Lancaster County Tax Rates: Property, Earned Income, and Sales

Tax rates in Lancaster County, PA come in layers. The county itself levies a property tax of 2.911 mills, but that is only one piece of what a property owner pays: your municipality and school district add their own millage on top. Most residents also pay a 1% local earned income tax (higher in a few jurisdictions), workers owe up to $52 a year in local services tax, and every retail purchase carries Pennsylvania’s 6% sales tax with no local surcharge added.

County Property Tax

The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners sets one millage rate that applies to every property in the county, whether it sits in a borough, township, or the city. That rate is 2.911 mills, or $2.911 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.¹ A property assessed at $200,000 owes roughly $582 to the county before any other levy is added.

The revenue covers county-wide operations: courts, the prison, human services, and general administration. The county publishes an updated millage rate sheet each year, and the official page indicates that 2026 county-municipal data is now available.²

How the Bill Is Calculated

The Lancaster County Property Assessment Office assigns an assessed value to every parcel and structure, based on a base-year valuation rather than current market price. The State Tax Equalization Board publishes a common level ratio each year that reflects the relationship between assessed values and actual market values countywide, which matters if you appeal your assessment or buy a property at a price far from its recorded value.³

The math is simple. Multiply the assessed value by the millage rate and divide by 1,000. Do it once for the county, once for your municipality, and once for your school district, then add. A property assessed at $150,000 in a municipality charging 3.0 mills and a school district charging 18.0 mills works out to:

County: $150,000 × 2.911 ÷ 1,000 = $436.65
Municipality: $150,000 × 3.0 ÷ 1,000 = $450.00
School district: $150,000 × 18.0 ÷ 1,000 = $2,700.00
Total: $3,586.65

Each taxing body sends its own bill, typically county and municipal bills in the spring and school bills in the summer.

Municipal and School District Millage

Lancaster County contains 60 municipalities — 1 city, 18 boroughs, and 41 townships — and 16 school districts, and each sets its own millage rate independently.⁴ School district taxes are almost always the largest line on a tax bill, running several times higher than the county’s 2.911 mills. Rural districts generally sit lower than urban ones, though variation among rural districts is real. Municipal rates spread just as widely: a small township relying on volunteer fire service and no police force may levy only a few mills, while Lancaster City charges considerably more to fund full-time police and dense urban infrastructure.

Because these rates reset annually with each jurisdiction’s budget, the current county-published rate sheet is the reliable place to find your exact combined millage.²

Earned Income Tax

Local earned income taxes in Lancaster County are consolidated under Pennsylvania Act 32, with the Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau handling collection and distribution for virtually every municipality and school district.⁵ The tax applies to wages, salaries, commissions, and net profits from self-employment.

Most residents pay a combined rate of 1.0%, usually split evenly between the municipality and the school district at 0.5% each.⁶ Some jurisdictions charge more. Lancaster City raised its rate from 1.1% to 1.6% effective January 1, 2025, a change that also applies to the city’s annexes in the Conestoga Valley and Lampeter-Strasburg school districts.⁵ Bart, Colerain, and Drumore townships in the Solanco School District area carry rates of 1.65%.

Pennsylvania employers withhold this tax from every paycheck based on where the employee lives, not where the office is located.⁷ If you are self-employed, or your employer does not withhold correctly, you are responsible for filing quarterly estimates directly with the Tax Collection Bureau.

Local Services Tax

Anyone working in Lancaster County owes a Local Services Tax of up to $52 per year, taken from paychecks in small increments across the year and split between municipalities and school districts.⁶ It is tied to work location, not residence, so a Lancaster County resident working elsewhere pays that other county’s LST instead.

Not every municipality charges the full $52, and a few impose none at all. Workers earning below a threshold set by state law, generally $12,000 per year, can claim an exemption. If your employer withholds the tax and you qualify for the exemption, you can file for a refund through the Tax Collection Bureau.

Sales and Use Tax

Every retail purchase of tangible goods in Lancaster County is subject to Pennsylvania’s sales and use tax at a flat 6%.⁸ Unlike Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which add local percentages on top, Lancaster County imposes no local sales tax surcharge. What you see at 6% is what you pay.

Several categories are exempt. Clothing and footwear are not taxable.⁹ Grocery staples that are not ready to eat, prescription drugs, and most textbooks are also exempt.¹⁰ Prepared food, electronics, furniture, and most other consumer goods are fully taxable at 6%.

Realty Transfer Tax

When real estate changes hands, buyer and seller together owe a transfer tax calculated as a percentage of the sale price. Pennsylvania charges 1%.¹¹ Local municipalities add their own share, and in most of Lancaster County the combined rate is 2% of the sale price. Buyer and seller customarily split it evenly at 1% each, though the split is negotiable in the purchase agreement.

Certain transfers are exempt, including those between spouses, transfers to or from certain governmental bodies, and transfers by inheritance. The Recorder of Deeds collects both state and local portions when the deed is recorded.¹¹ On a $300,000 home, the 2% total comes to $6,000 at closing.

Property Tax Relief for Seniors, Renters, and Low-Income Residents

Pennsylvania’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program pays cash rebates to eligible residents. You qualify if you are 65 or older, a widow or widower 50 or older, or a person with a disability 18 or older, and your household income is $48,110 or less.¹²

The standard rebate maxes at $1,000 for homeowners and renters with household income of $8,550 or less and scales down at higher incomes:

$0–$8,550 income: up to $1,000
$8,551–$16,040: up to $770
$16,041–$19,240: up to $460
$19,241–$48,110: up to $380

Homeowners with income of $32,070 or less whose property taxes exceed 15% of their total income may also receive a supplemental rebate of $190 to $500, raising the maximum total to $1,500.¹² Applications are filed annually through the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

Assessment Appeals and the 2027 Reassessment

If you think your assessed value is too high, you can appeal to the Lancaster County Board of Assessment Appeals. The annual filing deadline is August 1, and any change from a successful appeal takes effect the following tax year.³ If the Assessment Office changes your value mid-year for new construction, a subdivision, or another physical change, you have 40 days from the notice date to appeal that adjustment.

A countywide reassessment is underway for 2027 that will reset every property’s assessed value, and many owners will see their assessments shift significantly. When reassessment notices go out, the appeal window is 40 days from the notice date rather than the usual August 1 deadline.³ If the new number looks wrong, act quickly. The deadline is strict.

1
City of Lancaster, PA. Tax and Fees FAQ
2
Lancaster County, PA. Millage Rates
3
Lancaster County, PA. Property Assessment
4
Lancaster County, PA. Lancaster County Spatial Facts
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Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau. Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau
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Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau. Lancaster TCD Tax Rates 2025
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Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Local Income Tax Information
8
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa. Code Chapter 31 – Imposition
9
Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa. Code Chapter 53 – Clothing
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Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax
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Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Realty Transfer Tax
12
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program