Property Tax 101

The median property tax (also known as real estate tax) in King County is $3,572.00 per year, based on a median home value of $407,700.00 and a median effective property tax rate of 0.88% of property value.

King County collects very high property taxes, and is among the top 25% of counties in the United States ranked by property tax collections. Of the thirty-nine counties in Washington, King County is ranked 1st by median property taxes, and 16th by median tax as percentage of home value.

King County's higher property taxes are partially due to property values, as the median home value in King County is $407,700.00. For comparison, the state-wide median property value is $287,200.00

• County Tax Comparison
• National Tax Comparison
• Other Washington Counties
• Property Lookup

1st out of 39 By median yearly property tax

16th out of 39 By percentage of median home value

2nd out of 39 By percentage of median income

You can see how King County (highlighted in green) compares to the thirty-nine other counties in Washington with the bar chart above, sorted by median property tax in dollars. For a visual map of county property tax rates in Washington, see our Washington county property tax map.

Remember: Real estate prices also play a large part in which Washington counties have the highest and lowest median property taxes. Higher-valued properties will generally have higher taxes, even if the median percentage of home value levied as property tax is different. For comparisons, you can also use Percentage Of Home Value.

Property tax assessments in King County are the responsibility of the King County Tax Assessor, whose office is located in Seattle, Washington.

If you need to pay your property tax bill, ask about a property tax assessment, look up the King County property tax due date, or find property tax records, visit the King County Tax Assessor's page. Applications for the King County homestead exemption, any property tax appeals, and applications for a current use tax reduction must also be submitted to the King County Assessor's Office.

For some properties, you can easily find the most recent tax assessment by looking up the property address with our property records search. You can also use our King County Property Tax Calculator to estimate your property tax based on median tax values (results open in new page).