Moving Between Ohio Counties: Sales Tax Differences & Rules (2026)
How moving between Ohio counties affects the sales tax you pay on vehicles, auto leases, home furnishings, and moving services. Compare county rates and savings.
Calculate total cost and exact Ohio state + county tax on your pre-tax purchase.
An official 2026 estimate based on Ohio Department of Taxation rate schedules (R.C. 5739.02). Actual checkout receipts round intermediate fractions per R.C. 5739.025.
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1. Enter your purchase amount
Type the pre-tax price of what you are buying, in dollars and cents. Don't worry about commas.
Ohio’s sourcing rule is the opposite of what most people assume. Under R.C. 5739.033(B)(1) Ohio keeps origin sourcing for intrastate sales: when an Ohio vendor sells to an Ohio consumer, the sale is taxed where the vendor receives the order, not where the buyer lives. Destination sourcing applies to out-of-state sellers shipping into Ohio and to marketplace facilitators under R.C. 5741.05, and titled motor vehicles are taxed at the buyer’s county of residence at titling. Pick the county that matches your situation.
Every single county starts from the statewide base rate of 5.75%, then adds a county levy that ranges from 0.75% to about 2.25%. Some areas also add a regional transit levy, like the COTA tax that pushes Franklin County all the way to 8.00%. Because those county additions differ, the combined rate you pay varies drastically from one county to the next.
For out-of-state remote sellers, Ohio enforces an economic nexus threshold of $100,000 in gross receipts or 200 or more separate transactions delivered into the state within the current or previous calendar year under R.C. 5741.01(I). Once met, sellers must register and collect Ohio sales tax.
Not everything is taxable. For instance, unprepared groceries and prescription drugs are completely exempt. However, SaaS (Software as a Service) is taxable if it is deemed an automatic data processing or computer service. To learn more about untaxed purchases, check out our Ohio Use Tax Calculator or use the Reverse Sales Tax Calculator if you already have the total.
Let's look at the numbers. A $250 electronics purchase in Franklin County (8.00%) owes $250 × 0.08 = $20.00 in sales tax. Of that, the state portion is $250 × 0.0575 = $14.38 and the county portion is $5.63, for a final, out-the-door cost of $270.00.
| County | Combined Rate | Tax on $100 | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyahoga | 8.00% | $8.00 | $80.00 |
| Franklin | 8.00% | $8.00 | $80.00 |
| Hamilton | 7.80% | $7.80 | $78.00 |
| Summit | 6.75% | $6.75 | $67.50 |
| Montgomery | 7.50% | $7.50 | $75.00 |
| Lucas | 7.75% | $7.75 | $77.50 |
| Butler | 6.50% | $6.50 | $65.00 |
| Stark | 6.50% | $6.50 | $65.00 |
| Lorain | 6.50% | $6.50 | $65.00 |
| Warren | 7.25% | $7.25 | $72.50 |
| Mahoning | 7.50% | $7.50 | $75.00 |
| Greene | 6.75% | $6.75 | $67.50 |
| Medina | 6.75% | $6.75 | $67.50 |
| Lake | 7.25% | $7.25 | $72.50 |
| Clark | 7.25% | $7.25 | $72.50 |
Ohio Sales Tax Rates by Major County (2026) — combined state + county rates. Source: Ohio Department of Taxation.
Sales & Use Tax Specialists
Researched, authored, and audited by our dedicated Ohio sales tax research team. Every county tax rate, municipal transit levy, statutory exemption rule (R.C. 5739), and UST-1 return schedule is audited directly against official Ohio Department of Taxation reports and the Ohio Revised Code.
Reviewed by Editorial Team & Ohio Tax Compliance Specialists · Last reviewed October 1, 2026
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Ohio's statewide base sales tax rate is 5.75%. Counties add their own local levy on top, so the combined rate you actually pay ranges from 6.50% to 8.00% depending entirely on where the sale takes place. Use the calculator above to find the combined rate for your county.
Yes. All 88 counties share the 5.75% state base, but each adds its own county rate, and a few add a transit-district levy. That is why a purchase in Cuyahoga County (8.00%) is taxed higher than the exact same purchase in Butler County (6.50%). If you are unsure which county an address is in, use our Ohio Sales Tax Rate by Address tool to look up the exact jurisdiction.
No. Unprepared food sold for off-premises consumption—the groceries you buy to cook at home—is completely exempt from Ohio sales tax under Article XII, Section 13 of the Ohio Constitution.
Yes. While unprepared groceries are exempt, prepared food (meals from restaurants, hot deli items, and food sold to be eaten on the premises) is fully taxable at the county's combined rate.
No. Prescription drugs dispensed under a valid prescription are exempt from Ohio sales tax under R.C. 5739.02(B)(18), and that exemption remains in place in 2026.
