Allegheny County Tax Map

The code can be found here.

Updated: August 29, 2023. Updates include tax rates for the 2023 tax year as well as applying the Common Level Ratio (CLR) as of July 2023.

If you, like myself, are looking into purchasing property, you know the taxes you will end up paying can greatly influence your budget and overall purchase decision. In order to get a more wholistic view of the Pittsburgh area real-estate market when it comes to taxes, I built the following maps.

Pittsburgh and its surrounding municipalities in Allegheny County derive tax revenue much differently. As you will see, the City of Pittsburgh collects more of its revenue from local income tax while the surrounding municipalities usually rely more on property taxes. Based on your income and anticipated property value, these differences could greatly change the overall tax you end up paying. Below is a way to visualize that difference.

While Pittsburgh is broken up into its individual neighborhoods on the map, the city limits can be clearly identified by the local income tax rate map. The City of Pittsburgh currently has a 3% local income tax rate. While there can be some variance outside the city, most of the rest of Allegheny County taxes local income around 1%.

As can be seen below, the City of Pittsburgh typically has lower property tax rates than the surrounding municipalities in Allegheny County. However, it is important to keep in mind that Pittsburgh can have higher home prices, especially from areas far from the city limits. Therefore, the lower rate could be offset by a higher property value.

Below is a tool to estimate the total local and property tax to be paid annually. These use the 2023 tax rates and apply the current CLR factor (1.83). For those unaware, Allegheny County property values were last assessed as of 2012. When you purchase a property, your local municipality will then challenge what you paid for the home is now the new assessed value. You can then appeal this to get the equivalent 2012 value by applying the CLR factor. Since the current CLR is 1.83, this means the value is actually 54.6% (1/1.83) of today's purchase price.

There are some important things to keep in mind with these estimates. First of all, I do not factor in land taxes for the Clariton City, McKeesport City, and Duquesne City municipalities. Additionally, homestead exemptions are not included because the information is not easily available and can be difficult to estimate. For example, the City of Pittsburgh will provide a homestead exemption based on the tax revenue that has been collected from the casino. However, this tax revenue may not be consistent every year. It is best to look at the exact rules for the municipality to understand what property tax exemptions you may qualify for.

The tool below is to give a general sense of how much local and property tax you can expect to pay annually given your specific income and estimated home purchase price scenario.

While property tax is not entirely the deciding factor in a home purchasing decision, it can majorly influence your decision. Hopefully, this tool can provide insight into your particular scenario and help you make a more informed home purchasing decision.