Washington · County property tax · ACS 2024
Adams County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Adams County pays $2,147 a year, an effective rate of 0.79%, modestly above the U.S. average.
- $2,147
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 0.79%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +8%
- vs U.S. average
- #12 of 39
- rank in WA
The verdict
Homeowners in Adams County pay a median $2,147 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.79%, more affordable than 51% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,147
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.79%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1538 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +8%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($273,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Washington. Population: 20,800. Owner-occupied homes: 4,358.
The median annual property tax in Adams County is $2,147, which is 53% lower than the Washington state average and 8% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.79% on a median home value of $273,300. Property taxes represent 3.2% of the median household income in this county.
Adams County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Adams County's 0.79% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 51%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Washington median
Homeowners in Adams County pay a median annual property tax of $2,147, modestly above the national median and far below the Washington state median. On a $273,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.79% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Washington counties by effective rate
Adams County ranks #12 of 39 counties in Washington by effective rate (69% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Adams County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.2% of the $66,136 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has ticked up 2.0%, from $2,104 to $2,147. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Adams County as reported to the Census Bureau; your parcel can differ. Not tax, legal, or financial advice: check the county assessor or a qualified professional before decisions that depend on these numbers.
How to read this county's bill
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 26% from $1,698 to $2,147. These ACS medians describe the reported change; they do not identify whether a levy, assessment, home value, or change in the responding households caused it.
The plurality of owner-occupied homes here falls in the $2,000 to $2,999 band, at 1,198 of 4,358 (27.5%). This shows the reported distribution around the county median, while individual assessments can vary.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 3.2% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
The share above is the median annual bill divided by median household income, a ratio of two county-level medians rather than a household-by-household figure.
What Adams County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Adams County homeowners, 1,198 of 4,358 owner-occupied homes (27.5%), pays $2,000 to $2,999 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 18.0% (783)
- $800 to $1,499 11.2% (489)
- $1,500 to $1,999 14.1% (613)
- $2,000 to $2,999 27.5% (1,198)
- $3,000 or more 23.8% (1,039)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
236 homes here (5.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Washington handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Adams County pay a substantially higher bill, 36% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Adams County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Adams County's effective rate is higher than 69% of the 39 counties in Washington - ranking #12 of 39.
Where Adams County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.79% more affordable than 51% of 3,135 U.S. counties
Show national distribution
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more U.S. counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Adams County moved from $1,698 in the 2020 release to $2,147 in 2024, a change of about 26%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Adams County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Adams County | Washington Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.2% | - | - |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates. Tax-burden differences across rows reflect millage decisions, assessment-ratio practices, and the residential-vs-commercial mix of each tax base.
Adams County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Washington counties.
Adams County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,147 +2.0% | 0.79% |
| 2023 | $2,104 +7.7% | 0.84% |
| 2022 | $1,953 +12.6% | 0.90% |
| 2021 | $1,735 +2.2% | 0.99% |
| 2020 | $1,698 | 1.06% |
Each row is a separate ACS 5-year release, and consecutive releases share four of their five survey years. The percentage beside each bill is therefore movement in the published estimate against the previous release, not a single year's tax change. The two releases largely describe the same households. For change over time, compare releases that do not overlap.
Adams County: tax-to-income at 3.2%
Counties near Adams County's effective rate
On effective rate, Adams County sits nearest Lynchburg city (VA), Emporia city (VA), Alleghany County (VA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Brooke County (WV), Chesterfield County (VA), Davidson County (NC).
How peers are chosen
These are the nearest cross-state matches in the published Census data, not neighboring counties or recommendations. Peers are rebuilt with each data release; see the calculation method.
Similar effective rates
Similar published median-tax changes, 2020–2024
Adams County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 210 of 8,990 returns from Adams County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,205 - 33% of those reporters sat in the $100-200k AGI band.
What this IRS county file does not say
Amounts are reported before the SALT cap, not deducted; the share is of filers, not homeowners. Source: IRS SOI county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Washington
Adams County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Adams County?
- Adams County, Washington scores F (34/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is rate relief at C- (0.79%). The score compares published county medians to U.S. percentiles, it is not a personal bill and not advice to buy, sell, appeal, or relocate.
- How does Adams County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Adams County run modestly above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.79% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Adams County, Washington?
- The median annual property tax in Adams County is $2,147, an effective rate of 0.79% on a $273,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Adams County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Adams County is recorded at $2,147 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,698 in 2020. That is a large swing, and it should be read as movement in a survey estimate rather than as a tax change: the median here rests on about 4,358 owner-occupied homes, and swings above 50% are roughly twelve times more common in the smallest counties than in the largest. Treat the two figures as imprecise and check the county assessor for actual rate changes.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Adams County?
- Property taxes in Adams County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.2% of the $66,136 median household income.
What to do with Adams County's UNDER rate
Inside Washington, Adams County's $2,147 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Washington overview →
Adams County ranks #12 of 39 Washington counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Washington overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Adams County's UNDER effective rate, then a disjoint out-of-state bill set so the two neighborhoods stay distinct.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.79%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,147/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Adams County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Adams County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Juniata County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Adams County at $2,147/yr; rate 0.99% vs Adams County 0.79%.
Jefferson County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,148/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.70% vs Adams County 0.79%.
Monroe County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,149/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.37% vs Adams County 0.79%.
Potter County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,145/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.46% vs Adams County 0.79%.
Washington county set
State ACS overview for every published Washington county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Adams County stamps UNDER · MID - how assessed value and millage become the ACS median bill.
Data vintage and method
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.
Property tax data reflects median amounts paid by homeowners. Effective rates are calculated as median tax divided by median home value.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, county median real-estate taxes · 2024 Adams County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.