Oregon Property Tax 2026: Measure 50's 3% Cap, No Homestead Exemption & the Senior Deferral Program

How Oregon Property Tax Works in 2026

Oregon levies no state-level property tax — counties, cities, school districts, and special districts each administer and collect locally, overseen by the Oregon Department of Revenue's property tax division. The statewide average effective rate is approximately 0.81% of home value according to the Tax Foundation, just under the U.S. average of about 1.0%, and Oregon pairs that with having no state sales tax, which shifts more of the local funding conversation onto property and income tax.

Oregon's system is unusual in two important respects. First, since voters passed Measure 50 in 1997, the state uses no fractional assessment ratio; instead, every property has a Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) that can grow no more than 3% per year (barring specific exceptions like new construction), and the actual taxable Assessed Value (AV) is always the lower of MAV or Real Market Value (RMV). Second, Oregon is one of the few states with no general homestead exemption for owner-occupied primary residences — relief instead comes through targeted programs like the Senior and Disabled Property Tax Deferral. This guide covers how Measure 50's MAV cap works, Measure 5's overall rate limits, the absence of a homestead exemption, the deferral program for seniors and disabled homeowners, county rate variation, and a worked example for a $300,000 home.

How Does Measure 50's 3% Cap on Assessed Value Work?

Oregon's property tax system was fundamentally reshaped by Measure 50, a constitutional measure voters approved in May 1997. Rather than taxing a percentage of market value like most states, Oregon assigns every property a Maximum Assessed Value (MAV), which started (for the 1997-98 tax year) at 90% of each property's 1995-96 assessed value and has grown by no more than 3% annually ever since — completely independent of how fast the property's actual market value has risen.

Assessed Value Is the Lower of MAV or RMV

The figure actually used to calculate your tax bill — called Assessed Value (AV) — is always the lower of your MAV or your current Real Market Value (RMV). In a rising market (the norm across most of Oregon for most of the past two decades), MAV is usually the binding, lower figure, meaning your taxable value grows only 3% a year even as your home's actual worth climbs much faster. In a falling market, RMV can drop below MAV, and your AV — and your tax bill — drops with it.

Exceptions That Can Push MAV Above the 3% Cap

Certain events break the 3% cap and allow MAV to jump: new construction or additions, property that's subdivided or rezoned into a more valuable use, property that loses a special assessment or exemption status it previously held, and previously omitted property being added to the tax roll. A change of ownership (sale) does not reset MAV in Oregon — unlike some states' assessment-cap systems, Measure 50's cap follows the property, not the owner, so a long-time owner and a brand-new buyer of the same home generally pay tax on the same AV.

Permanent Tax Rates and the Measure 5 Overall Limit

Measure 50 also fundamentally changed how local tax rates work. Before 1997, taxing districts set annual levies that could fluctuate; Measure 50 replaced this with permanent tax rates fixed per district for general government operations, which can only be exceeded by voter-approved local option levies or bond measures (bonds sit outside the permanent rate limit entirely).

Measure 5's Overall Cap

An earlier 1990 measure, Measure 5, still layers an overall constitutional limit on top of all these permanent rates: general government operating taxes are capped at $10 per $1,000 of Real Market Value, and school district operating taxes are capped separately at $5 per $1,000 of Real Market Value. If combined permanent rates from overlapping districts would push a property's tax above either limit, a proportional "compression" reduces the rates actually applied — this occurs periodically in some higher-tax-rate Oregon jurisdictions.

Why Doesn't Oregon Have a Homestead Exemption?

Unlike most states, Oregon offers no general ad valorem homestead exemption that automatically reduces the assessed value or tax bill for an owner-occupied primary residence. Instead, the state's approach to keeping property tax manageable relies almost entirely on Measure 50's 3% MAV growth cap, which functions similarly to a homestead protection over time by decoupling taxable value from fast-rising market value — but it applies to all property types, not just owner-occupied homes, and provides no extra benefit specifically for primary residences over rentals or second homes.

