monthly payment: One-twelfth of the yearly tax and homeowners insurance, plus mortgage insurance if your loan has it
2. Escrow account (deposits): Run by your servicer, with a cushion capped at two months of bills
3. County and insurers (pays): Each bill paid from the account when it comes due


**Worked example: What escrow collects each month on that Chesterfield home**
- Property tax, $3,115 a year: $260
- plus Homeowners insurance, $1,500 a year: $125
- equals: Monthly escrow: $385
Note: On top of principal and interest, plus mortgage insurance if your loan has it.
_Hypothetical example, rounded. Insurance quotes in my files have landed near $1,500 a year; yours will vary._


Why lenders want it: if the tax goes unpaid, the county supersedes the bank, meaning the county's claim on the house comes first. And if the insurance lapses, the house that secures the loan has no coverage. "It's designed to protect you as a consumer, but it also selfishly protects the bank." The part that protects you is practical. Most people can't cut a check for five grand on short notice. They can carry a few hundred dollars more a month.

**My take**
I recommend escrow to just about everyone, high earners included. It isn't about whether you can afford the bill. It's that one forgotten tax half is a problem with no upside, and escrow makes it impossible to forget.


## Escrow cushions and the deposit at closing

Your escrow account doesn't start at zero. At closing, the lender runs the account forward a year: your monthly deposits going in, each tax and insurance bill going out on its due date. The opening deposit is set so the balance never dips below a small cushion. Federal escrow rules (Regulation X) cap that cushion at one-sixth of a year's escrow bills, which is two months. On the example home, two months is about $769.

That's why two buyers of the same house can bring different escrow deposits. It depends on how many monthly payments you'll make before the next tax half comes due: a closing a few weeks before a due date needs a bigger deposit than one right after. On purchase files I usually see about two months of taxes and insurance collected. On refinances I've seen closer to six, depending on where the closing falls in the tax calendar. Separately, the settlement agent prorates this year's tax between you and the seller as the contract says. The deposit is one of the prepaids in your [cash to close](https://nobullshitloans.com/buy/cash-to-close/), and the rest of the closing lines are on [Virginia closing costs](https://nobullshitloans.com/virginia/closing-costs/).

## Why your payment changes on a fixed-rate loan

A fixed rate fixes principal and interest for the life of the loan. It doesn't fix taxes or insurance. Every year the servicer reruns the escrow account. If your assessment went up or your insurance renewed higher, the account comes up short, and your payment rises to cover the shortage and the bigger bills ahead. If there's more than enough, you get the extra back.

Watch the bill, not just the rate. Chesterfield's rate fell from $0.91 in 2023 to $0.89 in 2025 and 2026, but a lower rate doesn't lower your bill if your assessment rises faster. In my experience the normal drift after the first year is small, about $10 to $15 a month, not a $300 jolt.

The bigger jolt comes from a quote that lowballed escrow in the first place. I've seen a competing estimate show property taxes at a few dollars a month. That isn't a cheaper loan. It's a shortage waiting for the first escrow review. When you compare two quotes, compare principal and interest plus mortgage insurance, and check the tax line against the real bill.

## Why the first payment and the first tax bill surprise people

Three things catch buyers off guard:

1. **The first payment.** It's usually due on the first of the second month after you close, and it carries escrow from day one, so it's more than the principal and interest number you remember.
2. **Tax money at closing.** Your cash to close includes tax money even though your monthly payment does too. One part is the escrow deposit above; the other is the tax split with the seller, which can land as a charge or a credit.
3. **New construction.** The county hasn't valued the finished house yet. In my experience it catches up by about June, or by December at the latest. Some counties send a supplemental bill when a value changes mid-year: Hanover's are due on the 5th of each month, and Dinwiddie, which prorates, issues them through the year.

**Watch out**
If a new-construction payment quote looks a few hundred dollars lower than everyone else's, check the tax line first. A quote that starts the tax at the land's current assessment will jump once the county values the house. I've seen payments go up $300 to $400 a month after closing that way.


**My take**
On new construction I estimate the tax from the purchase price, not from the value on the county's books today. That way the number you qualify on is the number the bank uses, and your payment may even dip a little when the county catches up. I'd rather tell you it costs more, and then it costs less.


If you're building, the loan side of it is on [construction loans](https://nobullshitloans.com/loans/construction/).

## Assessed value vs purchase price

Your tax bill follows the value the county assigns, not the price you paid. Around Richmond, assessments usually run below sale prices. My rule of thumb: take the assessed value and multiply it by 1.15 to get close to market value, so a home assessed at $400,000 is probably near $460,000. It's a quick sanity check, not an appraisal, and I discount my own rule. On a house priced right at its assessment, the rule suggests a cushion of about 15%. I count about half of it.

Where the assessment shows up for a buyer:

- **Your escrow.** Once you own the home, the bill follows the assessment. A high assessment compared with your price means a steep bill.
- **Your deed tax.** Virginia's recordation tax on the deed uses the higher of the price or the assessment.
- **My planning number.** Because assessments usually run under price here, 0.85% of the price tends to land above the real Chesterfield bill. When a house is assessed at or above its price, the real bill can come in above my estimate, which is why the real number always replaces it.

