Penfield’s property tax rate climbs to 2.8% in 2025, rising from 2.2% in 2016

Penfield’s effective property tax rate moved from 2.2% in 2016 to 2.8% in 2025, a change of 0.6 percentage points across 10 years, according to BlockShopper.com.

Meanwhile, the average effective property tax rate for Champaign County fell from 2.2% in 2016 to 2% in 2025, a change of 0.2 percentage points for the same period. Penfield’s rate in 2025 exceeded the county average.

Of the 27 cities analyzed in Champaign County, Penfield experienced the greatest growth in effective property tax rates during those years.

Penfield held the No. 2 position in Champaign County for effective property tax rates in 2025, with the 2.8% rate placing it above most cities in the county.

This property tax rate is about 3.2 times higher than the 0.888% average effective property tax rate across the U.S. during 2024.

U.S. home prices kept rising in 2025, with the national median reaching around $447,000 as of June. That’s a 1.13% increase from the previous year, according to Redfin. Their data points to a noticeable gap in market activity, with the number of sellers exceeding buyers by 36% (equivalent to 508,715 more homes for sale). Redfin would classify a balanced market as having sellers and buyers within 10% of each other.

Homeowners may see higher tax bills even if tax rates are stable or dropping, in part because property tax amounts depend on both the local rate and the home’s assessed value. When values climb, so does the tax base, leading to larger bills. From 2023 to 2024, the average effective property tax rate on the median home in the largest city in each state fell by over 5%, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy analysis.

Yet rising home values have expanded the tax bases in several communities. Since property taxes are generally tied to a home’s assessed market value, higher prices can bring about larger tax payments, regardless of unchanged or reduced rates. Nationwide housing market studies indicate that a 1% rise in median home value is typically related to about a 0.71% drop in the effective tax rate, which demonstrates how robust price growth enables local governments to collect more revenue even when rates fall.