Florida Save Our Homes cap calculator
The answer up front: homestead a Florida home and its assessed value can rise at most 3 percent a year (or CPI, if lower — Fla. Stat. §193.155) no matter what the market does. Start at $300,000 with the market growing 6 percent a year, and after 10 years the market value is $537,254 but your taxable assessed value is held to $403,175 — an untaxed gap of $134,079, worth about $2,011 a year at a typical 15-mill rate.
Reading the projection honestly
- The cap uses 3 percent as its ceiling — in low-inflation years the actual cap is the CPI change, so your real assessed growth can be slower than this projection. This page shows the statutory maximum path.
- Assessed value never exceeds market: if the market grows slower than the cap, assessed simply tracks market and the gap is zero — the calculator models that.
- The gap compounds quietly: the longer you hold the homestead, the bigger the wedge between what your home is worth and what you're taxed on — often worth more over time than the homestead exemption itself.
The gap at different market speeds
A $300,000 home after 10 years. The homestead columns use the 3 percent cap. The last column is a rental or second home under the 10 percent non-homestead cap, which doesn't apply to school taxes.
| Market growth | Market value, year 10 | Homestead untaxed gap | Yearly tax saved at 15 mills | Non-homestead untaxed gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 percent a year | $365,698 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 4 percent a year | $444,073 | $40,898 | $613 | $0 |
| 6 percent a year | $537,254 | $134,079 | $2,011 | $0 |
| 8 percent a year | $647,678 | $244,503 | $3,668 | $0 |
| 12 percent a year | $931,754 | $528,580 | $7,929 | $153,632 |
Two things stand out. In a slow market (under 3 percent a year) the cap never kicks in, so there's no gap. And the non-homestead cap only matters in a fast market: below 10 percent a year it never binds, so a rental's assessment tracks the market.
Moving within Florida? The portability calculator computes how much of this benefit you can carry. Buying a home with a big existing gap? It resets at sale — the buyer estimator shows your real bill, and the homestead calculator the exemptions that stack on top.
Projection math from Fla. Stat. §193.155; assumptions are yours; the Property Appraiser's certified values control. Informational only — not tax advice.
Quick answers
What is the Save Our Homes cap?
Once a Florida home is homesteaded, its ASSESSED value can rise at most 3 percent a year — or the CPI change, whichever is lower (Fla. Stat. §193.155) — no matter how fast market value climbs. The growing gap between market and assessed value is never taxed while you keep the homestead.
Does the cap transfer when I move?
Up to $500,000 of the accumulated benefit is portable to a new Florida homestead if you re-establish within three tax years — the portability calculator on this site computes exactly what you can carry.
What about rental and second homes?
Non-homestead property has its own 10 percent assessment cap (§193.1554), which does not apply to school levies. November 2026's Amendment 3 would tighten that cap to 5 percent if it passes.
What happens to the cap when a home sells?
It dies at closing — the buyer's assessed value resets to market as of the next January 1 (§193.155(3)). That's why a listing's current tax bill is the seller's bill, not the buyer's — the buyer estimator models the reset.
Data verified as of October 2026.