In Virginia, those who are over age 65 or disabled may qualify for relief from Virginia real estate taxes. The program is called “Tax Relief for the Elderly and Disabled,” and each governing body in the state of Virginia has been permitted to establish their own rules and eligibility requirements.

As the Virginia Code states regarding the “Exemption for Elderly and Handicapped“:

The governing body of any county, city or town may, by ordinance, provide for the exemption from, deferral of, or a combination program of exemptions from and deferrals of taxation of real estate and manufactured homes… or any portion thereof, and upon such conditions and in such amount as the ordinance may prescribe.

…the General Assembly hereby authorizes the governing body of a county, city or town to establish by ordinance net financial worth or annual income limitations as a condition of eligibility for any exemption or deferral of tax allowed pursuant to this article.

By default, if there are two married, joint owners on the property and only one of them is over age 65, then you prorate the benefit by ownership interest as is described in §58.1-3211.1.

Holding the property in trust applies if the eligible person holds the power of revocation or, in an irrevocable trust, the eligible person possesses a life estate with continuing right of use or support.

If there is an income limitation, you determine the relevant income by adding together the income of

• the owners of the dwelling who use it as their principal residence
• the owners’ relatives who live in the dwelling (not counting bona fide caregivers)
• (optional based on locality) nonrelatives of the owner who live in the dwelling (not counting bona fide caregivers)

If there is a net worth limitation, you determine relevant net worth by adding together the net financial worth, including the present value of equitable interests, as of December 31 of the immediately preceding calendar year, of the owners and of the spouse of any owner of the dwelling. You don’t need to add the net worth of non-owner, non-spousal residents of the dwelling. “Net financial worth” is not defined in Article 2.

If the locality is silent on the topic, the default limitations are described in “§ 58.1-3506.2. Restrictions and conditions.”

The default limitations are:

1. A financial net worth, excluding the value of the principal residence and 1 acre of land, cannot exceed $75,000, and
2. A total combined income, excluding the first $7,500 of income, cannot exceed the greater of $30,000 or “the income limits based on family size for the respective metropolitan statistical area, annually published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for qualifying for federal housing assistance.”

In Virginia, there are 95 counties and 39 independent cities each with their own requirements. Until this article, it appears that no one has gathered the data on what the requirements are in each different locality.

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide advice and should not be relied on. We gathered this data between March 2023 and May 2023 through a time consuming manual process. We would be unsurprised if there are typos or if later corrections are necessary. Feel free to send us any corrections you spot via our Contact form. Before any action, you should do your own research and consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors.

To locate your county quickly, you can search for the name of your county in the browser (Ctrl+F / Command+F). They are sorted by population size as gathered from Wikipedia.

