Ohio’s homestead exemption is one of the more overlooked forms of property tax relief available to older homeowners. It takes a single application, it renews itself, and it can trim several hundred dollars off the tax bill every year for as long as you own the home.
It isn’t a windfall. But it’s straightforward money, and a startling number of eligible Ohio seniors have simply never claimed it.
How the Homestead Exemption Works
Ohio’s homestead exemption doesn’t cut your tax rate. It shields part of your home’s value from being taxed at all.
For qualifying seniors and permanently disabled homeowners, the Ohio Department of Taxation sets the exemption at $29,000 of market value for tax year 2025 real property, up from $28,000 for tax year 2024. Your county auditor then calculates your taxes as though your house were worth that much less than it is. Using the state’s own illustration, a qualifying home with a market value of $100,000 would be billed as if it were valued at $71,000.
One caveat on the figures below. These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation, and at the time of writing the most recent year published by the state was tax year 2025. County websites frequently lag — some Miami Valley auditor pages still display amounts from several years back. Confirm the figure for your tax year with your auditor before relying on it.
What that exemption is actually worth in dollars depends on your local millage, which varies a lot across the Miami Valley — school district levies are usually the biggest driver. Because the rate differs by taxing district, there’s no single savings figure that applies countywide. Your county auditor’s office can tell you what it works out to for your specific parcel.
It’s worth being clear about the scale here. This won’t transform your retirement. But it’s a recurring reduction that requires one application and no ongoing effort, and over a twenty-year retirement it adds up to real money.
Who Qualifies
Three things have to be true.
Age or disability. You must be at least 65 by December 31 of the year you’re applying for, or be permanently and totally disabled regardless of age. Surviving spouses of a qualified recipient can continue the exemption if they were at least 59 when their spouse died.
Ownership and occupancy. You must own the home and live in it as your primary residence as of January 1 of the tax year. A vacation place in Hocking Hills doesn’t count. Homes held in certain trusts generally still qualify — check with your auditor if your house is titled to a living trust, which is common among folks who’ve done estate planning.
Income. There’s a household income ceiling. The state uses Modified Adjusted Gross Income, which is your Ohio Adjusted Gross Income (Line 3 of the Ohio Individual Income Tax Return) plus any business income deduction taken on Line 13 of the Ohio Schedule of Adjustments. The threshold was $40,000 for tax year 2025 real property, up from $38,600 for tax year 2024, and it is adjusted annually.
One important note: if you were already receiving the exemption before the income test was added in 2014, you’re grandfathered in and the income limit doesn’t apply to you. Some longtime homeowners in Dayton and Xenia are still covered under those older rules.
Why Social Security Changes the Math
This is the detail that flips people from “I make too much” to “wait, I qualify.”
The income test uses Ohio adjusted gross income — and Ohio does not tax Social Security benefits. They’re deducted out before you get to Ohio AGI. So your Social Security income does not count toward the limit.
Consider how that plays out. A retired couple collecting $46,000 a year in combined Social Security, plus an $18,000 pension and about $9,000 drawn from an IRA, sees $73,000 landing in the checking account — well over any of the limits above, or so it looks.
But for homestead purposes, the Social Security drops out. Their Ohio AGI lands somewhere around $27,000, which may well qualify.
So don’t disqualify yourself on a hunch. Look at your Ohio IT 1040 rather than at your bank statements. Households where Social Security makes up most of the income are frequently eligible even when total cash flow looks high.
The Enhanced Veteran Exemption
Given how many veterans live around Wright-Patterson, this one matters locally.
Disabled veterans, and the surviving spouses of public service officers killed in the line of duty, qualify for an enhanced exemption — $58,000 of market value for tax year 2025 real property, up from $56,000 for tax year 2024. That’s double the standard amount.
Two things make it especially valuable. First, there’s no income limit on the veteran exemption. Second, surviving spouses of qualifying disabled veterans can continue receiving it as long as they don’t remarry and continue to own and occupy the home.
You’ll need your VA award letter documenting the rating. If you were rated at 100% years ago and have never applied for this, it’s worth a phone call to your county auditor.
How to Apply Locally
You apply through your county auditor, not the state.
