Durham County Tax Rate: Location, Relief Programs, and Due Dates

Durham County’s property tax rate for fiscal year 2025–2026 is $0.5542 per $100 of assessed value, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on June 9, 2025.¹ That base rate applies to every property in the county. If you live inside the City of Durham or another municipality, or inside a rural fire protection district, an additional rate is layered on top.

The countywide figure breaks into $0.4785 for operating taxes and $0.0757 for capital finance.² It applies to real estate, registered motor vehicles, and business personal property. To calculate the county portion of your bill, divide your assessed value by 100 and multiply by 0.5542. A home assessed at $350,000 owes $1,939.70 in county tax before any city or district charges.

What You Pay by Location

Properties inside a municipality pay that town’s rate in addition to the county rate. The FY 2025–2026 combined rates are:²

City of Durham: $0.4371 city, $0.9913 combined
Town of Chapel Hill: $0.5000 town, $1.0542 combined
City of Raleigh: $0.3550 city, $0.9092 combined
Town of Morrisville: $0.3500 town, $0.9042 combined
Town of Cary: $0.3400 town, $0.8942 combined

Properties inside the City of Durham’s Business Improvement District pay another $0.0700 on top of the city rate, for a combined $1.0613.³

Fire Protection Districts

Properties outside city limits usually fall inside one of several rural fire districts, each with its own levy on top of the county rate:²

Lebanon: $0.0919 district, $0.6461 combined
Redwood: $0.0907 district, $0.6449 combined
Bahama: $0.0883 district, $0.6425 combined
Durham County Fire and Rescue: $0.0829 district, $0.6371 combined
New Hope: $0.0641 district, $0.6183 combined
Eno: $0.0484 district, $0.6026 combined
Durham County Fire/Rescue RTP Special (includes fire, RTP services, and RTP public transit): $0.2429 district, $0.7401 combined

The Mangum district carries no additional fire levy, so residents there pay only the $0.5542 county rate. Two identical homes on opposite sides of a district line can produce noticeably different bills, so confirm your exact jurisdiction before running the numbers.

Why Bills Went Up This Year

Two things happened at once. Durham County completed a countywide revaluation effective January 1, 2025, replacing values that had been on the books since 2019.⁴ North Carolina requires reappraisal at least once every eight years, and Durham’s market had moved substantially over that stretch, so many assessed values jumped.

After a revaluation, the county calculates a revenue-neutral rate: the rate that would generate the same total revenue as the prior year at the new values. For FY 2025–2026, that revenue-neutral rate was $0.5192. The commissioners set the actual rate at $0.5542, a 3.5-cent increase over revenue-neutral.¹ The result: even homeowners whose values didn’t change are paying a little more, and those whose values rose sharply in the revaluation are paying meaningfully more.

North Carolina caps combined county property taxes at $1.50 per $100 of assessed value for authorized purposes including schools, courts, social services, debt service, and jails.⁵ Durham’s rate sits well below that ceiling.

Programs That Lower the Bill

North Carolina’s homestead exclusion is the most widely used relief. It excludes the greater of $25,000 or 50% of a qualifying home’s appraised value from taxation.⁶ On a $300,000 home, that’s a $150,000 exclusion, roughly halving the county tax.

To qualify for the 2026 tax year, you must meet all three conditions as of January 1, 2026:

Be at least 65, or totally and permanently disabled (spouse also counts for the age test).
Have total prior-year income of no more than $38,800. The threshold adjusts each year with Social Security cost-of-living increases.⁷
Be a North Carolina resident with the property as your permanent residence.

You cannot combine this exclusion with other property tax relief programs.

Veterans with a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability, or those receiving benefits for specially adapted housing, qualify separately for an exclusion of the first $45,000 of assessed real property value. Surviving spouses of qualifying veterans may also be eligible.⁸ Both programs are filed through Durham County Tax Administration using Form AV-9.

When Taxes Are Due

Durham County property taxes become due September 1 and can be paid at face value through January 5. Interest begins January 6.⁹ The schedule:

January 6 through February 1: 2% interest on the unpaid balance.
After February 1: an additional 0.75% per month, or fraction of a month, until fully paid.

That works out to 9% per year on top of the initial 2%, so delaying past January gets expensive quickly.⁹ Unpaid taxes also become a lien on the property as of January 1 each year, and the county can eventually pursue foreclosure through the courts.

The county accepts e-check payments online with no convenience fee, credit and debit card payments online or by phone with a convenience fee (card payments must be made in full), mailed payments to Durham County Tax Collector, PO Box 580240, Charlotte, NC 28258-0240, and in-person payments at Tax Administration on the 3rd floor of Administration Building II, 201 East Main Street, downtown Durham.¹⁰¹¹¹²

If Your Assessment Looks Wrong

If your assessed value seems higher than what the property would sell for, you can appeal to the Durham County Board of Equalization and Review, either online through Tax Administration or by paper form. For the current revaluation cycle, the board stops accepting new real property appeals at 5:00 p.m. on June 17, 2026. Personal property and motor vehicle appeals run on a tighter clock: within 30 days of the bill date, or within 30 days of a separate written valuation notice.¹³

The strongest appeals correct factual errors: wrong square footage, a bathroom that doesn’t exist, a finished basement that’s actually unfinished. Building permits, blueprints, or a survey usually settle those quickly. When the county’s facts are right but the value still looks high, comparable sales carry the most weight. Three to five recent sales of similar properties within a half-mile, closed within the last six to twelve months and below your assessed value, make a persuasive case. Documented condition problems (foundation, roof, aged systems) paired with contractor estimates and dated photos also support a lower value.

Zillow or Redfin estimates, personal financial hardship, and general complaints that the tax bill is too high are routinely rejected. So are vague comparisons to a neighbor’s assessment without supporting data.

If the board rules against you, you have 30 days from the date the decision is mailed to file a written appeal with the North Carolina Property Tax Commission, stating the grounds and sending a copy to the county assessor.¹⁴

1
Durham County Government. Durham Commissioners Approve $1.04 Billion Budget
2
Durham County Government. Tax Rates
3
Durham County Government. 2025 Tax Rates (FY 2025-2026)
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Durham County Government. Reappraisal
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 153A-149 – Property Taxes; Authorized Purposes; Rate Limitation
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 105 – Taxation 105-277.1
7
North Carolina Department of Revenue. Form AV-9 2026 Application for Property Tax Relief
8
North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Veterans Property Tax Relief
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North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-360 – Due Date; Interest for Nonpayment of Taxes
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Durham County Government. Tax Payment Deadline Approaching for Durham County Residents
11
Durham County Government. Detailed Property Information
12
Durham County Government. Tax Administration
13
Durham County Government. Appealing Your Property Value
14
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 105-290 – Appeals to Property Tax Commission