Salem, VA · Updated Oct 2026

What a Salem 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 Salem house

$8,962a year · $747 a month

Starts at $256,287 of value before exemptions. Typical use.

Property tax$2,973
1.160% of $256,287
Electricity and gas$2,992
1032 kWh a month $1,973 · 49.87 therms $1,020
Water and sewer$1,545
7,000 gallons a month on City of Salem: water $63, sewer $65 a month
Trash$120
City tote, $10 a month
Home insurance$1,332
Typical premium $1,332

A typical Salem house pays about $9,000 a year: $2,970 property tax and charges, $1,540 water and sewer, $120 trash, $2,990 electricity and gas, $1,330 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:

Seniors 65+ or disabled, income $65,000 or under: freeze your real estate taxTax frozen while you qualify
Owners named on the deed who were 65 or older or totally and permanently disabled by December 31 of the preceding year can have the real estate tax on their primary residence frozen, if gross income from all sources is $65,000 or under and assets other than the home are $185,000 or under. Assessments keep changing, but the amount paid stays at the frozen rate while you qualify.
How: Apply to the Commissioner of the Revenue between July 1 and August 31; you must reapply every year (540-375-3019).
Tax relief or veterans relief: toter charge of $1$1 per toter instead of $10
For citizens approved for Tax Relief for the Elderly or Veterans Relief, the city's 2024-2025 fee schedule lists a toter charge of $1.00 per toter; the regular toter charge is $10.00 monthly per toter.
How: Approval is through the Commissioner of the Revenue.
Disabled veterans rated 100%: no real estate tax on your homeFull exemption
Veterans with a 100% service-connected, permanent and total disability pay no current real estate taxes on their primary residence and up to one acre of land. The veteran must be named on the deed; a surviving spouse who has not remarried can also qualify.
How: Apply year-round with the Commissioner of the Revenue, with the VA Summary of Benefits letter (540-375-3019).
Fixed a leak? Get half the extra water and sewer charge backCredit of half the excess
If a leak on your property doubles your monthly water/sewer cost compared with your average for the preceding 12 months, the credit is one-half of the excess over that average. It is allowed once in a 12-month period.
How: Have a plumbing contractor repair the leak and certify it in writing to Utility Billing (540-375-3026, opt 2).
Free bulk and brush pickupNo charge
All single-family homes in Salem qualify for bulk waste collection: appliances, furniture and normal residential brush and tree trimmings placed at the curb. Debris from work that needs a building permit or from a paid contractor is not collected.
How: Put items at the curb on your scheduled collection day.
Free curbside loose-leaf collectionThrough December 31, 2026
Street Department crews collect loose leaves at the curb on their normal weekday runs from October 19 through December 31, 2026. From January 4 through March 5, pickup is by request only.
How: Pile loose leaves along the street, separate from brush and trash; from January 4 call 540-375-3039 to schedule.

Money dates

Jan 4, 2027in 73 days2027 reassessment notices are mailed.
Jan 29, 2027in 98 daysDeadline for hearings on building permits and the 2027 reassessment.
Feb 19, 2027in 119 daysDeadline to appeal to the Board of Equalization.
After each due dateReal estate tax paid late gets a penalty of 10% or $10.00, whichever is greater, plus interest of 10% a year.

Who serves this house

Water: City of Salem; City of Salem water rates for January 2026, billed monthly; the schedule sets further increases each January through 2028. Salem's utility service tax on residential water is 6% of the first $15.00 of revenue, up to $0.90 per service.
Property tax: 1.16% of value; 2026 tax year, City of Salem rate as stated on the city's Real Estate page
Garbage: City of Salem Sanitation Division; Weekly tote collection; a $10 a month toter fee on the city utility bill; recycling at three drop-off centers
Sewer: City of Salem; Monthly sewer base fee plus a volume rate per 1,000 gallons of water used
Electricity: City of Salem Electric Department; The city owns its electric system and serves all but three properties in the city; $9.50 base charge a month
Gas: Roanoke Gas; Residential service (RS): $17.00 monthly charge from October 1, 2026
Schools: Salem City Schools; The city's FY 2027 budget transfers $24,813,041 to the School Board

Pay or manage your bills

Your water

Source: The source is the Roanoke River and three ground water wells; in emergencies Salem buys or exchanges water with the Western Virginia Water Authority.
PFAS: None of the 29 PFAS compounds tested under EPA's UCMR 5 in 2023-2024, or lithium, were detected in Salem's finished drinking water.
Violations: The 2025 water quality report lists no violations.

