Fairfield County, Ohio Sales Tax Rate

Fairfield County's 6.75% 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 Lancaster or anywhere else in Fairfield County, a taxable purchase adds 1.00% in county and transit tax on top of Ohio's 5.75% state base — the 6.75% combined rate shown above. 14 of Ohio's 88 counties charge this exact rate. Cars, general merchandise, and prepared restaurant food are all taxed at 6.75%, while unprepared groceries and prescription drugs stay exempt statewide.

Ranked against the rest of the state, Fairfield County is the 70th-highest of Ohio's 88 counties, tied with 14 others on 6.75%. In hard numbers that matters most on big-ticket buys: a $30,000.00 car costs $2,025.00 in sales tax here. Registering the same car in Butler County (6.50%, Ohio's lowest) would cost $1,950.00 — a $75.00 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.

Fairfield County is seated at Lancaster, covers 505 square miles and is home to 169,752 people — the 19th-most-populous of Ohio's 88 counties, at about 336 people per square mile. 14 ZIP codes fall inside it, running from 43046 to 43157, and every one of them pays the same 6.75% — Ohio municipalities cannot levy a sales tax of their own, so there is no city surcharge anywhere in the county.

One important exception in Fairfield County: part of the county falls inside the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) district, where the combined rate is 7.75% rather than 6.75% — a difference of 1.00% that took effect on April 1, 2025. The district covers the part of Columbus that crosses the county line, so the 6.75% figure above applies to most of Fairfield County. If your address sits near the Franklin County line, confirm it against the Ohio Department of Taxation's rate-by-address lookup before filing.