County	Website	Population	AGI Limitation	Net Worth Limitation
Fairfax County	fairfaxcounty.gov/ / PDF	1,081,726	$90,000	$400,000
City of Virginia Beach	vbgov.com/	437,994	$96,405	$350,000
Prince William County	pwcva.gov/ / PDF	402,002	$95,483	$340,000
Loudoun County	loudoun.gov/ / PDF	312,311	$77,000	$920,000
Henrico County	henrico.us/	262,300	$75,000	$500,000
Chesterfield County	chesterfield.gov/ / PDF	259,903	$60,000	$380,500
City of Norfolk	norfolk.gov/ / PDF	242,803	$67,000	$350,000
City of Chesapeake	cityofchesapeake.net/ / PDF	222,209	$62,000	$350,000
Arlington County	arlingtonva.us/  / PDF	207,627	$97,256	$467,402
City of Richmond	rva.gov/ / PDF	204,214	$60,000	$350,000
City of Newport News	nnva.gov/ / PDF	180,150	$50,000	$200,000
City of Hampton	hampton.gov/ / PDF	146,437	$62,000	$200,000
City of Alexandria	alexandriava.gov/ / PDF	139,966	$72,000	$430,000
Stafford County	staffordcountyva.gov/	128,961	$40,000	$200,000
Spotsylvania County	spotsylvania.va.us/ / PDF	122,397	$50,000	$200,000
City of Portsmouth	portsmouthva.gov/	100,565	$30,000	$75,000
Hanover County	hanovercounty.gov/	99,863	$55,000	$300,000
Albemarle County	albemarle.org/ / PDF	98,970	$83,850	$250,000
City of Roanoke	roanokeva.gov/	94,911	$42,000	$160,000
Roanoke County	roanokecountyva.gov/	85,778	$56,566	$200,000
Montgomery County	montva.com/ / PDF	83,629	$51,000	$150,000
Accomack County	co.accomack.va.us/	79,236	$28,000	$80,000
Fauquier County	fauquiercounty.gov/ / PDF	68,010	$72,000	$440,000
Rockingham County	rockinghamcountyva.gov/ / PDF	67,725	$45,000	$85,000
James City County	jamescitycountyva.gov/ / PDF	67,009	$45,000	$200,000
Augusta County	co.augusta.va.us/	65,615	$40,000	$100,000
York County	yorkcounty.gov/ / PDF	65,464	$59,850	$220,000
City of Lynchburg	lynchburgva.gov/ / PDF	65,269	$42,400	$100,000
City of Suffolk	suffolkva.us/	63,677	$63,855	$286,190
Pittsylvania County	pittsylvaniacountyva.gov/ / PDF	61,745	$25,000	$65,000
Bedford County	bedfordcountyva.gov/	60,371	$37,500	$100,000
Frederick County	fcva.us/ / PDF	59,209	$50,000	$150,000
Henry County	henrycountyva.gov/ / PDF	57,930	$17,000	$50,000
Washington County	washcova.com/ / PDF	51,103	not published on website
Campbell County	co.campbell.va.us/	51,078	not published on website
City of Danville	danville-va.gov/	48,411	$30,000	$50,000
Franklin County	franklincountyva.gov/	47,286	$25,000	$80,000
Culpeper County	culpepercounty.gov/	46,689	$60,000	$300,000
City of Charlottesville	charlottesville.gov/	45,049	$60,000	no limitation
Tazewell County	tazewellcounty.org/ / PDF	44,598	$30,000	$75,000
City of Harrisonburg	harrisonburgva.gov/ / PDF	40,468	$50,000	$100,000
Wise County	wisecounty.org/ / PDF	40,123	$42,000	$85,000
City of Manassas	manassasva.gov/ / PDF	37,821	$56,150	$340,000
Halifax County	halifaxcountyva.gov/ / PDF	37,355	$22,000	$60,000
Pulaski County	pulaskicounty.org/ / PDF	35,127	$25,000	$55,000
Shenandoah County	shenandoahcountyva.us/	35,075	$40,000	$150,000
Gloucester County	gloucesterva.info/	34,780	$40,000	$100,000
City of Petersburg	petersburgva.gov/ / PDF	33,740	$35,000	$70,000
Smyth County	smythcounty.org/ / PDF	33,081	$30,000	$65,000
Prince George County	princegeorgecountyva.gov/ / PDF	33,047	$45,000	$120,000
Mecklenburg County	va-mecklenburgcounty.civicplus.com/	32,380	N/A	N/A
Amherst County	countyofamherst.com/ / PDF	31,894	$50,000	$150,000
Warren County	warrencountyva.gov/ / PDF	31,584	$35,000	$150,000
Botetourt County	botetourtva.gov/	30,496	not published on website
Russell County	russellcountyva.us/ / PDF	30,308	$30,000	$80,000
Isle of Wight County	co.isle-of-wight.va.us/ / PDF	29,728	$54,600	$228,596
Carroll County	carrollcountyva.gov/	29,245	$40,000	$125,000
Caroline County	co.caroline.va.us/ / PDF	28,545	$50,000	$100,000
Wythe County	wytheco.org/	27,599	$35,000	$100,000
Buchanan County	https://ecode360.com/6548884	26,978	$25,000	$50,000
Orange County	orangecountyva.gov/ / PDF	25,881	$50,000	$120,000
Louisa County	louisacounty.gov/ / PDF	25,627	$50,000	$200,000
City of Salem	salemva.gov/ / PDF	24,747	$65,000	$185,000
Dinwiddie County	dinwiddieva.us/ / PDF	24,533	$50,000	$100,000
City of Fredericksburg	fredericksburgva.gov/	24,286	$60,000	$300,000
City of Staunton	ci.staunton.va.us/ / PDF	23,853	$35,000	$70,000
Lee County	leecor.org/	23,589	$35,000	$95,000
City of Winchester	winchesterva.gov/ / PDF	23,585	$58,818	$100,000
