Dearborn, Michigan
Dearborn is a Michigan city in Wayne County, home to about 106,000 people.
Dearborn is Henry Ford's hometown and the heart of the company he built — Ford's world headquarters, its Rouge plant, and the sprawling Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village all sit here in Wayne County, just west of Detroit. It's also one of the great Arab American communities in the United States, home to the Arab American National Museum and a food scene — bakeries, shawarma, and Lebanese restaurants along Warren and Michigan Avenues — that draws people from across the Midwest.
Population
~106,000
Type
city
Home tax rate
50.9–52.9 mills
School districts
2
What would you like to know?
Explore Dearborn
What it's like — the place, local stories, and what's worth knowing about the community.
Get to know it →Moving or buying here?
The property-tax pop-up, the homebuyer calculator, school-district rates, and the local rules to check.
See the practical stuff →Get to know it
About Dearborn
A few local rules are worth checking before you buy. Short-term rentals depend on city ordinance, car insurance runs high across Metro Detroit, and overnight street parking is often restricted. The notes below cover each one, along with Michigan's two-bill property tax cycle.
More about Dearborn
Porch Note
Henry Ford Moved Thomas Edison's Actual Laboratory to Michigan — Brick by Brick
Henry Ford moved Thomas Edison's actual Menlo Park laboratory to Michigan, brick by brick, and had a frail Edison relight his lamp there in 1929.
Read this note →Porch Note
Michigan Holds Some of America's Most Important Historic Artifacts — Including the Limo JFK Was Riding In
The Henry Ford in Dearborn holds some of America's most significant artifacts — the Rosa Parks bus, the limo JFK was riding in, Lincoln's theater chair — plus nearly 100 relocated historic buildings.
Read this note →Porch Note
The World's First Airport Hotel Was Henry Ford's Idea
The Dearborn Inn, conceived by Henry Ford and designed by Albert Kahn, opened in 1931 as the world's first airport hotel — and reopened, restored, in 2025.
Read this note →Porch Note
Dearborn: the capital of Arab America (bring your appetite)
Dearborn is home to the world's first and largest Arab American museum, a history-making city government, and food worth crossing state lines for.
Read this note →Porch Note
Carhartt Started in a Detroit Loft in 1889
Carhartt, the rugged workwear brand, started in a small Detroit loft in 1889 and is still family-owned and based in metro Detroit today.
Read this note →Porch Note
The Line Down the Middle of the Road Was a Michigan Idea
Every painted center line on Earth traces back to Edward Hines of the Wayne County road board, who put the first one down on a Trenton street in 1911.
Read this note →Porch Note
Hines Park: seventeen green miles through the western suburbs
Edward Hines Drive strings 25 parks along the Middle Rouge from Dearborn through Dearborn Heights, Westland, and Livonia to Northville — western Wayne County's shared backyard.
Read this note →Porch Note
Wayne: Michigan's first county, named for Mad Anthony
Wayne County — organized in 1796 and named for General 'Mad Anthony' Wayne — is where Michigan began, and it's still the state's center of gravity.
Read this note →The practical stuff
Moving or buying in Dearborn
The seller's tax bill may not be your tax bill.
2025 property-tax snapshot
- Primary home (PRE)
- 50.8704 mills - 52.9112 mills
- Other property / non-homestead
- 66.6894 mills - 70.9112 mills
- School districts available
- 2 in Dearborn
One mill means $1 per $1,000 of Taxable Value. Rate rows come from the official 2025 Michigan Treasury report. Last reviewed June 8, 2026.
What these local words mean
- Primary home (PRE)
- A home you own and live in as your main home. PRE stands for Principal Residence Exemption and can lower the school operating tax.
- Non-homestead
- Property that is not treated as the owner's main home, such as a rental, vacation home, or second home.
- Assessor
- The local office that estimates and records property values and exemptions.
- Treasurer
- The local office that collects property tax payments and can confirm bill timing.
Michigan homebuyer tax calculator
See the tax bill after you buy.
Where is the house?
Pick the county, city or township, and school district. We use the official 2025 tax rates published by Michigan Treasury.
Not sure of the school district? Check the property listing. It is usually under "Schools."
Need to double-check the exact parcel? Use the official state estimator at treas-secure.state.mi.us/ptestimator or call the local treasurer. Rates can change across city, township, village, and school district lines, so the exact parcel matters.
