Property taxes in Huntsville, AL: rates and examples

How the bill is calculated — two steps, both published

Step 1 — assessment

Appraised value × classification

Alabama classifies property by use. Owner-occupied single-family homes are Class III, assessed at 10% of appraised value; other property is assessed at 20% and utility property at 30%. A $300,000 appraised home therefore has an assessed value of $30,000.

Source: Alabama Department of Revenue and Code of Alabama §40-8-1.

Step 2 — millage

Assessed value × the local rate

Madison County publishes its rate as dollars per $100 of assessed value. The rate is the sum of every levy that applies to your address — county, city and schools — which is why two houses of identical value can carry different bills across the county line.

Source: Madison County Tax Collector.

Then

Subtract exemptions

Homestead and other exemptions are claimed through the Tax Assessor's office and come off the assessed value before the rate is applied. The assessor's guidance is to claim them as soon as you own the property — we deliberately do not quote exemption amounts here, because they change and yours depends on your situation.

Tax Assessor — property tax facts

The county's published rate, by jurisdiction

Where the property is	Per $100 of assessed value
City of Huntsville	$5.80
City of Madison	$6.95
Town of Triana	$6.15
New Hope, Gurley, Owens Cross Roads	$4.05
Outside any municipality — land	$3.35
Outside any municipality — improvements	$3.65

Read straight off the Madison County Tax Collector's published rate list. $5.80 per $100 of assessed value is the same as 58 mills; county and school levies are included in these figures.

What that means at three price points

Assessed value = appraised value × 10% (Class III). No exemptions applied — your bill will typically be lower if you claim homestead.

Appraised	Assessed	Huntsville city	Madison city	Unincorporated
$250,000	$25,000	$1,450	$1,738	$912
$331,800	$33,180	$1,924	$2,306	$1,211
$450,000	$45,000	$2,610	$3,128	$1,642

Annual bills. $331,800 is the metro median home value (ACS 2024), and the unincorporated column uses the improvements rate of $3.65 for the whole value, which is the closest single-figure approximation of a house outside a city limit.

Cross-check, and why the numbers differ. The Census reports the median property tax actually paid by mortgaged owner-occupied households in this metro as $1,405 a year. That is lower than the worked examples above for the same value, and the gap is real rather than an error: the Census median covers the whole metro (including older housing stock valued well below the median, and unincorporated addresses on the lower rate), and it counts bills after homestead exemptions. The county schedule above is what the arithmetic produces on a given appraisal with no exemption applied. Use both: the schedule for planning a new purchase, the median to sanity-check what people actually pay.

Dates, penalties and what a new owner has to do

The tax calendar

Bills are due and payable 1 October, and become delinquent after 31 December.
A $5 late fee applies, plus 1% interest per month on the base amount, plus probate and advertising fees.
The county holds its tax lien sale in May, online only, for anything unpaid.
Each bill covers the previous 1 October to 30 September period, and is issued to the owner of record on 1 October — which is why a seller can receive a bill for a house they have already sold, and why closing statements apportion the tax.

Buying a house here: the four steps

Record the deed in the Probate Office.
Assess the property at the Tax Assessor's office and claim any exemptions you are entitled to — the assessor's guidance is to do it before 31 December for property purchased on or before 1 October.
If your lender escrows taxes, send the assessment to the mortgage company so the escrow is calculated on the right figure.
Report any change of address to both the assessor and the collector.

If you escrow, the monthly tax line in your payment is this annual bill divided by twelve — on the $331,800 example that is about $160/month inside Huntsville and about $192/month inside Madison.

What changes your bill — and what does not

Changes it

Where the parcel sits: city, town or unincorporated — the rate differs, as the table above shows, and the difference between Madison and unincorporated Madison County is more than $1,000 a year on the same house value.
The county's appraised value, which is set on its own schedule and is not the same as your purchase price. Appeals are a formal process with a deadline.
Exemptions you qualify for and claim.
Millage changes: rates are set by the county commission and other taxing agencies, and some changes require a public vote.

Does not change it

The architect's or the listing's square footage — assessed value comes from the county's appraisal record, not from marketing copy.
What your neighbour paid for a different house. Two identical houses either side of a city limit legitimately carry different bills.
Whether you rent it out later — though the classification of the property can change, so tell the assessor if use changes.

Property tax questions, answered

What is the property tax rate in Huntsville, Alabama?

The county publishes $5.80 per $100 of assessed value inside the City of Huntsville — the equivalent of 58 mills; Madison is $6.95, Triana $6.15, New Hope/Gurley/Owens Cross Roads $4.05, and unincorporated Madison County is $3.35 on land and $3.65 on improvements. Assessed value for an owner-occupied home is 10% of appraised value.

How much are property taxes on a $300,000 house?

Assessed value $30,000, so about $1,740 a year (≈$145/month) inside Huntsville city and about $2,085 a year (≈$174/month) inside Madison city, before any exemption. Unincorporated Madison County on the improvements rate would be about $1,095.

When are property taxes due in Madison County?

They are due and payable on 1 October each year and become delinquent after 31 December. After that, a $5 late fee and 1% monthly interest apply, and the unpaid parcel goes to the county's May tax lien sale.

Are property taxes lower than where I live now?

Almost certainly on the rate — Alabama's effective property tax is among the lowest in the country, and the median mortgaged household here pays about $1,405 a year. If you are coming from a state with a high rate, this is often the single biggest monthly difference in your payment.

Compare with your city

Do I qualify for a homestead exemption?

Alabama homestead exemptions apply to owner-occupied principal residences subject to conditions, and the office that administers them is the Madison County Tax Assessor. We do not publish exemption amounts because they change and eligibility is individual — ask the assessor when you assess the property, which is the same visit.

Where do I check what a specific parcel pays?

Madison County publishes parcel-level assessment and payment records. That is the only way to know what a house you are considering actually carries — the schedule on this page tells you what the arithmetic should produce, not what a particular parcel is billed.

Tax Assessor · Tax Collector payments

Want the tax line in your payment, not the average?

Send us the address or the area you are considering and we will come back with the parcel-level tax treatment inside a real payment range — which is the number that actually decides what you can afford here.

Prototype build: stored on this server, not a CRM. Not tax or legal advice — confirm your own parcel with the county.

Where this fits

Rent or buy?

Model the all-in monthly cost of owning against renting, including the tax line above, with a break-even month.

Run the model

Rent in Huntsville

Median rents for the city, the metro and each surrounding county, and the costs a listing leaves out.

See the rent numbers

Insurance on that house

Wind and hail exposure in North Alabama is the other line that moves a payment — and it is quoted per roof, not per city.

What to ask

Property taxes in Huntsville and Madison County