Guide · Florida property tax

How to tell if a Florida property has a homestead exemption

Look the parcel up on the county property appraiser's site: the record lists a homestead exemption when one is granted, and the values confirm it. The school taxable value sits $25,000 under the assessed value, the non-school taxable value $51,411 under it on most 2026 homesteads, and after a few years the assessed value falls below the market value because Save Our Homes caps its growth.

Map Views · 31 October 2026 · Sources: the 2026 county property rolls, the Florida Department of Revenue, section 193.155, Florida Statutes

Step 1: read the exemptions on the appraiser's record

Every county's property appraiser lists the exemptions on each parcel's record, usually in a line called exemptions or under the values. Find the parcel by address or parcel ID on the county's site (the 67 appraiser sites) and look for homestead. Other exemptions for seniors, veterans or disability show there too, each with its own amount.

Step 2: confirm it in the values

The exemption leaves fingerprints, so you can check it even where the record is terse:

1. School taxable value is $25,000 under the assessed value. The first $25,000 is exempt from every tax, school taxes included.
2. Non-school taxable value is lower still. The second exemption applies to assessed value over $50,000, for non-school taxes only, and grows with inflation. On the 2026 roll the two together come to $51,411 on most homesteads assessed over $100,000. An extra $5,000 or more on top usually means another exemption is stacked on it.
3. Assessed value below just value. After the first year, Save Our Homes keeps the assessment from rising more than 3% a year or the change in inflation, whichever is less. A homestead held for years shows a wide gap. A gap alone is not proof: non-homestead property has its own 10% cap, and farmland can be assessed by use.

What the exemption does

The Department of Revenue's homestead guide (PT-113) sets out the rules. The owner must hold title and make the property their permanent residence, or that of a dependent, by January 1, and apply to the county property appraiser by March 1 on form DR-501. Only the property appraiser decides whether a property qualifies. Renting the home out, or moving away from it or from Florida, ends it.

The Save Our Homes and portability guide (PT-112) covers the cap. Its benefit is the gap that builds between assessed and just value. A sale, or any change of ownership, ends that benefit: the property is assessed at just value the next January 1. Transfers between spouses and certain transfers at death do not reset it.

Portability lets an owner moving to a new Florida homestead carry the gap with them. The new homestead must be established within three years of January 1 of the year the old one was given up, with form DR-501T filed by March 1. Section 193.155 caps the amount carried at $500,000, and scales it down when the new home is worth less than the old.

Homestead share by county

The share counts every parcel, vacant lots, farms and businesses included, so a county with many of those scores low however many of its homes are homesteaded. Of the 5,251,551 homesteads, 81.8% are assessed below just value, and the median gap is $102,679. Among non-homestead parcels, 37.2% are.

Where it stops

• The roll is a snapshot. It shows the exemptions as of the 2026 preliminary roll. One granted or removed since will show on the next roll.
• It does not carry over to a buyer. A seller's exemption and capped assessment end with the sale. Budget a purchase on the just value, not the seller's bill.
• The flag is a fact about the parcel. It says an exemption is on file, nothing more about the people who live there.
• The rules may change. Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot would change the non-school amount; see what the 2026 amendment would change.

On Map Views

The parcel report shows Homestead yes or no beside the just, assessed and taxable values and past years' values, with the tax estimate and the district's millage. Search can keep only homesteaded parcels or only the rest, in any county. To turn the values into a bill, see how to estimate a Florida property's tax.

The county property appraiser grants the exemption and is the authority on whether a parcel has one. The rules are those of the Florida Department of Revenue's guides and the Florida Statutes, read on 31 October 2026. Map Views shows the roll as the county published it.