Scott County	scottcountyva.com/ / PDF	23,403	$35,000	$95,000
Page County	pagecounty.virginia.gov/	23,177	$21,500	$114,000
Powhatan County	powhatanva.gov/ / PDF	22,377	$50,000	$200,000
City of Hopewell	hopewellva.gov/ / PDF	22,354	$32,500	$100,000
City of Fairfax	fairfaxva.gov/ / PDF	21,498	$85,000	$400,000
Rockbridge County	co.rockbridge.va.us/ / PDF	20,808	$50,000	$200,000
Fluvanna County	fluvannacounty.org/ / PDF	20,047	$50,000	$160,000
Prince Edward County	co.prince-edward.va.us/ / PDF	19,720	$22,000	$120,000
City of Waynesboro	waynesboro.va.us/ / PDF	19,520	$32,000	$67,500
Patrick County	co.patrick.va.us/	19,407	$24,000	$100,000
Brunswick County	brunswickco.com/ / PDF	18,419	not published on website
Grayson County	graysoncountyva.gov/ / PDF	17,917	$23,500	$80,500
Southampton County	southamptoncounty.org/ / PDF	17,482	$40,301	$168,501
City of Bristol	bristolva.org/ / PDF	17,367	$24,000	$40,000
City of Colonial Heights	colonialheightsva.gov/ / PDF	16,897	$40,000	$80,000
Goochland County	goochlandva.us/ / PDF	16,863	$67,000	$250,000
King George County	kinggeorgecountyva.gov/ / PDF	16,803	$40,000	$60,000
Westmoreland County	westmoreland-county.org/	16,718	not published on website
Giles County	virginiasmtnplayground.com/	16,657	$45,000	$65,000
Dickenson County	dickensonva.org/	16,395	not published on website
City of Radford	radfordva.gov/	15,859	$24,000	$70,000
Nottoway County	nottoway.org/	15,725	not published on website
Buckingham County	buckinghamcountyva.org/ / PDF	15,623	$35,000	$80,000
City of Martinsville	martinsville-va.gov/	15,416	$27,500	$65,000
Greene County	greenecountyva.gov/	15,244	not published on website
Nelson County	nelsoncounty-va.gov/	14,445	$50,000	$100,000
City of Manassas Park	manassasparkva.gov/	14,273	$60,000	$150,000
City of Williamsburg	williamsburgva.gov/ / PDF	14,068	$104,550	$283,666
Floyd County	floydcova.gov/	13,874	$50,000	$175,000
Appomattox County	appomattoxcountyva.gov/	13,705	$20,000	$100,000
New Kent County	co.new-kent.va.us/ / PDF	13,462	$15,000	$50,000
King William County	kwc.gov/ / PDF	13,146	$50,000	$100,000
Lunenburg County	lunenburgva.gov/	13,146	not published on website
Northampton County	co.northampton.va.us/ / PDF	13,093	$50,000	$100,000
Alleghany County	co.alleghany.va.us/ / PDF	12,926	$35,000	$100,000
Clarke County	clarkecounty.gov/ / PDF	12,652	$55,000	$250,000
Madison County	madisonco.virginia.gov/ / PDF	12,520	$30,000	$75,000
Sussex County	sussexcountyva.gov/ / PDF	12,504	$25,000	$100,000
Charlotte County	charlottecountyva.gov/	12,472	not published on website
City of Falls Church	fallschurchva.gov/ / PDF	12,332	$90,000	$500,000
Northumberland County	co.northumberland.va.us/	12,259	not published on website
Lancaster County	lancova.com/	11,567	$27,300	$100,000
City of Poquoson	ci.poquoson.va.us/	11,566	not published on website
Greensville County	greensvillecountyva.gov/ / PDF	11,560	$30,000	$75,000
Amelia County	ameliacova.com/ / PDF	11,400	$30,000	$100,000
Essex County	essex-virginia.org/ / PDF	9,989	$27,500	$100,000
Middlesex County	co.middlesex.va.us/ / PDF	9,932	$27,500	$100,000
Mathews County	mathewscountyva.gov/ / PDF	9,207	$35,000	$100,000
Cumberland County	cumberlandcounty.virginia.gov/ / PDF	9,017	$30,000	$100,000
Richmond County	co.richmond.va.us/ / PDF	8,809	$20,000	$100,000
City of Franklin	franklincountyva.gov/	8,346	$25,000	$80,000
Rappahannock County	rappahannockcountyva.gov/	6,983	$40,000	$200,000
Charles City County	charlescityva.us/	6,926	not published on website
Bland County	blandcountyva.gov/ / PDF	6,871	$25,000	$75,000
City of Lexington	lexingtonva.gov/	6,867	$30,000	$70,000
City of Galax	galaxva.com/	6,837	not published on website
Surry County	surrycountyva.gov/ / PDF	6,829	$45,000	$125,000
King and Queen County	kingandqueenco.net/ / PDF	6,630	$35,000	$60,000
City of Buena Vista	buenavistava.org/	6,349	$30,000	not published on website
City of Covington	covington.va.us/ / PDF	6,303	$35,000	$80,000
City of Bedford	bedfordva.gov/	6,299	not published on website
City of Emporia	ci.emporia.va.us/	5,665	not published on website
Craig County	craigcountyva.gov/	5,091	not published on website
Bath County	bathcountyva.gov/ / PDF	5,048	$50,000	$200,000
City of Norton	nortonva.org/ / PDF	3,904	$15,000	$25,000
Highland County	highlandcova.org/	2,536	not published on website

Photo by Jalen Hueser on Unsplash. Image has been cropped.