Wayne County, Michigan · 2025 published rates

What happens to property taxes when you buy a home in Detroit, MI

The tax figure on the listing is the seller's bill, computed under a cap that ends the day you close. The January after the sale, the Detroit assessor resets the taxable value to about half of what you paid, and your bill is built from that new number at the rates below.

The 2025 rates
The uncap, worked
Three price points
What you must file
Questions

64.1844Homestead mills, Detroit City School District

82.1844Non-homestead mills, same district

$150,000Taxable value after a $300,000 purchase

$9,628Annual homestead tax on a $300,000 purchase — arithmetic illustration

Proposal A

The seller's bill is not your bill.

Michigan's Proposal A freezes how fast a home's taxable value can grow while one owner holds it, often far below what the home is now worth. A sale uncaps it. The assessor resets the taxable value to the state equalized value, which is about half the market value, and every bill after that is computed from the reset figure. Buyers who budget from the listing's tax line usually meet the real number in year two.

Two things set the size of the reset bill in Detroit: the price you pay, and whether you live in the home. Living there qualifies you for the Principal Residence Exemption, and the exact rate depends on the school district the house sits in.

The published rates

Detroit's 2025 rates, by exemption status

One mill is one dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. These are the totals the state publishes, not an estimate.

School district	Homestead (PRE), mills	Non-homestead, mills
Detroit City School District	64.1844	82.1844

Source: Michigan Department of Treasury, Total Property Tax Rates in Michigan, 2025 — the official statewide table, as published.

The arithmetic

What the reset does to the bill.

A $300,000 purchase in Detroit, worked line by line.

Line	Figure
Purchase price	$300,000
Taxable value after the uncap (state equalized value, about half the price)	$150,000
Homestead rate	64.1844 mills
Annual tax once the reset lands	$9,628

$300,000 × 50% = $150,000 taxable value. $150,000 × 64.1844 ÷ 1,000 = $9,628 a year. Rounded to the nearest dollar.

If you will not live in the home, the same purchase computes at the non-homestead rate of 82.1844 mills: $12,328 a year, a difference of $2,700 against the homestead figure above.

The reset uses exactly half the price here, where the assessor's figure will be approximately half. Your actual bill depends on the assessor's next determination of state equalized value and on any millage voters approve between now and then.

Three price points

The same arithmetic at three round numbers.

These are arithmetic illustrations of the published rates. They are not statistics about Detroit home prices.

Purchase price	Taxable value after the uncap	Annual tax, homestead	Annual tax, non-homestead
$200,000	$100,000	$6,418	$8,218
$300,000	$150,000	$9,628	$12,328
$400,000	$200,000	$12,837	$16,437

Computed at 64.1844 / 82.1844 mills, Detroit City School District. Rounded to the nearest dollar.

Deadlines

The paperwork that sets your rate.

Two filings decide which column above your bill is computed from, and one of them carries a penalty.

Principal Residence Exemption — Form 2368

If you will live in the home, this filing is what puts you on the homestead column instead of the non-homestead one. File it with the Detroit assessor.

Summer levy	June 1
Winter levy	November 1

Property Transfer Affidavit — Form 2766

Due to the assessor after the transfer. It is the filing that tells the assessor the sale happened, and missing it is the one deadline here that costs money.

Due	45 days from transfer
Penalty, residence	$5 per day, $200 max

Questions

What buyers in Detroit ask.

What is the 2025 property tax rate in Detroit, Michigan?

The 2025 rate published by the Michigan Department of Treasury for Detroit (Detroit City School District district) is 64.1844 mills with a Principal Residence Exemption and 82.1844 mills non-homestead.

Why will my property taxes in Detroit be higher than the seller's?

Michigan's Proposal A caps how fast a home's taxable value can rise while one person owns it. A sale removes the cap: the January after you close, the taxable value resets to the state equalized value — about half the market value — and your bill is computed from that reset number, not from the seller's capped one. The figure on the listing is the seller's bill under the old cap.

How much would property taxes be on a $300,000 home in Detroit?

As an arithmetic illustration, not a statistic about local prices: taxable value resets to about half the price — the illustration uses exactly $150,000 — and at the published homestead rate of 64.1844 mills the annual bill computes to $9,628.

What is the Principal Residence Exemption worth in Detroit?

In Detroit, the gap between the published non-homestead and homestead rates is 18.0000 mills. On a $300,000 purchase — $150,000 of taxable value after the reset — that computes to $2,700 a year. You claim it by filing Form 2368 with the assessor: June 1 for the summer levy, November 1 for the winter levy.

What do I have to file after buying a home in Detroit?

Two forms. The Property Transfer Affidavit (Form 2766) goes to the assessor within 45 days of the transfer; the penalty for missing it runs $5 a day up to $200 for a residence. The Principal Residence Exemption (Form 2368) is due June 1 for the summer levy and November 1 for the winter levy if you will live in the home.

Everything on this page is arithmetic on rates published by the Michigan Department of Treasury, for screening. Your actual bill depends on the assessor's next determination and any millage voters approve. Nothing here is legal, tax, or lending advice, and nothing here is an opinion of value.

Your address, not a round number

Run the reset on the house you are actually looking at.

The property tax check runs this arithmetic on your purchase price, your exemption status, and your school district. The direction and rough size of the change appear straight away; the full breakdown is sent once you enter an email.

Check this address Get the full report — $249

The tax reset is one number out of roughly forty in the full financial inspection: every published value estimate, true monthly cost, ten years of equity math, the big-ticket replacements coming, the city's records on the house, and a verdict of Proceed, Conditional, or Walk Away. Delivered within 3 hours of payment, with 30 days to get your money back. We take no lender money.