Montgomery County is sixty-two municipalities and twenty-odd school districts sharing a courthouse in Norristown. The asking price of a house tells you what it costs to buy. It tells you almost nothing about what it costs to own, because the township line and the district line decide that, and they do not run in the same places.
The one number that is identical at every address
Pennsylvania charges 1% realty transfer tax. Montgomery County municipalities add 0.5% and school districts add 0.5%, so every address in the county totals 2.000%. Read on 26 August 2026 against the county Recorder of Deeds and two title underwriters’ lists of statewide deviations: not one Montgomery County municipality charges above the standard local rate.
That makes this county the odd one out among the collar counties. Delaware County has four municipalities above the standard rate and Chester County has three. Here the swing happens at the county line instead. A buyer crossing into Philadelphia pays 4.578%. Into Radnor or Upper Darby, 2.5%. Into Coatesville, 3%. On a $350,000 house, the Philadelphia side of the line costs about nine thousand dollars more in transfer tax than the Montgomery side.
Custom is half each between buyer and seller. Both sides are jointly and severally liable for the full 2%, and the agreement of sale controls, so the split is a term of the deal and not a law of nature. Every transfer also carries a REV-183 Statement of Value. One page, and it still finds ways to be filled in wrong.
What the programs allow in 2026
| Program | 1 unit | 2 units | 3 units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conforming, Montgomery County | $832,750 | $1,066,250 | $1,288,800 |
| FHA, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro | $630,200 | $806,750 | $975,200 |
Montgomery County sits at the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s plain baseline. Of 3,236 counties nationwide only 164 are above it, and in Pennsylvania only Pike County, which carries a New York metro figure forward. FHA works differently, by metro area, and Montgomery shares one set of numbers with ten other counties in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia and New Castle in Delaware.
Both sets were read on 26 August 2026 from the agencies’ own files. They are usually restated in late November for the following year, and the lender confirms which figures apply on the day. Whether any particular loan happens is the lender’s decision, and nothing on this page changes that.
Assessed value is a 1996 number
A mill is one dollar per thousand dollars of assessed value, and assessed value in this county is not market value. Montgomery last reassessed countywide in 1996 and every parcel still sits on that base. The Common Level Ratio does the translating: the factor for documents dated 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2027 is 3.36, so an assessment is roughly market value divided by 3.36 — about thirty cents on the dollar.
The county’s own worked example, published with its 2026 budget: the average single-family home at $556,546 of market value carries a $171,193 assessment and pays $935 in county real estate tax plus $84 to Montgomery County Community College. That is $1,019. The school district bill on the same house is several times larger, and it is the one that varies.
So when you are comparing two houses, convert first. Sixty-five mills in Norristown on a $250,000 house works out near $4,840 a year, not the $16,250 a straight reading of the millage suggests. Millage across a county line means nothing at all without each county’s ratio.
Two dates worth marking in the first year
The homestead exclusion cuts the assessed value your school district taxes, and Montgomery County’s assessment office takes the application. Act 1 school relief has a 1 March deadline and Act 50 local relief has a 15 December one; the county’s own advice is to mail by 15 December and cover both. Close on a house after 1 March and the school portion waits until the following year.
The other date is the appeal. Assessed value divided by 0.298 is the market value the county is effectively taxing you on. If a purchase price lands well under that, there is a case, and a recent arm’s-length sale is the strongest evidence a board sees. Annual appeals are due 1 August — the next one is 1 August 2027, for tax year 2028 — and an interim appeal runs 40 days from the date on a change-of-assessment notice. The filing fee on a single-family house is $50.
What to do next
Have the address, the township if you know which one it is, and a rough idea of what you are putting down. Call the line, or type it into the form and send it along. A licensed Pennsylvania mortgage lender calls you back, usually the same working day and by the end of the next working day at the outside. Bring the school district with you; it is the half of the monthly number most people forget to ask about.