Dauphin County closing costs
The county-specific transfer tax and deed recording fees for Dauphin County, Pennsylvania - the local details that change your total beyond the statewide rate.
- Effective transfer tax
- 1%
- ≈ $4,000 on a $400,000 home
- City transfer tax
- 1%
- where the city levies its own
- Typical lender + 3rd-party fees
- $6,113
- median of 2,292 purchase loans · HMDA 2023
Transfer tax in Dauphin County
Pennsylvania has NO county-level realty transfer tax in Dauphin County (county_transfer_tax_rate = null). Total realty transfer tax in the City of Harrisburg / Dauphin County is 2% of consideration, split: PA Commonwealth (Dept. of Revenue) 1% (state-level), local municipality 0.5%, and school district 0.5%. The combined municipal + school portion (~1%) is captured in city_transfer_tax_rate (0.01); note the local 1% applies in Harrisburg and many Dauphin municipalities but rates can vary by municipality/school district, so confirm per municipality. Tax is collected at settlement by the Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds. Who pays: by PA custom the transfer tax is typically split 50/50 between buyer and seller (negotiable). Quirk: Act 152 / Resolution 2016-36 adds a $15.00 blight-demolition fee to every deed and mortgage (already included in the $86.75 deed base fee). Base deed fee is uniform across all municipalities including Harrisburg City as of 3/1/2017.
Recording fees in Dauphin County
Deed base fee: $86.75 (includes first 4 pages and the $15.00 Act 152 blight-demolition surcharge applied to all deeds). Each additional page over 4: $2.00/page. Documents with 10 or more names to be indexed: $0.50 per name over 9. Unified Parcel Identifier (UPI/PIN): $20.00 per parcel. Source: Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds official fee schedule.
Official recorder: Dauphin County recorder ↗ — the authoritative source for the current recording fee schedule.
What lenders actually charge in Dauphin County
Across 2,292 home-purchase mortgages originated in Dauphin County in 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services such as appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — were $6,113, of which about $2,335 was the lender’s own origination charges. That is reported loan-level data from every lender under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act — not a national average — so it reflects what buyers in this county actually paid. Lender fees vary widely, so comparing a few rate quotes is the single biggest lever on your closing total.
Source: FFIEC HMDA Data Browser ↗ (2023 purchase originations, FIPS 42043, ODC-BY 1.0). Median total loan costs exclude prepaids and escrow.
Estimate your Dauphin County closing costs
Pre-set to Pennsylvania. County-level taxes above may add to this estimate.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the transfer tax in Dauphin County?
Dauphin County (Pennsylvania): the applicable real-estate transfer tax works out to about 1%, before any additional city tax. Pennsylvania has NO county-level realty transfer tax in Dauphin County (county_transfer_tax_rate = null). Total realty transfer tax in the City of Harrisburg / Dauphin County is 2% of consideration, split: PA Commonwealth (Dept. of Revenue) 1% (state-level), local municipality 0.5%, and school district 0.5%. The combined municipal + school portion (~1%) is captured in city_transfer_tax_rate (0.01); note the local 1% applies in Harrisburg and many Dauphin municipalities but rates can vary by municipality/school district, so confirm per municipality. Tax is collected at settlement by the Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds. Who pays: by PA custom the transfer tax is typically split 50/50 between buyer and seller (negotiable). Quirk: Act 152 / Resolution 2016-36 adds a $15.00 blight-demolition fee to every deed and mortgage (already included in the $86.75 deed base fee). Base deed fee is uniform across all municipalities including Harrisburg City as of 3/1/2017.
What are recording fees in Dauphin County?
Deed base fee: $86.75 (includes first 4 pages and the $15.00 Act 152 blight-demolition surcharge applied to all deeds). Each additional page over 4: $2.00/page. Documents with 10 or more names to be indexed: $0.50 per name over 9. Unified Parcel Identifier (UPI/PIN): $20.00 per parcel. Source: Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds official fee schedule.
How much are closing costs in Dauphin County?
Closing costs in Dauphin County follow Pennsylvania's structure plus this county's specific transfer-tax and recording fees. Use the calculator below for an estimate; for the exact recording schedule, the county recorder is the authoritative source.
What do lenders charge in fees in Dauphin County?
In 2023, the median total loan costs — lender fees plus third-party services like appraisal and title, excluding prepaids and escrow — across 2,292 home-purchase mortgages in Dauphin County were about $6,113, of which roughly $2,335 was the lender's own origination charges. This is reported loan-level data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; actual fees vary by lender, so comparing quotes matters.
Other Pennsylvania county records
Records are listed alphabetically; check each property’s municipality. Partial baselines are not a ranking of complete local taxes.