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Johnston property taxes

Johnston has one residential taxing district in the Polk County auditor's rate table, with a consolidated rate of $37.05231 per $1,000 of taxable value. This is the rate on the bills paid in September 2026 and March 2027, which are based on values as of January 1, 2025.

Rate per $1,000
$37.05231
Polk Co., Johnston schools
Median of all 107
$37.63716
city taxing districts covered here

The taxing district in Johnston

Residential taxing districts in Johnston: the consolidated rate per $1,000 of taxable value, its school, city and other parts, and the difference from the median of all 107 city districts
School districtCountyRate per $1,000SchoolCityCounty and everything elseCompared with the median
JohnstonPolk37.0523114.9161211.3879010.74829−$0.58

Rates from the Polk County auditor's table for January 1, 2025 values. "County and everything else" is the total less the city and school levies, as the county tables list them. "Compared with the median" is the rate less the median ($37.63716) of all 107 residential city taxing districts covered here. Agricultural land, tax-increment (TIF) sub-districts that Dallas County lists separately, which carry the same rate as their base district, and city tax-exemption districts are left out. A city's parts in any other county are not covered here.

As the county tables list them: JOHNSTON CITY/JOHNSTON SCH (Polk County State District Code 770010).

How the Johnston rate compares

Among the 107 residential city taxing districts this site covers in the Polk, Dallas and Warren county tables, the Johnston rate ($37.05231) is the 49th lowest.

The median of those 107 rates is $37.63716, and the Johnston rate is $0.58 per $1,000 below it. The Johnston city levy, $11.38790 per $1,000, is the 20th lowest of the 44 city levies this site covers in the three counties.

Example bills

The yearly tax in the Johnston taxing district on a home assessed at $200,000, $300,000 and $400,194, figured the way the estimator figures it: the value × 44.5345% rollback ÷ 1,000 × the rate, less the homestead credit. $400,194 is Zillow's typical home value for Johnston (Zillow Home Value Index, September 2026), used here as if it were the assessed value, which it may not be. The other two are round example values.

Yearly property tax with the homestead credit in the Johnston taxing district, at three assessed values
District$200,000$300,000$400,194Zillow typical value
Polk Co., Johnston schools$3,120.511.56% of value$4,770.601.59% of value$6,423.911.61% of value

The Polk County table does not say how it rounds, so these bills are shown to the cent. The bills leave out the 65-or-older and military exemptions; the property tax estimator includes them.

One bill, step by step

Polk Co., Johnston schools, a home assessed at $300,000:

  1. $300,000 assessed value × 44.5345% rollback = $133,603
  2. taxable value $133,603 ÷ 1,000 × $37.05231 levy rate = $4,950.30
  3. minus the homestead credit, the levy on the first $4,850 of value = $179.70
  4. net tax $4,770.60, paid in two halves of about $2,385.30. Polk County's table does not say how the bill is rounded, so this is not rounded

Look up a home in Johnston

Your tax statement names your district. Not sure? Look up the parcel on the county assessor's or treasurer's site.

How Iowa figures the bill

  1. Assessed value. The city or county assessor values the home as of January 1.
  2. Rollback. Only part of that value is taxed. The Iowa Department of Revenue sets the share each year for all residential property in the state (Iowa Code §441.21). For values as of January 1, 2025 it is 44.5345% (the Department's 2025 order).
  3. Exemptions come off the taxable value: $6,500 if the owner was 65 or older by January 1 of the assessment year (§425.1A), and $4,000 for an eligible veteran who has claimed the military service exemption (§426A.11). Both amounts come from the same 2023 law (2023 Iowa Acts, chapter 71, in the Code's history notes), which the Department of Revenue calls HF 718.
  4. Homestead credit. If you own and live in the home and have claimed it, the credit equals the levy on the first $4,850 of value (§425.1).

The example bills above take off the homestead credit, but a new owner must file a homestead claim with the assessor by July 1 of the year it is claimed for (Iowa Code §425.2), so someone buying now first gets the 10% homestead exemption on January 1, 2027 values, not this credit (Department of Revenue).

The estimator page has the whole method, including installments and rounding.

What changes for the bills paid in September 2027 and March 2028

Two changes already made apply to values as of January 1, 2026, which are taxed in the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2027:

  • The Department of Revenue's 2026 order sets the residential rollback at 45.6926%.
  • Senate File 2472 (2026) replaces the homestead credit with a homestead exemption of 10% of the home's taxable value, at least $5,500 and at most $20,000. The Department will adjust the $20,000 maximum for inflation for each assessment year from 2027 on (Department of Revenue). Owners who had the credit or exemption before July 1, 2026 get the new exemption without refiling if they still qualify.

The levy rates for that year are not set yet, so this page does not estimate those bills.

Sources

  1. Polk County Auditor, Consolidated Tax Levy Rates For Polk County, Iowa: For 2025 Assessed Valuations, Taxes Payable September 2026 and March 2027 (City Non-Agricultural section). Retrieved November 5, 2026. (listing page)
  2. Iowa Department of Revenue, Order Certifying Percentages for Assessment Limitations: percentages of 2025 actual value (dated October 27, 2025; issued November 1, 2025) (archived copy). Retrieved November 5, 2026. (original link) The Department's link now serves the 2026 order. The 2025 order is read from the copy archived on November 16, 2025; the Department's homestead guidance page uses the same 44.5345% for assessment year 2025.
  3. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 441.21 (actual, assessed and taxable value). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  4. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.1A (homestead tax exemption, age 65 or older). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  5. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 426A.11 (military service exemptions). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  6. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.1 (homestead credit fund). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  7. Iowa Legislature, Iowa Code 2026, section 425.2 (qualifying for the homestead credit: claim filed by July 1 of the year claimed; a buyer refiles). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  8. Iowa Department of Revenue, Homestead Tax Credit and Exemption. Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  9. Iowa Department of Revenue, Order Certifying Percentages for Assessment Limitations: percentages of 2026 actual value (dated October 27, 2026; issued November 1, 2026). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  10. Polk County Assessor, County Assessor (property search; homestead credit and military exemption applications). Retrieved November 5, 2026.
  11. Polk County Treasurer, Property Tax (payment schedule, parcel and payment search). Retrieved November 5, 2026.

An estimate for planning, not tax advice. Check your parcel's district and value with the county assessor, and the amount due with the county treasurer.