How these numbers are made

Property tax: the City of Salem rate of $1.16 per $100 of assessed value for the 2026 tax year, as stated on Salem's Real Estate page; Cardinal News reported in May 2026 that Salem proposed a two-cent cut from $1.18. The city's online Book of Rates still shows an older $1.20 rate. Salem is an independent city, so there is no separate county or school district rate. Virginia has no general homestead exemption; relief for seniors, disabled owners and disabled veterans is in the tips. Car (personal property) tax is not included.
The starting value is about $256,000: the average assessed value of Salem's 8,949 class 1 parcels in the 2026 land book (developed or developing residential area). It is an average, not a median, and the class can include condominiums, townhouses and lots; we found no published median.
Water and sewer: City of Salem January 2026 rates, billed monthly. Water: $15.93 base fee, then $6.84 per 1,000 gallons up to 5,000 gallons, $7.12 to 10,000, $7.68 to 75,000. Sewer: $24.80 base fee plus $5.89 per 1,000 gallons of water used (we assume all household water is billed for sewer; the city's irrigation page is an image we could not read). Salem's local utility service tax (6% of the first $15, capped at $0.90 per service per billing period) is added to the water and sewer base fees as $0.90 each. The schedules rise again in January 2027 ($16.41 and $25.54 base fees). The page starts at 9 CCF a month; we found no Salem typical-use figure.
Trash: the $10 a month toter fee for tote allowance and trash pick-up (the city's Terms & Charges page; the latest Book of Rates fee table is for 2024-2025). Salem has no curbside recycling; recycling is at three drop-off centers. No stormwater fee is included: in 2026 the city proposed a $10 a month stormwater utility fee for single-family homes, but it had not been adopted.
Electricity: City of Salem Schedule R.S. effective July 1, 2025: $9.50 base charge plus $0.90 utility service tax (the $0.40 + $0.003 per kWh tax reaches its $0.90 cap above about 167 kWh), and $0.14590 energy charge + $0.001736 power cost adjustment + $0.00102 state consumption, $0.00038 local consumption and $0.000165 special regulatory tax per kWh up to 2,500 kWh (lower tax rates above). The power cost adjustment is reset each July and can change during the year. Starting use is 1,032 kWh a month, EIA's 2024 average for Virginia homes.
Gas: Roanoke Gas residential (RS) rates effective October 1, 2026 ($17.00 a month; $1.335830 per therm for the first 54 therms, $1.151888 above), plus Salem's $0.53 minimum utility service tax (its $0.011 per 100 CCF part adds less than a cent and is left out) and Virginia's $0.0135 state and $0.004 local consumption tax per CCF, converted at 1.037 therms per CCF. Not included: the SAVE infrastructure rider, weather normalization adjustment and special regulatory tax. Starting use is about 49.9 therms a month (EIA 2024 Virginia residential deliveries per consumer). Insurance is the 2022 Virginia average HO-3 premium (NAIC).
Nothing here is legal, tax or insurance advice.

Sources

How Salem compares

A typical Salem house against the 15 Virginia cities we cover, using the same default numbers as the total above.

Per year	Salem	Median	Where it falls
Property tax rate	1.16%	1.06%	higher than 10 of the other 14 Virginia cities we cover
Water	$760	$614	higher than 12 of the other 14 Virginia cities we cover
Sewer and utility-bill fees	$784	$784	in the middle of 14 other Virginia cities we cover
Trash	$120	$234	lower than 7 of the other 12 Virginia cities we cover
Electricity and gas	$2,992	$3,304	lower than 9 of the other 14 Virginia cities we cover
Home insurance	$1,332	$1,332	in the middle of 13 other Virginia cities we cover
Total	$8,962	$10,361	lower than 10 of the other 14 Virginia 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 $760 a year at typical use, higher than 12 of the other 14 Virginia cities we cover.

Ask: "Water here costs about $760 a year at typical use, higher than 12 of the other 14 Virginia cities we cover. What drives that cost, and would you change anything?"

See who is running in your city →

Common questions about Salem house costs

What is the property tax rate in Salem?

About 1.16% of the value before exemptions a year (2026 tax year, City of Salem rate as stated on the city's Real Estate page), plus flat charges on the same bill.

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

About $5,800 a year on $500,000 of the value before exemptions.

How much is the water bill in Salem?

About $129 a month for water and sewer at typical use (7,000 gallons a month) on City of Salem.

How much does trash pickup cost in Salem?

$10 a month for a house.

Can seniors lower their property tax or bills in Salem?

Yes. Seniors 65+ or disabled, income $65,000 or under: freeze your real estate tax: Owners named on the deed who were 65 or older or totally and permanently disabled by December 31 of the preceding year can have the real estate tax on their primary residence frozen, if gross income from all sources is $65,000 or under and assets other than the home are $185,000 or under. Assessments keep changing, but the amount paid stays at the frozen rate while you qualify.

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

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