Grand Rapids, MI · Updated Oct 2026

What a Grand Rapids house pays

Property tax, water, trash and energy from public rates. Look up your address to make it yours, and see how to pay less.

Sent only to free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a Grand Rapids house

$7,863a year · $655 a month

Starts at $86,583 of taxable value. Typical use.

Property tax$2,845
5.086% of $86,583 taxable value, with the principal residence exemption
Electricity and gas$2,786
628.09 kWh a month $1,885 · 68.74 therms $901
Water and sewer$861
7 units (CCF) a month on City of Grand Rapids Water System: water $34, sewer $38 a month
TrashNot included
Recycling is paid through the City property tax millage
Home insurance$1,056
Typical premium $1,056

A typical Grand Rapids house pays about $7,600 a year: $2,840 property tax and charges, $860 water and sewer, $2,790 electricity and gas, $1,060 home insurance; trash is billed separately. Estimated from public rates, not anyone's actual bill.

Rates checked Oct 22, 2026. Insurance: what you enter, or a typical premium until you do. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Ways to pay less

Nothing here applies to every house automatically. These are worth checking:

Switch to the 32-gallon cart, a tip every week cartUp to $126 a year
Your cart costs $26 a month; the smallest costs $16. Worth it if you rarely fill it.
How: Customers may exchange their cart once at no additional cost; any further request to change the cart requires a $28.50 fee
Homeowners: Principal Residence ExemptionUp to 18 mills
A principal residence is exempt from up to 18 mills of local school operating tax; Grand Rapids Public Schools levies 18.0 mills for general operating purposes on non-homestead property.
How: See the Michigan Department of Treasury's Principal Residence Exemption information.
Disabled veterans and low incomes: City property tax exemptions
The City lists property tax exemptions for disabled veterans and for those who live in poverty.
How: Use the exemption information and application pages on the City property tax page.
Lower incomes: Michigan Homestead Property Tax CreditUp to $1,900
Tax year 2025 limits: maximum taxable value $165,400, total household resources limit $71,500, phase-out above $62,500, credit limit $1,900.
How: See the Michigan Department of Treasury's Homestead Property Tax Credit information.
Income at or below 150% of poverty: DTE Gas income assistance creditUp to $14.50 a month
For a Rate A customer at their primary residence whose total household income does not exceed 150% of the federal poverty level, one of two DTE Gas income assistance credits is applied in all billing months, at the company's discretion; the Residential Income Assistance Service Provision credit is $14.50 a month, equal to the customer charge.
How: Verify receipt in the past 12 months of a Home Heating Credit, State Emergency Relief, Michigan Energy Assistance Program help, Medicaid or SNAP; a customer who cannot verify any of these must complete a self-attestation form and provide it to the utility.
Pick the smallest trash cart that works$3.63 vs $8.47 per tip
Trash is charged per tip by cart size, and the City says a smaller cart will work if you recycle often.
How: Swap carts once at no cost through the City.

Money dates

Feb 14in 114 daysWinter tax bills, mailed the first week of December, are due February 14; a 4% late fee applies after the due date
Mar 1As of March 1, any unpaid real tax bills, summer or winter, are turned over to the County Treasurer for delinquent collection
Jul 31Summer tax bills, mailed the first week of July, are due July 31; a 1% late fee applies for each month a bill is late

Who serves this house

Water: City of Grand Rapids Water System; City of Grand Rapids water rates effective January 1, 2026: a monthly service charge by meter size plus $2.74 per HCF
Property tax: 5.09% of value; 2026 City, county, Kent ISD, GRCC, transit and Grand Rapids Public Schools rates; 2026 winter county levies as estimated
Garbage: City of Grand Rapids; City pay-per-collection service: you pay per tip of your cart, by cart size; recycling is funded by a property tax millage
Sewer: City of Grand Rapids; City sewer, with a monthly service charge by meter size plus a charge per HCF
Electricity: Consumers Energy; Grand Rapids is listed in the territory served by Consumers Energy's electric rate book
Gas: DTE Gas; Grand Rapids is listed in the territory served by DTE Gas's rate book
Schools: Grand Rapids Public Schools; Grand Rapids Public Schools levies 3.85 debt mills on all property and 18 operating mills on non-homestead property for 2026-27

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Lead: Each year the City collects water samples from about 50 homes, focusing on properties with lead service lines, to measure lead and copper at the tap

Other MI cities

What a Beverly Hills house pays What a Mount Pleasant house pays What a Wyoming house pays What a Battle Creek house pays What a Saginaw house pays What a Marquette house pays What a Midland house pays What a Owosso house pays