Greene County — the auditor’s office in Xenia handles Beavercreek, Fairborn, Bellbrook, Xenia, and the rest of the county.
Montgomery County — the auditor’s office in downtown Dayton covers Dayton, Kettering, Centerville, Huber Heights, Miamisburg, and surrounding communities.
Neighboring counties — Miami, Clark, Warren, Preble — each run their own office with the same state rules.
The form and what to bring
Seniors file Form DTE 105A. Disability applicants also file DTE 105E, certified by a physician or accompanied by an award letter from Social Security or the VA.
Have on hand your date of birth, your parcel number (it’s on your tax bill), and your Ohio IT 1040 for the prior year. For real property, the application must be filed on or before December 31 of the year for which you’re seeking the exemption. If your application is denied, the auditor must tell you why, and you can appeal to the county Board of Revision using Form DTE 106B.
Once you’re approved, you don’t file a new application each year. Your county auditor will mail you a continuing application (Form DTE 105B) each January. According to the Ohio Department of Taxation, you return that form only if you no longer own the home, no longer occupy it as your primary residence, your disability status has changed, or your income has changed.
If you moved recently
The exemption follows the person, not the house — but it doesn’t transfer itself. If you sold in Kettering and bought a condo in Beavercreek, you need to file a new application for the new address. It’s an easy way to lose a year of savings.
Other Relief Worth Knowing About
Owner-occupancy credit. A separate 2.5% reduction on qualifying levies for owner-occupied homes. No age or income requirement, and it stacks with the homestead exemption. Many people already have it without realizing.
Payment plans. Most Ohio county treasurers offer monthly or semi-monthly prepayment plans that spread the bill out instead of hitting you with two large payments a year. For retirees on a fixed monthly income, smoothing the cash flow is often more useful than the exemption itself.
Property value complaints. If you believe your appraised value is too high, you can file a valuation complaint with the county Board of Revision. The filing window is limited and set by statute, so ask the auditor for the current deadline. After the recent reappraisal cycles that pushed values up sharply across the Dayton area, some homeowners have grounds — though you’ll need comparable sales to support the case.
Where This Fits in Your Plan
Property taxes are one of the few retirement expenses that keep rising no matter how carefully you budget. Housing costs don’t retire when you do, and for many Miami Valley households the tax bill is the single largest line item after health care.
The homestead exemption won’t fix that on its own. But it’s a permanent reduction available to a lot of people who’ve never claimed it, and it pairs naturally with the other questions we work through — when to claim Social Security, how to sequence withdrawals so you don’t push yourself into a higher bracket, whether long-term care coverage makes sense, and how Medicare premiums fit into the monthly picture.
Medicare & Retirement Solutions Group in Beavercreek helps retirees and pre-retirees across Dayton, Greene County, and the Miami Valley put those pieces together. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for the homestead exemption, or you want a broader look at your retirement income, we’re glad to sit down for a free conversation. Give us a call or reach out through medretiregroup.com.
And if you take one thing from this article: check your last tax bill. If you don’t see a homestead reduction on it and you’re over 65, make one phone call to your county auditor. It might be the best-paying twenty minutes of your year.
Sources
Ohio’s homestead rules are set at the state level and administered county by county. Start here:
- Ohio Department of Taxation, Homestead Exemption and Means Testing FAQs — statewide eligibility rules and current amounts.
- Greene County Auditor, Homestead Exemption Program — Beavercreek, Fairborn, Bellbrook, Xenia.
- Montgomery County Auditor, Homestead Exemption — Dayton, Kettering, Centerville, Huber Heights. Homestead Hotline: 937-225-4341.
A caution about published figures. Exemption amounts and income thresholds are adjusted annually for inflation. County homestead pages are not always updated promptly — at the time of writing, some Miami Valley county pages still displayed amounts and income limits from several years earlier. Where this article gives a number, it is the figure published by the Ohio Department of Taxation for the tax year stated. Confirm the current-year amount with your auditor before applying.
This article is for general educational purposes and isn’t individualized tax or legal advice. Exemption amounts, income thresholds, and filing deadlines are set by Ohio law and adjusted periodically — confirm current figures and deadlines directly with your county auditor before applying.