California · County property tax · ACS 2024
Alpine County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Alpine County pays $4,530 a year, an effective rate of 0.77%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,530
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.77%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +127%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 58
- rank in CA
The verdict
Homeowners in Alpine County pay a median $4,530 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.77%, more affordable than 53% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,530
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.77%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1476 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +127%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($590,200). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for California. Population: 1,616. Owner-occupied homes: 340.
The median annual property tax in Alpine County is $4,530, which is 12% lower than the California state average and 127% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.77% on a median home value of $590,200. Property taxes represent 4.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Alpine County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Alpine County pay a median annual property tax of $4,530, far above the national median and notably lower than the California state median. On a $590,200 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.77% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has jumped 42.0%, from $3,190 to $4,530. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Decision signal 3
Low among California counties by effective rate
Alpine County ranks #9 of 58 counties in California by effective rate (84% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Alpine County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.3% of the $105,521 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Alpine County's 0.77% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 53%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Alpine 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 47% from $3,074 to $4,530. 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 heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 209 of 340 owner-occupied homes (61.5%) report annual real-estate taxes above $3,000. That band has no upper edge in the source, so the county median understates the burden carried by the plurality rather than describing it.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 4.3% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
26.2% of Alpine County homes owned free and clear (43 of 164) report no property tax at all, against 0.6% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What Alpine County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Alpine County homeowners, 209 of 340 owner-occupied homes (61.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 2.9% (10)
- $800 to $1,499 4.1% (14)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.4% (25)
- $2,000 to $2,999 11.2% (38)
- $3,000 or more 61.5% (209)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
44 homes here (12.9%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how California handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Alpine County, mortgaged homeowners pay 14% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Alpine County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Alpine County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Alpine County's median bill is 12% below the California median and 127% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Alpine County moved from $3,074 in the 2020 release to $4,530 in 2024, a change of about 47%. 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.
Alpine County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Alpine County | California Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.3% | - | - |
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.
Is Alpine County's $4,530 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Alpine County's $4,530 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $453/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for California.
Alpine County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,530 +42.0% | 0.77% |
| 2023 | $3,190 -8.4% | 0.68% |
| 2022 | $3,481 +4.7% | 0.75% |
| 2021 | $3,325 +8.2% | 0.88% |
| 2020 | $3,074 | 0.83% |
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.
Alpine County: tax takes 4.3% of income
Counties near Alpine County's median bill
On effective rate, Alpine County sits nearest Martin County (FL), Volusia County (FL), Adams County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Paulding County (GA), Newton County (GA), Darlington County (SC).
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
Alpine County: only 9% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 40 of 470 returns from Alpine County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,425 - 100% 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 California
Alpine County bill FAQs
- How does Alpine County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Alpine County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.77% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Alpine County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Alpine County is recorded at $4,530 in the 2024 5-year release against $3,074 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 340 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 is the average property tax in Alpine County, California?
- The median annual property tax in Alpine County is $4,530, an effective rate of 0.77% on a $590,200 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Alpine County?
- Property taxes in Alpine County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.3% of the $105,521 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Alpine County?
- Alpine County, California scores F (23/100) 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- (0.77%). 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.
What to do with Alpine County's HEAVY bill
Alpine County's $4,530 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Alpine County ranks #9 of 58 California counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. California overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Alpine County's HEAVY median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.77%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,530/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Alpine County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Alpine County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Bexar County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,535/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 1.73% vs Alpine County 0.77%.
McLean County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,524/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 2.17% vs Alpine County 0.77%.
Orange County, VT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,516/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 1.66% vs Alpine County 0.77%.
Blanco County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,510/yr (near-tied bill ABS $20); rate 0.93% vs Alpine County 0.77%.
California county set
State ACS overview for every published California county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Alpine County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - 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 Alpine County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.