Taxes in Columbia
Columbia's property tax carries a genuine, disclosed disagreement between sources -- a computed figure of roughly 0.29% of appraised value and a separately cited Ownwell figure of 0.66% -- layered onto Tennessee's zero state income tax and the same 9.75% combined sales tax rate as Spring Hill's Maury County side.
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Learn moreZero state income tax, the same statewide fact as everywhere else in this dataset
Tennessee levies no state income tax on wages, retirement income, capital gains, or Social Security -- a 2014 constitutional amendment permanently bars any future wage/salary income tax (see tennessee.js). This applies uniformly in Columbia.
A genuine, disclosed property-tax-rate disagreement, not resolved to one figure
Maury County's 2026 rate is $0.74 per $100 assessed value (the same countywide rate cited for Spring Hill's Maury County side). The City of Columbia's own most recently cited actual levied rate is $0.4075 per $100 assessed, though a separate figure of $0.4302 per $100 was cited as the city's statutory rate CEILING -- not necessarily the same as the current levy. Applying Tennessee's 25% residential assessment ratio to the county+city sum computes to roughly 0.29% of appraised value. Separately, Ownwell cited a meaningfully higher effective rate of 0.66%, illustrated on a $242,000 median-home baseline producing roughly $1,597/year in tax -- a real, unreconciled disagreement against the ~0.29% computed figure, possibly reflecting a different baseline home value or assessment-methodology difference. Both figures are disclosed rather than picked as the "correct" one -- confirm directly with the City of Columbia and Maury County Assessor for a specific property.
A combined 9.75% sales tax, same as the rest of Maury County
Maury County's 2.75% local-option sales tax plus Tennessee's 7% state rate combine to 9.75% -- the same rate cited for Spring Hill's Maury County side, since it's a single countywide rate. This sits slightly above Tennessee's ~9.61% statewide average, itself the second-highest combined rate in the nation after Louisiana.
Tennessee's realty transfer tax applies at purchase
A one-time realty transfer tax of $0.37 per $100 of the purchase price/value applies at closing (roughly $1,399 on Columbia's median sale price), separate from the ongoing annual property tax rates discussed above -- see buying-a-home.
Key takeaways
- Tennessee has zero state income tax, applying uniformly in Columbia.
- Columbia's effective property tax rate is a genuine, disclosed disagreement: a computed figure of ~0.29% of appraised value versus a separately cited Ownwell figure of 0.66% -- not reconciled this pass; confirm directly with local officials.
- The combined 9.75% sales tax rate matches Spring Hill's Maury County side, since it's a single countywide rate.
- A one-time $0.37/$100 realty transfer tax applies at purchase, separate from the ongoing annual property tax figures above.
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