What buyers in Dearborn should know
Michigan property taxes start with Taxable Value, not the price you paid for the home. Local millage rates are applied to that number.
While the same owner keeps the home, Proposal A caps how much Taxable Value can rise each year. When the home sells, that cap usually comes off. This is called uncapping.
After uncapping, the buyer's Taxable Value usually moves closer to State Equalized Value, or SEV. SEV is often about half of the home's market value.
Bottom line: a longtime owner may have been taxed on an older, capped number. After you buy, the taxable number may reset higher, and your first full-year tax bill may be much higher than the seller's.
In Dearborn, your rate can vary by parcel. The school district tied to the property matters, and 2 school districts cover Dearborn.
For a primary home with PRE, Michigan's main-home exemption, rates currently run about 50.9 to 52.9 mills. Without PRE, non-homestead rates run about 66.7 to 70.9 mills. The calculator uses the exact local rates.
If this will be your main home, make sure the Principal Residence Exemption, or PRE, is handled with the local assessor. PRE is Michigan's main-home property tax exemption. It can remove up to 18 school operating mills. Rentals, vacation homes, and second homes usually use the non-homestead rate instead.
School districts in this area
Dearborn City School
Primary home (PRE) 50.8704 mills · non-homestead 66.6894 mills
Westwood Community
Primary home (PRE) 52.9112 mills · non-homestead 70.9112 mills
Local rules and costs to check
Note-sized practical catches tied to Dearborn: taxes, property rules, permits, local costs, or other things worth checking before you decide.
Porch Note
Can you park on the street overnight? Often not
Many metro Detroit suburbs restrict overnight street parking, and snow emergencies can bring stricter temporary bans.
Read this note →Porch Note
Why is car insurance so expensive around here?
Michigan auto insurance is still expensive, and metro Detroit addresses can move rates by hundreds of dollars a month.
Read this note →Porch Note
Can you run an Airbnb here? Your city or township decides
Michigan leaves short-term rental rules to each city or township, so Airbnb and Vrbo rules can change from one community to the next.
Read this note →Porch Note
In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one
Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.
Read this note →Nearby places
Other Michigan Porch pages in Wayne County — handy when you're comparing local tax rates, school districts, or nearby communities.
Next steps
What to check next for Dearborn
Get oriented here, then choose the next practical guide, calculator, or nearby place.
County
Open Wayne County
See the county page for other cities, townships, villages, local notes, and the county-wide tax snapshot.
Open county page →Calculator
Run a buyer tax estimate
Use the Michigan homebuyer tax calculator if you want to compare a different place or school district.
Open calculator →Tax break
Understand PRE
Learn who qualifies for the primary-home tax break and how the deadlines work.
Read PRE guide →Questions buyers ask
Is this an exact number? +
No. It is a strong estimate based on Michigan's published 2025 tax rates for your area. Your actual bill depends on what the local assessor decides your home is worth, called the SEV. Use this to plan your budget, not to lock in an exact figure.
When will my higher tax kick in? +
The first calendar year after you close. Close in June 2026, and the seller's tax bill usually comes through for 2026. Your new popped-up bill arrives in 2027.
What's PRE? +
PRE is Michigan's primary-home tax break. If you own the home and live there as your main home, it can remove up to 18 mills of local school operating tax from the bill. Rentals, vacation homes, and second homes do not get it. File Form 2368 with the local assessor by June 1 for the summer bill or November 1 for the winter bill.
What are mills? +
Mills are the tax rate. One mill means $1 of tax for every $1,000 of Taxable Value. A 40-mill rate means about $40 per $1,000 of Taxable Value. Different areas have different rates because county, city or township, school, library, public safety, parks, and other local taxes are stacked together.
What's the inflation multiplier? +
It is the yearly number Michigan uses to cap Taxable Value increases while the same owner keeps the home. Think of it as the speed limit for Taxable Value. For the 2026 tax year, the multiplier is 1.027, or 2.7%. When a home sells, that cap usually resets.
Are there ways to avoid the pop-up? +
A few, mostly family transfers. Parent to child, spouse to spouse, sibling to sibling, and some grandparent transfers may avoid the reset if the home stays residential. For family transfers, talk to a Michigan real estate attorney.
Why is my number different from the tax history on a listing? +
Most tax history pages show what the current owner paid. That is often based on a protected, lower taxable value. This calculator estimates what your taxable value becomes after Michigan's uncapping rule.
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