Allen County, Ohio Sales Tax Rate

Allen County's 6.85% rate sits below the statewide average of 7.14%. Across Ohio, combined rates run from 6.50% to 8.00%, so where you buy genuinely changes the bill. Ohio is unusual here: for most sales by an Ohio seller to an Ohio buyer the rate follows the seller's location, not yours (R.C. 5739.033(B)(1) sources intrastate sales to where the vendor receives the order). Out-of-state sellers and online marketplaces are the exception — they source to your delivery address, so your home county rate is the one that applies there. See all 88 Ohio county rates side by side.

Whether you're shopping in Lima or anywhere else in Allen County, a taxable purchase adds 1.10% in county and transit tax on top of Ohio's 5.75% state base — the 6.85% combined rate shown above. No other Ohio county charges exactly this rate. Cars, general merchandise, and prepared restaurant food are all taxed at 6.85%, while unprepared groceries and prescription drugs stay exempt statewide.

Ranked against the rest of the state, Allen County is the 69th-highest of Ohio's 88 counties. In hard numbers that matters most on big-ticket buys: a $30,000.00 car costs $2,055.00 in sales tax here. Registering the same car in Butler County (6.50%, Ohio's lowest) would cost $1,950.00 — a $105.00 difference. At the other end, Cuyahoga County (8.00%) would charge $2,400.00. Ohio taxes a vehicle at the rate of the buyer's county of residence, not the dealer's, so the county on your registration is the one that sets the bill.

Allen County is seated at Lima, covers 404 square miles and is home to 100,881 people — the 26th-most-populous of Ohio's 88 counties, at about 249 people per square mile. 13 ZIP codes fall inside it, running from 45801 to 45887, and every one of them pays the same 6.85% — Ohio municipalities cannot levy a sales tax of their own, so there is no city surcharge anywhere in the county.