East Ridge, TN · Updated Oct 2026

What a East Ridge home costs each year

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

Suggestions as you type come from Google; the lookup uses free public map services to find who serves it. Not stored unless you save your house.

Example · a East Ridge house

$7,113a year · $593 a month

Starts at the typical market value, $211,100; your assessed value is often lower. Typical use.

A East Ridge house at the typical market value ($211,100) costs about $7,100 a year: $1,230 property tax and charges, $1,370 water and sewer, $200 trash, $2,820 electricity and gas, $1,490 home insurance. 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:

Disabled veterans: state tax reliefOn up to $175,000 of market value
Disabled veteran homeowners or their surviving spouses can get state property tax relief, calculated on up to $175,000 of market value.
How: Complete form F-16 (F-16S for a surviving spouse) and contact the Hamilton County Trustee to apply.
Free curbside recycling can
East Ridge gives residents a free recycling can; recycling is picked up every other week.
How: Fill out the Recycling Program Form and mail it to the City of East Ridge, ATTN: Sanitation Department, 1517 Tombras Avenue, or email it.
Free leaf vacuum pickup
From mid fall to early spring, city crews vacuum up leaves raked to the curb, on a schedule for North and South of Ringgold Road. The service is free to all residents.
How: Rake leaves close to the road, not onto it or into a ditch; questions: Sanitation office (423) 892-8666.
Bulk items and brush at Yale Street
Large bulk items such as furniture and appliances may be taken to the City drop-off center at 1015 Yale Street; mulch from the brush pit is $6 per scoop.
How: Sanitation Department, 1015 Yale Street, (423) 892-8666.

Adjust to match your bills

What you knowTrash cartEast Ridge's residential sanitation fee is $204 a year ($17 a month), billed on your Hamilton County property tax notice. An extra cart is $60 a year, paid in advance at City Hall.

Value before exemptionsThe starting value is a Census median of what owners think their homes are worth, not your appraisal: enter the appraised value from your Hamilton County assessment notice or tax bill.

Home insurance, a yearFrom your policy. We start at $1,492, Tennessee statewide average HO-3 homeowners premium for 2022 (NAIC data via Triple-I).

Your use

Water, thousands of gallons a month

On your water bill. A typical house uses 5,000–8,000 gallons.

Electricity, kWh a month

On your EPB bill. An electric car adds about 300 kWh.

Gas, therms a month (yearly average)

Money dates

Feb 28, 2027Your 2026 Hamilton County Trustee bill, which also carries the East Ridge city tax, sanitation fee and stormwater fee, is due by the last day of February; on March 1 county taxes become delinquent and accrue 1 1/2% interest a month.
May 20Ask the Hamilton County Assessor for an informal review of your value before May 20; appeals to the County Board of Equalization are accepted through the first week of June.
Due date on your sewer billWWTA adds a 10% penalty to past-due sewer bills; payments must be posted by the due date on the bill.

Who serves this house

Water: Tennessee American Water; Tennessee American Water residential General Water Service Tariff (effective January 21, 2025), which applies in East Ridge: a monthly service charge by meter size plus block rates per 100 gallons, with the PCOP rider (0.97% from June 1, 2026) applied to the total bill
Property tax: 0.58% of value; 2026 tax year, City of East Ridge and Hamilton County
Garbage: City of East Ridge Sanitation Department; One 96-gallon cart; the residential sanitation fee is $204 a year, billed on the Hamilton County property tax notice. Curbside recycling every other week with a free recycling can
Electricity: EPB; Base Rate Plan: $9.81 customer charge plus 9.095¢ per kWh and TVA's monthly fuel cost adjustment
Gas: Chattanooga Gas; Customer charge $36.01 a month November-April and $29.71 May-October, plus per-therm charges
Schools: Hamilton County; Of the county's $1.5157 tax rate for 2026, $0.6540 is the school fund

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The Citico Water Treatment Plant in Chattanooga draws surface water from the Tennessee River.
Testing: In 2025, the water met state and federal drinking water requirements.
Lead: 2025 lead testing: 90th percentile below 1 ppb, and 0 of 51 homes sampled above the action level.
Hardness: Hardness averaged 76 ppm (4.4 grains per gallon) in 2025, which the report lists as moderately hard (61 - 120).