## Virginia disabled veteran property tax exemption

Virginia's constitution requires a full exemption from real estate tax for a veteran the VA rates 100% service-connected, permanent and total, on the home the veteran lives in as a principal residence. On a home assessed at $350,000 in Chesterfield, that's $3,115 a year at the 2026 rate, about $260 a month, out of your payment once the exemption is in place.

The rules, from the Constitution of Virginia (Article X, Section 6-A) and Virginia Code 58.1-3219.5:

- **Who qualifies.** A 100% permanent and total rating. The Virginia Department of Veterans Services says a 100% rating through individual unemployability counts when the VA rates it permanent and total. The statewide exemption doesn't cover lower ratings.
- **What's covered.** The house and up to one acre. More land is exempt only where the locality's elderly and disabled relief program exempts more; Goochland's 2026 form covers up to 10 acres. A manufactured home qualifies even if you don't own the land under it, but then the land stays taxable.
- **Couples and co-owners.** A married couple's joint property is covered. If other people also own the home and can live there, the exemption is prorated.
- **When it starts.** On your rating date, or on the date you buy the home if you were rated first. The Department of Veterans Services says there's no time limit on claiming it: a qualified veteran or spouse is owed the exemption from the rating date, back as far as 2011.
- **Surviving spouses.** A surviving spouse keeps the exemption if the veteran died on or after January 1, 2011 and the spouse doesn't remarry, and can move to a new principal residence and keep it.
- **Line-of-duty spouses.** A separate exemption covers the surviving spouse of a service member who died in the line of duty, shown by a Department of Defense line-of-duty determination. That wording replaced "killed in action" on January 1, 2025. It's capped at the locality's average assessed value for single-family homes, and it ends at remarriage.
- **One vehicle.** A veteran rated 100% permanent and total can also exempt one vehicle from personal property tax.

As of November 2026, none of the constitutional amendments on that month's ballot touches this exemption. Separately, Chesterfield adopted an expanded relief tier for elderly and disabled owners that starts January 1, 2027; ask the county for its rules. The same disability rating can affect your VA funding fee, which is covered on [the VA funding fee page](https://nobullshitloans.com/veterans/va-funding-fee/).

1. Get your VA letter showing the 100% permanent and total rating.
2. Apply with the Commissioner of the Revenue in the city or county where the home is. Ask for their deadline and acreage rules, since they differ by locality (Goochland's 2026 form was due March 1).
3. Send me the VA letter early, before your file goes to underwriting, so I can get the lender's position on the tax line.


I'm not a tax professional or a real estate attorney, so the Commissioner of the Revenue has the final word on your exemption. My job is to make sure the payment I show you matches what you'll actually pay.

Taxes are the one part of the payment I can't shop and can't negotiate, so I do the next best thing: I get the real number early and build it into the very first estimate. That way your first escrow statement confirms what you already knew.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should I escrow my taxes and insurance or pay them myself?

Escrow. I recommend it to almost everyone, high earners included, because one forgotten bill is all downside: unpaid county tax comes ahead of the bank, and a lapsed insurance policy leaves the house uncovered. You can opt out on some loans, but then every tax half and every insurance renewal is a big check you have to remember.

### Will my lender still count property taxes if I'm exempt as a 100% disabled veteran?

It depends on the lender, so I ask before your file goes to underwriting. Some lenders qualify you with a normal tax bill even when you're exempt, because Virginia could always change its laws. Once the county has your exemption on file, there's no tax bill for escrow to pay, so the tax drops out of what you actually pay each month.

### Do I get my escrow money back when I refinance or sell?

Yes. When the old loan is paid off, the old servicer refunds whatever is left in that escrow account; on a recent streamline refinance of mine it arrived about a month after closing. On a refinance you fund the new account at closing first, so have that cash ready even though the refund follows. It's moved money, not a cost, so leave it out of your break-even math.

### Do assessors raise values just to collect more tax?

No. An assessor has to have the data to support a value, mainly comparable sales, and has to stay inside the tax code. In the City of Richmond, values are set as of January 1. If your assessment looks off against recent sales, ask the assessor's office how they got there.

## Sources

- [Virginia Department of Taxation, local tax rates survey, tax year 2025](https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/2025-local-tax-rates.pdf)
- [Henrico County Board of Supervisors, Resolution 79-26, 2026 real estate tax levies](https://henrico.gov/pdfs/manager/meetings2026/41426ag.pdf)
- [Chesterfield County Treasurer, tax due dates](https://www.chesterfield.gov/727)
- [City of Richmond Department of Finance, real estate tax](https://rva.gov/finance/real-estate)
- [CFPB, Regulation X 12 CFR 1024.17, escrow accounts](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/17/)
- [Code of Virginia 58.1-3219.5, disabled veteran real estate tax exemption](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title58.1/chapter32/section58.1-3219.5/)

## Disclosures

Individual Originator: Tyler Rood, Loan Officer, NMLS ID # 2064776 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Licensed in NC, PA, TX and VA.
Edge Home Finance, LLC | NMLS ID # 891464 | www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Licensed in all U.S. states & D.C., EXCEPT New York. Edge Home Finance, LLC is a mortgage broker, not a direct lender or creditor. Virginia Broker License MC-7006. North Carolina Mortgage Broker License B-201539. Pennsylvania Mortgage Broker License 81041. Texas: Mortgage Company License, Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending.
Numbers on this page are illustrations, not offers. Any rate shown on this site is an example. Rates may change or may not be available at the time of loan commitment or lock-in.
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