What Is Assessed Value?

Your assessed value is the number that actually appears on your tax bill. It is not necessarily what your home would sell for. In many states, the assessed value is a percentage of the market value, determined by the assessment ratio. In Texas or California, assessed value is supposed to equal market value, but in Ohio it is 35% of market value, and in Tennessee it is 25%. The county assessor's office is responsible for determining this number, typically using mass appraisal techniques that estimate the value of hundreds or thousands of properties at once rather than appraising each one individually. This is why errors happen. Mass appraisal models rely on recent sales data, property characteristics (square footage, lot size, age, condition), and neighborhood trends. If your property has unique features the model does not account for, or if the data in the county's records is wrong (for example, an incorrect square footage or bedroom count), your assessed value can end up too high. That is the foundation of most successful appeals: proving the assessed value does not accurately reflect your property's actual market value.