Miami Valley School District Income Taxes: Milton-Union at 2.00%, Xenia at 0.50%, and the Districts That Levy None

Ohio's school district income tax is a separate, voter-approved income tax that residents of a school district pay on top of property taxes, and the Miami Valley map is sharply split in 2026. As of January 1, 2026, Milton-Union EVSD in Miami County charges 2.00 percent on earned income, the highest rate in the region, Xenia Community Schools in Greene County charges 0.50 percent on the traditional base, and New Lebanon and Valley View in Montgomery County charge 1.25 and 1.75 percent. The districts most buyers compare, Beavercreek, Kettering, Centerville, Oakwood, Dayton, Fairborn, Vandalia-Butler, Troy, Tipp City, and Springfield City Schools, currently levy none.

How does the Ohio school district income tax actually work?

Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5748 is the law. A school district income tax requires voter approval at a regular or special election, and the rate must be set in increments of a quarter percent. There is no statutory rate ceiling, though 2.0 percent is the highest rate any Ohio district currently levies. Two bases exist. An earned-income tax applies only to wages, salaries, tips, and self-employment income. A traditional tax starts from the same base as the state income tax, Ohio adjusted gross income, so it also reaches pensions, interest, dividends, and capital gains. The Ohio Department of Taxation administers and collects the tax. It is a residence tax: you owe it because you live in the district, on income you receive while you live there. Working in a district without living in it does not trigger the tax.

Employers withhold the tax from paychecks based on the employee's residence and report it on the W-2, and residents file a separate Ohio Form SD 100 each year for each district they lived in. Because the tax is income-based, its revenue is not capped the way property-tax levies are: House Bill 920 limits how much a voted property levy can collect in dollars as home values rise, while income-tax revenue grows with wages. That structural difference is why districts turn to an income tax at all, and it is why the same school district can have both an income tax and property levies at the same time.

Which Miami Valley school districts levy a school district income tax in 2026?

The Ohio Department of Taxation publishes the authoritative list every year. Its tax year 2026 list, effective January 1, 2026, shows nine districts in and around the Miami Valley levying a school district income tax. The concentration is rural and small-town: every Miami County district that levies one sits west of the Dayton suburbs, and the Greene County entries are Xenia and Jamestown, not the fast-growing east side. Here is the map.

Table: Miami Valley school districts with a school district income tax, rates and bases as published in the Ohio Department of Taxation's tax year 2026 list effective January 1, 2026. Verify the current rate for a specific parcel with ODOT and the district, accessed October 26, 2026.

Which Miami Valley school districts do not levy a school district income tax?

Every district that is not on the Ohio Department of Taxation's taxing-district list levies no school district income tax, and that includes almost every district buyers compare in the Dayton area. The cities and townships below fund operations through property-tax levies and state funding instead. One distinction matters: Huber Heights does have a 0.25 percent income tax, but it is a City of Huber Heights public-safety tax approved for police and fire, not a school district tax, so it does not put the city's schools on the SDIT list.

Table: Miami Valley districts not on the Ohio Department of Taxation school district income tax list, effective January 1, 2026. SDIT status per ODOT's taxing-district lists, accessed October 26, 2026.

To the south, Springboro, Lebanon, Mason, Franklin, and Kings in Warren County and Lakota, Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, and Monroe in Butler County are also not on the taxing list, with one exception noted above: Kings Local in Warren County levies 1.00 percent. Lebanon City Schools has a 1.0 percent earned-income tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and Fairfield City Schools in Butler County saw a 1.25 percent measure rejected by voters in May 2026.

What does a school district income tax cost a household in real dollars?

The number buyers want is the annual cost, and it scales with income, not home price. On $80,000 of earned income, a 2.00 percent district costs $1,600 a year, about $133 a month, while a 0.50 percent district costs $400 a year. On the traditional base, the same rate reaches more than wages, so a household drawing pension and investment income in a traditional-base district owes on that income too, while the same household in an earned-income district owes nothing on it. Here is the annual cost by rate.

Table: Illustrative annual school district income tax on earned income at each Miami Valley rate. These are general-education figures, not tax advice; the exact bill depends on the base, the income mix, and the year, accessed October 26, 2026.

Why do rural Miami and Greene county districts rely on income taxes while the Dayton suburbs do not?

The two funding tools behave differently under Ohio law. A school operating levy is a property millage, and House Bill 920 caps how many dollars a voted property levy can collect as valuations rise, so a levy's revenue is essentially fixed at the dollar amount voters approved. A school district income tax is not subject to that cap, and its revenue rises and falls with residents' income. The Ohio Legislative Service Commission describes the income tax as a revenue line that grows as income grows, and Policy Matters Ohio has noted it is a limited tool rather than a replacement for the property tax. The trade-off voters weigh is the base: an income tax reaches everyone who earns, while a property levy lands on property owners.

The recent ballot record shows the tool is active in the region. Milton-Union voters approved a 0.75 percentage point increase in November 2024 that took effect January 1, 2026, lifting that district to 2.00 percent. Xenia voters renewed the traditional 0.50 percent tax in May 2023. Lebanon City Schools in Warren County has a 1.0 percent earned-income tax on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and Fairfield City Schools in Butler County saw a 1.25 percent measure rejected in May 2026. This is the objective record of which districts levy the tax and how the two mechanisms differ, not a recommendation about either approach. For school and tax decisions, the data and the links are here for each family to evaluate.

What should a buyer check before an offer in a district that levies an SDIT?

In our work helping buyers compare addresses across the Greene, Montgomery, and Miami county lines, the school district income tax is the line people miss most. A buyer can tour a house in West Milton, see the 2.00 percent withholding on the pay stub, and assume it is a city tax. It is not. It is the school district's tax, it is separate from the city income tax, and it is separate from the property tax on the same house. Here is the checklist we run before a buyer compares two districts.

• Confirm the exact school district for the parcel with the county auditor; district lines rarely follow city lines, and a street can split districts.
• Know it is residence-based: you owe it because you live in the district, on income received while living there, and commuting in to work does not trigger it.
• Check the base: earned income reaches wages and self-employment only, while traditional reaches the same base as the state income tax, including pensions, interest, and capital gains.
• Count it alongside the municipal income tax: a Xenia resident pays the 0.50 percent school district tax and Xenia's 2.25 percent city income tax, and the two are separate obligations.
• Expect the withholding on the W-2 and plan for the annual Ohio Form SD 100 filing.
• Model it as a monthly number in the budget, not a closing cost: 2.00 percent on $80,000 is about $133 a month.
• Know the rate can change at the ballot in quarter-point steps, and that a board can reduce the rate in quarter-point steps without an election.
• Ask whether the district pairs its income tax with property-tax relief; Ohio ballot language must show both the income-tax rate and the property-tax rate side of the exchange.

For the wider picture, see our Dayton school districts and neighborhoods guide, our County Line Road tax check across the Kettering-Beavercreek border, the 0 percent municipal income tax havens comparison, and the how property taxes work in the Dayton area explainer, plus the Greater Dayton region page for the full market view.