Ohio is origin-based for intrastate sales. Under R.C. 5739.033(B)(1), when an Ohio vendor sells to an Ohio buyer the sale is sourced to where the vendor receives the order — so a Columbus store shipping to Wayne County charges Franklin County's 8.00%, not Wayne's 6.50%. Destination sourcing applies only to out-of-state sellers shipping into Ohio and to marketplace facilitators under R.C. 5741.05. Titled motor vehicles are a separate case again: they are taxed at the buyer's county of residence when the title is issued.
COTA is the Central Ohio Transit Authority. Its transit-district levy is added on top of the state and county rates in Franklin County, pushing the combined rate all the way to 8.00%. Our calculator includes this transit levy automatically for Franklin County. COTA's district also crosses into four neighbouring counties, where the rate inside the boundary is higher than the countywide figure: Delaware and Union go from 7.00% to 8.00%, Licking from 7.25% to 8.25%, and Fairfield from 6.75% to 7.75%. Ohio's other transit split is TARTA around Toledo, which raises part of Wood County (Rossford) from 6.75% to 7.25%. Our county rates are the countywide figures, so on a transit-district address confirm the exact rate with The Finder.
Several counties share the lowest combined rate of 6.50%, including Butler, Lorain, Stark, and Wayne. The highest combined rate is 8.00%, found in Cuyahoga and Franklin counties. Use the county selector above to view the current rate for any county.
To calculate the total price after sales tax in Ohio, multiply the purchase price by the combined tax rate (state + county) and add it to the original price. For example, in an area with a 7.50% rate, multiply the price by 1.075 to get the total. You can use the calculator above to get the exact breakdown instantly.
Yes. Ohio's statewide base rate of 5.75% has remained unchanged since September 1, 2013 (R.C. 5739.02). The calculation engine applies the same exact statutory half-up rounding rules to prior transactions. While this tool displays the currently active 2026 rates, county levies have changed over the years, so verify the historical county rate for the period you are reconciling.
To back out sales tax from a tax-inclusive total, divide the gross amount by 1 plus the combined decimal tax rate. For example, with a 7.50% combined rate, divide the total price by 1.075 to extract the pre-tax subtotal. You can also use our dedicated Reverse Sales Tax Calculator to automate the exact breakdown.
Ohio uses origin-based sourcing for intrastate sales under R.C. 5739.033(B)(1). If your business operates in Ohio and delivers to an in-state customer, charge the sales tax rate of the county where you accept the order. Destination sourcing applies only to out-of-state remote sellers and marketplace facilitators shipping into Ohio (R.C. 5741.05). Businesses report collections monthly or semiannually via form UST-1 on the Ohio Business Gateway.
Unlike retail goods, motor vehicles in Ohio are sourced to the buyer's county of residence upon titling (R.C. 4505.06), not the dealership location. Additionally, new vehicle purchases receive a trade-in allowance deduction that reduces the taxable purchase price, and the standard statutory $18.00 certificate of title fee applies under R.C. 4505.09. You can compute this using our dedicated Ohio Car Sales Tax Calculator.
Ohio does not impose separate city or municipal sales taxes. Instead, city rates reflect the combined 5.75% state base plus the applicable county and transit district levies. Major city rates include: Columbus (8.00% in Franklin County), Cleveland (8.00% in Cuyahoga County), Cincinnati (7.80% in Hamilton County), Dayton (7.50% in Montgomery County), Toledo (7.75% in Lucas County), and Akron (6.75% in Summit County).
Each of Ohio's 88 counties adds a local piggyback levy ranging from 0.75% to 2.25% on top of the 5.75% state base. As a result, combined rates currently range from 6.50% (in Butler, Lorain, Stark, and Wayne) up to 8.00% (in Cuyahoga and Franklin). You can select any county in the calculator above or review the complete statewide table below.
Entering a 5-digit Ohio ZIP code in our calculator maps the postal code to its primary county jurisdiction. Because USPS ZIP boundaries occasionally cross county borders or transit district zones, street addresses on boundary lines should be verified using our Ohio Sales Tax Rate by Address tool, which uses Census address geocoding for precise jurisdiction matching.
Sales tax is collected by registered vendors at the point of sale. Use tax (R.C. 5741.02) is owed directly by the purchaser when taxable goods or services are acquired from an out-of-state or online seller without sales tax collected. Use tax is assessed at the exact same combined rate as sales tax in the buyer's county.
Jump straight to a calculator and full 2026 rate breakdown for Ohio's largest counties. Each page shows the combined rate, a tax-by-amount table, and answers for that county.
Warren County sales tax increased to 7.25% (up from 6.75%).
Five tools for businesses, built on the same rates as this calculator, reconciled against Ohio Department of Taxation data.
Every Ohio county rate, verified against the Ohio Department of Taxation. Select any county to calculate your exact tax.