Florida homestead exemption calculator — what it actually saves

Florida's homestead exemption is really two exemptions — plus nine more relief programs stacked behind them for widows and widowers, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities. This calculator itemizes what each one is worth on your home, in your county, using the state's own millage data. On a $300,000 assessed value in Orange County, the two standard homestead exemptions alone cut the bill by about $725 per year. Runs in your browser; nothing you enter is collected.

Assessed value (your TRIM notice shows it; buyers: use roughly the price you'd pay)

County

Homestead — my primary residence

Additional programs, if they apply

Widow or widower ($5,000, §196.202)

Blind ($5,000, §196.202)

Total & permanent disability ($5,000, §196.202)

Veteran, 10 percent or more service-connected ($5,000, §196.24)

Senior 65+, household income within the limit (local option up to $50,000, §196.075(2))

Senior 65+, 25-year long-term residence under $250,000 just value (§196.075(3))

Veteran, total & permanent service-connected (full exemption, §196.081/§196.091)

Total & permanent disability, income-qualified full exemption (§196.101)

First responder disabled in the line of duty (§196.102)

Combat-related disability discount, 65+ — rating in percent (§196.082)

Days deployed last year, qualifying operations (§196.173)

Estimated annual savings

Your selected programs save about

Tax with your exemptions
Tax with no exemptions at all

Line by line

How the standard homestead math works

The headline "$50,000 homestead exemption" is really two pieces with different reach — and a gap between them:

The first $25,000 (§196.031(1)(a)) comes off for every levy, school taxes included.
The $25,000-to-$50,000 slice of value is fully taxable — no exemption applies there at all (the Department of Revenue's own worked example makes this explicit).
The additional exemption (§196.031(1)(b)) then covers assessed value from $50,000 up to $76,411 — but only for non-school levies. 2024's Amendment 5 indexes it to inflation: $26,411 for 2026.

That school/non-school split is why this calculator carries each county's school millage separately — and why two counties with the same total millage can produce different homestead savings.

The March 1 deadline

Homestead exemption is not automatic in your first year: you apply with your county Property Appraiser by March 1 of the tax year (§196.011), with proof the home was your permanent residence on January 1. Once granted it renews automatically. Every county Property Appraiser's office is linked from our county pages and the property tax lookup.

Moving within Florida? Your cap can move with you

Save Our Homes caps your assessed value's growth while you hold the homestead — and when you move, portability (§193.155(8)) lets you transfer up to $500,000 of that protection. The portability calculator computes your number, and the buyer property-tax calculator folds it into a full purchase estimate.

Amendment 3 would change these numbers

This calculator models current law. On November 3, 2026, Florida votes on Amendment 3, which — if at least 60 percent approve — would add a $150,000 non-school homestead exemption in 2027, rising to $250,000 in 2028. School levies would be unaffected, so the school-tax rows above would keep working exactly the same way. Our TRIM-notice guide covers what Amendment 3 would and wouldn't change, with sources.

Estimates use your county's Department of Revenue countywide average millage (2025 roll) — a planning number, never a bill. Local-option programs (the senior exemptions) depend on your county or city having adopted them; the Property Appraiser's office is the authority. Not legal or tax advice.

Quick answers

How much does the Florida homestead exemption save?

Typically several hundred dollars a year: the first $25,000 exemption applies to all levies and the second (up to $26,411 in 2026, CPI-indexed) applies to non-school levies (Fla. Stat. §196.031). At a typical millage the two together save roughly $700-$800 annually — the calculator on this page computes your county's exact figure.

When is the Florida homestead filing deadline?

March 1. You must own and occupy the home as your permanent residence as of January 1 of the tax year, and file with your county Property Appraiser (Form DR-501) by March 1.

Does homestead also cap my assessment increases?

Yes — once homesteaded, Save Our Homes caps assessed-value growth at 3 percent a year or CPI, whichever is lower (§193.155). Over time that cap is often worth far more than the exemption itself, and it's portable when you move within Florida.

Data verified as of August 2026.