How these numbers are made

Water (Tennessee American Water, residential General Water Service Tariff effective January 21, 2025): $19.92 monthly service charge for a 5/8-inch meter, then per 100 gallons 5.017¢ for the first 3,000 gallons, 79.567¢ to 48,600 gallons and 49.989¢ above that, with the 0.97% PCOP rider (from June 1, 2026) added to the whole bill; the Incremental Capital Recovery Rider is 0.00%. Typical use is the 3,800 gallons a month that Tennessee American Water's 2024 rate petition gives for an average residential customer. East Ridge's new-resident page lists Tennessee American Water as the local water utility.
Sewer (Hamilton County WWTA, rates approved for October 1, 2026): $20.45 per 1,000 gallons of metered water plus the $8 monthly Private Service Lateral Program fee charged to gravity-sewer customers. The sewer minimum bill ($28.69 for meters under 1 inch) only matters below about 1,000 gallons a month. Homes on septic pay no sewer charge.
Garbage: East Ridge's residential sanitation fee of $204 a year (from July 1, 2025; the 2026 tax bills still show $204.00) is billed on the Hamilton County Trustee tax notice; we show it as $17 a month, and $22 a month with one extra cart ($60 a year, paid at City Hall). The Hamilton County Water Quality Program stormwater fee of $9.00 a year per residential unit is on the same bill; East Ridge has no separate city stormwater fee on sample 2026 bills.
Property tax: Tennessee assesses a house at 25% of its appraised value and sets rates per $100 of that assessed value. 2026 rates: City of East Ridge $0.7993 and Hamilton County $1.5157 (general fund $0.8563, school fund $0.6540, district road fund $0.0054), $2.3150 in all, which is 0.579% of appraised value. The Hamilton County Trustee collects the county and city taxes, the sanitation fee and the stormwater fee on one bill. Tennessee has no general homestead exemption; state relief programs are listed as tips.
The starting home value is the Census median value of owner-occupied homes in East Ridge ($211,100, ACS 2020-2024), a market value that may differ from Hamilton County's 2025 reappraisal, so the tax shown for it may not match your bill. Enter your appraised value from the Hamilton County Assessor (the next reappraisal is in 2029). Home insurance is the Tennessee statewide average for 2022 (NAIC via Triple-I).
Electricity: EPB Base Rate Plan, $9.81 customer charge plus the 9.095¢ energy charge and the average of the 11 published monthly residential TVA fuel cost adjustments from December 2025 to October 2026 (2.816¢), 11.911¢ per kWh; typical use 1,217 kWh a month from EPB's 40 kWh a day household average. Gas: Chattanooga Gas R-1, the average of its winter and summer customer charges ($32.86), the 24.950¢ commodity charge, October 2026 surcharges (4.083¢) and the simple 12-month average of the purchased gas adjustment for November 2025 to October 2026 ($7.46 per dekatherm, 74.6¢ per therm), about $1.04 per therm; typical use 45.8 therms a month (EIA Tennessee residential average).
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How East Ridge compares

A typical East Ridge house against the 27 Tennessee cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	East Ridge	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	0.58%	0.65%	lower than 16 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover
Water	$337	$528	lower than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$1,028	$778	higher than 20 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover
Trash	$204	$211	lower than 11 of the other 19 Tennessee cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,821	$2,439	higher than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,492	$1,492	in the middle of 26 other Tennessee cities we cover
Total	$7,113	$7,278	lower than 16 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover

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. Water

The fact: Water here costs about $337 a year at typical use, lower than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $337 a year at typical use, lower than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

2. Sewer and utility-bill fees

The fact: Sewer and flat utility-bill charges here come to about $1,028 a year, higher than 20 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover. 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 $1,028 a year, higher than 20 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

3. Electricity and gas

The fact: Electricity and gas for a typical house here cost about $2,821 a year, higher than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover. Rates are set mostly by the utility and the state.

Ask: "Electricity and gas here cost about $2,821 a year for a typical house, higher than 22 of the other 26 Tennessee cities we cover. Which parts of that can the city influence, and what would you do about them?"

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Common questions about East Ridge house costs

What is the property tax rate in East Ridge?

About 0.58% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year, City of East Ridge and Hamilton County), plus flat charges on the same bill (Hamilton County Water Quality Program stormwater fee (yearly, per residential unit) $9).

How much is property tax on a $500,000 house in East Ridge?

About $2,903 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions, including $9 of flat charges.

How much is the water bill in East Ridge?

About $114 a month for water and sewer at typical use (4,000 gallons a month) on Tennessee American Water.

How much does trash pickup cost in East Ridge?

$17 to $22 a month, depending on the trash cart size (One City cart, Two carts (extra cart $60 a year)).

How much does a house in East Ridge cost to run each year?

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