How these numbers are made

Property tax: Grand Rapids homes get a summer bill from the City Treasurer (City, Kent County operating, State Education Tax, Kent ISD, Grand Rapids Community College, The Rapid and the school district) and a winter bill with Kent County special levies. We use the Grand Rapids Public Schools area; other districts cover parts of the city at different school rates. Rates: the City's 2026 levy of 8.7511 mills (adopted with the FY2027 budget on May 19, 2026; it includes 1.8 mills for refuse, 0.3361 for the library and 1.143 for parks), GRPS 3.85 debt mills and 18 operating mills on non-homestead property only (board-approved 2026-27 resolutions), and the 2026 countywide levies (Kent County 4.0142, Kent ISD 5.2906, GRCC 1.6603, transit 1.3648) and estimated 2026 winter county levies (1.9255) from the City of Walker's 2026 millage sheet. The Kent District Library levy does not apply: the City levies its own library millage. That is 32.8565 mills with the exemption and 50.8565 without it. Voters approved a new GRPS sinking fund on Aug 4, 2026; it is not included until its rate is published.
Taxable value: Michigan taxes the taxable value, capped at inflation or 5% a year until a sale; the year after a sale it resets to the assessed value (half of true cash value). We start at the City's average residential taxable value ($86,583, from the City's May 19, 2026 budget slide, an average that includes all residential parcels). Enter your own taxable value from your bill.
Water and sewer: City rates effective January 1, 2026, billed quarterly by the City, shown per month: water $14.74 service charge for a 3/4-inch or smaller meter plus $2.74 per HCF; sewer $17.85 plus $4.29 per HCF. The City's rate study prices an average household at 21 water units and 14 sewer units a quarter, so water use is 7 HCF a month and the sewer charge per HCF of water is set to 4.29 x 14 / 21 = $2.86. No separate stormwater line was found. Rates change each January; the 2027 rate study was not yet published.
Trash: the City charges per tip of the trash cart ($3.63, $6.05 or $8.47 for 32, 64 or 96 gallons); the page assumes one tip every week (52 a year) and you can enter fewer. Recycling is paid through the 1.8-mill refuse millage already in the tax rate, so it is counted once. Yard waste carts and tags cost extra and are not included.
Electricity: the Michigan Public Service Commission's September 1, 2026 bill comparison for Consumers Energy, which includes all surcharges: $9.50 a month with no use plus 23.5 cents per kWh. It is a single-date snapshot, not a seasonal average. Typical use is 628 kWh a month (EIA 2024: Consumers Energy residential sales over customers). Gas: DTE Gas Rate A $14.50 plus the $2.26 2026 IRM surcharge a month, and per Ccf the distribution, energy waste reduction, April to June 2026 average gas cost recovery and reservation charges, about $0.848 per therm; the September 2026 rate order is not reflected. Typical use is about 69 therms a month (EIA Michigan residential average). Insurance: the 2022 NAIC statewide average premium for Michigan (HO-3), older than the other numbers; enter your own premium.
Property tax is modelled as taxable value times the millage rate.
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Grand Rapids compares

A typical Grand Rapids house against the 320 cities we cover nationwide, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Grand Rapids	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	5.09%	1.23%	higher than 307 of the other 314 cities we cover nationwide
Water	$407	$654	lower than 260 of the other 319 cities we cover nationwide
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$454	$735	lower than 239 of the other 284 cities we cover nationwide
Electricity and gas	$2,786	$2,743	higher than 164 of the other 319 cities we cover nationwide
Home insurance	$1,056	$1,492	lower than 279 of the other 314 cities we cover nationwide
Total	$7,548	$11,671	lower than 289 of the other 319 cities we cover nationwide

Cities bill differently (some put trash on the tax bill, some cover more services), so a higher number isn't necessarily worse. The property tax rate is compared instead of dollars because house values differ.

Questions to ask your candidates

Each one starts from a number above. Any candidate can answer them.

1. Property tax rate

The fact: Grand Rapids's property tax rate is 5.09%, higher than 307 of the other 314 cities we cover nationwide. The rate adds up every agency on the bill, not only the city.

Ask: "Property tax in Grand Rapids is 5.09%, higher than 307 of the other 314 cities we cover nationwide. What should that money pay for first, and would you change anything about how it is set?"

2. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $407 a year at typical use, lower than 260 of the other 319 cities we cover nationwide.

Ask: "Water here costs about $407 a year at typical use, lower than 260 of the other 319 cities we cover nationwide. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $454 a year, lower than 239 of the other 284 cities we cover nationwide. Some cities bill sewer on the property tax bill instead, which is not counted here.

Ask: "Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here cost about $454 a year, lower than 239 of the other 284 cities we cover nationwide. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Grand Rapids house costs

What is the property tax rate in Grand Rapids?

About 3.29% of taxable value a year for an owner's principal residence, or 5.09% without the Principal Residence Exemption (2026 City, county, Kent ISD, GRCC, transit and Grand Rapids Public Schools rates; 2026 winter county levies as estimated).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in Grand Rapids?

A house bought for $500,000 starts at about $250,000 of taxable value (50% of its value), so about $8,214 a year with the principal residence exemption. After that, taxable value rises by inflation or 5%, whichever is lower, until the house sells again.

How much is the water bill in Grand Rapids?

About $72 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7 units, or 5,236 gallons a month) on City of Grand Rapids Water System.

How much does trash pickup cost in Grand Rapids?

Recycling is paid through the City property tax millage

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Grand Rapids?

Yes. Lower incomes: Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit: Tax year 2025 limits: maximum taxable value $165,400, total household resources limit $71,500, phase-out above $62,500, credit limit $1,900.

Where can I get help paying utility bills in Grand Rapids?

Income at or below 150% of poverty: DTE Gas income assistance credit: For a Rate A customer at their primary residence whose total household income does not exceed 150% of the federal poverty level, one of two DTE Gas income assistance credits is applied in all billing months, at the company's discretion; the Residential Income Assistance Service Provision credit is $14.50 a month, equal to the customer charge. Verify receipt in the past 12 months of a Home Heating Credit, State Emergency Relief, Michigan Energy Assistance Program help, Medicaid or SNAP; a customer who cannot verify any of these must complete a self-attestation form and provide it to the utility.

How much does a house in Grand Rapids cost to run each year?

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