Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a Michigan city in Marquette County, home to about 22,000 people.
The biggest city in the Upper Peninsula sits right on Lake Superior, and it grew up around iron. When ore was found in the hills inland in the 1840s, this lakeside settlement became the port where that ore was loaded onto ships. You can still read that history on the waterfront: the retired Lower Harbor ore dock is the city's signature landmark, a favorite spot at sunset, while the Upper Harbor dock still loads freighters with iron pellets in season. Marquette is also the county seat and home to Northern Michigan University, and beautiful Lake Superior wilderness is only minutes from downtown — the cliffs and trails of Presque Isle Park, and the short, steep climb up Sugarloaf Mountain to a wide view of the shoreline.
Population
~22,000
Type
city
Home tax rate
~38.3 mills
School districts
1
What would you like to know?
Explore Marquette
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 Marquette
A few practical things if you're buying here. Marquette does not levy a city income tax. And like the rest of Michigan, your property taxes arrive as two bills a year, summer and winter, rather than one. The notes below have the details on both.
More about Marquette
Porch Note
Marquette's ore docks, where the iron range meets the lake
Marquette grew up as the port that shipped the Upper Peninsula's iron to the world. Its great ore docks still define the waterfront -- one a beloved retired landmark, the other still loading freighters with iron pellets today.
Read this note →Porch Note
Presque Isle Park and Sugarloaf, Marquette's outdoor gems
Two of Marquette's best-loved spots sit minutes from downtown: Presque Isle Park, a forested headland ringed by ancient black cliffs on Lake Superior, and Sugarloaf Mountain, a short climb to a sweeping view of the whole shoreline.
Read this note →Porch Note
Who Marquette is named for
Marquette -- the city, the county, and the university -- is named for Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary and explorer who traveled the Great Lakes in the 1600s and helped map the upper Mississippi.
Read this note →Porch Note
Stannard Rock: The Loneliest Lighthouse in America
Twenty-four miles out in open Lake Superior with no land in sight, America's most isolated lighthouse — built against brutal odds, and now a lonely climate-research station.
Read this note →Porch Note
That Time the Upper Peninsula Tried to Become the 51st State
More than once, Michigan's Upper Peninsula tried to secede and become a 51st state called 'Superior' — coming closest in the 1960s and '70s.
Read this note →Porch Note
Cudighi: The U.P.'s Sweet-Spiced Secret
The U.P.'s sweet-spiced Italian sausage sandwich — a Marquette County staple that Italy itself wouldn't recognize.
Read this note →Porch Note
How 'Yooper' Made It Into the Dictionary
It took one Yooper more than a decade of letters (and a few pasties) to get the word 'Yooper' into the dictionary.
Read this note →Porch Note
Laughing Whitefish Falls
One of the best names in Michigan, and a shape to match: the Laughing Whitefish River fans out about a hundred feet down a stepped limestone wall in a quiet, uncrowded state park.
Read this note →The practical stuff
Moving or buying in Marquette
The seller's tax bill may not be your tax bill.
2025 property-tax snapshot
- Primary home (PRE)
- 38.3216 mills - 38.3216 mills
- Other property / non-homestead
- 56.3216 mills - 56.3216 mills
- School districts available
- 1 in Marquette
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 Marquette 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 Marquette, one school district appears in the rate data. Parcel-specific tax districts can still matter.
For a primary home with PRE, Michigan's main-home exemption, the rate shown here is about 38.3 mills. Without PRE, the non-homestead rate is about 56.3 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
Marquette Area Schools
Primary home (PRE) 38.3216 mills · non-homestead 56.3216 mills
Local rules and costs to check
Note-sized practical catches tied to Marquette: taxes, property rules, permits, local costs, or other things worth checking before you decide.
Porch Note
Is there a city income tax in Marquette?
Neither Marquette nor any other city in Marquette County charges a city income tax -- and neither does anywhere else in the Upper Peninsula. The nearest one is Grayling, well over a hundred miles away.
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 Marquette County — handy when you're comparing local tax rates, school districts, or nearby communities.
Next steps
What to check next for Marquette
Get oriented here, then choose the next practical guide, calculator, or nearby place.
County
Open Marquette 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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