Licking County, Ohio Sales Tax Rate

Licking County's 7.25% rate sits above 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 Newark or anywhere else in Licking County, a taxable purchase adds 1.50% in county and transit tax on top of Ohio's 5.75% state base — the 7.25% combined rate shown above. 49 of Ohio's 88 counties charge this exact rate. Cars, general merchandise, and prepared restaurant food are all taxed at 7.25%, while unprepared groceries and prescription drugs stay exempt statewide.

Ranked against the rest of the state, Licking County is the 8th-highest of Ohio's 88 counties, tied with 49 others on 7.25%. In hard numbers that matters most on big-ticket buys: a $30,000.00 car costs $2,175.00 in sales tax here. Registering the same car in Butler County (6.50%, Ohio's lowest) would cost $1,950.00 — a $225.00 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.

Licking County is seated at Newark, covers 687 square miles and is home to 185,564 people — the 16th-most-populous of Ohio's 88 counties, at about 270 people per square mile. 20 ZIP codes fall inside it, running from 43001 to 43740, and every one of them pays the same 7.25% — Ohio municipalities cannot levy a sales tax of their own, so there is no city surcharge anywhere in the county.

One important exception in Licking County: part of the county falls inside the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) district, where the combined rate is 8.25% rather than 7.25% — a difference of 1.00% that took effect on April 1, 2025. The district covers the part of Reynoldsburg that crosses the county line, so the 7.25% figure above applies to most of Licking 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.