Targeted Relief Instead of a Broad Exemption

Rather than a universal exemption, Oregon channels relief through narrower, targeted programs: the Senior and Disabled Property Tax Deferral (covered below), veteran's exemptions for qualifying disabled veterans and their surviving spouses, and various special assessment programs for farm, forest, and open-space land. Renters, notably, receive a modest state income tax credit rather than any property tax mechanism, since they don't pay property tax directly.

The Senior and Disabled Property Tax Deferral Program

Oregon's most significant homeowner relief mechanism is the Property Tax Deferral for Disabled and Senior Homeowners program (ORS 311.668), which doesn't reduce your tax bill — it lets the state pay it on your behalf while a lien accrues against the property.

Eligibility

• Age 62 or older by April 15 of the application year, OR receiving/eligible for federal Social Security Disability benefits
• Household income (all taxable and non-taxable income of the applicant and spouse) at or below $70,000 for the 2026 program year
• Net worth under $500,000, not counting the home itself or ordinary personal property
• Have owned and occupied the home for the last five full years in most cases
• Maintain homeowners insurance covering fire and other casualty

How It Works

If approved, the Oregon Department of Revenue pays your county property taxes directly on November 15 each year. The deferred amount accrues 6% simple annual interest (not compounded) and is recorded as a lien against the property. The full deferred balance, plus accrued interest, becomes due when the homeowner sells, moves out, or passes away — typically repaid from sale proceeds or the estate.

Applying

File with your county assessor by April 15 for on-time consideration, or file late (with a fee) between April 16 and December 1.

County Property Tax Rates Compared

Because Oregon's 36 counties, along with overlapping cities, school districts, and special districts, each carry their own permanent tax rates (subject to Measure 5 compression), effective rates vary across the state even under the uniform Measure 50 MAV framework. The figures below are approximate effective rates compiled from secondary property-data aggregators rather than a single official statewide per-county ranking.

Approximate Effective Property Tax Rates — Major Oregon Counties (2026)

Why the Portland Metro Runs Above the Statewide Average

All three of Oregon's most populous counties sit meaningfully above the ~0.81% statewide average, since the state figure is pulled down by dozens of smaller, more rural counties (particularly in central and eastern Oregon) with lower nominal permanent rates and fewer overlapping local option levies and bond measures than the higher-service, higher-cost Portland metro area.

Worked Example: $300,000 Home in Multnomah County (Portland)

This example walks through Oregon's Measure 50 mechanics for a long-time-owned home near the Portland metro's 2026 typical value range for a starter or mid-tier property.

Step 1: Compare Maximum Assessed Value to Real Market Value

Assume this home's current Real Market Value (RMV) is $300,000, but because Measure 50's 3% annual cap has held the Maximum Assessed Value (MAV) below market appreciation for several years, the MAV has settled at approximately $255,000 — a typical gap for an owner who has held the property through a period of above-3% market appreciation.

Step 2: Determine Assessed Value

Since MAV ($255,000) is lower than RMV ($300,000), the Assessed Value used for taxation is $255,000 — not the full $300,000 market value.

Step 3: Apply an Approximate Effective Rate Cross-Check

Using Multnomah County's approximate effective rate of ~0.96% applied directly to the $300,000 market value as a quick cross-check (this aggregator figure already reflects the average MAV/RMV gap and permanent rate structure for a typical property in the county):

$300,000 × 0.96% ≈ $2,880 per year

Reading This Together

A new buyer of an identical $300,000 home next door — since Oregon's MAV cap follows the property rather than resetting at sale — would generally pay a very similar bill, unlike states such as California or South Carolina where a sale resets the taxable value. Your actual bill depends on your property's specific MAV history (available from your county assessor's records), your local jurisdiction's permanent rate plus any active local option levies or bonds, and whether you qualify for the Senior and Disabled Deferral Program.