South Dakota · County property tax · ACS 2024
Aurora County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Aurora County pays $1,574 a year, an effective rate of 1.04%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,574
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 1.04%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -21%
- vs U.S. average
- #31 of 66
- rank in SD
The verdict
Homeowners in Aurora County pay a median $1,574 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.04%, more affordable than 32% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,574
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.04%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2125 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -21%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($151,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for South Dakota. Population: 2,642. Owner-occupied homes: 774.
The median annual property tax in Aurora County is $1,574, which is 42% lower than the South Dakota state average and 21% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.04% on a median home value of $151,900. Property taxes represent 2.2% of the median household income in this county.
Aurora County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Aurora County's 1.04% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 32%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the South Dakota median
Homeowners in Aurora County pay a median annual property tax of $1,574, notably lower than the national median and well below the South Dakota state median. On a $151,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.04% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Aurora County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.2% of the $72,885 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 13.0%, from $1,393 to $1,574. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Decision signal 5
Near the middle of South Dakota counties by effective rate
Aurora County ranks #31 of 66 counties in South Dakota by effective rate (53% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Aurora 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 27% from $1,244 to $1,574. 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 fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 220 of 774 owner-occupied homes (28.4%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Both the income and the rate here sit in the third quarter nationally, and the median bill is 2.2% of median household income. Two above-average figures pulling in opposite directions is why the rate on its own is a poor guide.
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 Aurora County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Aurora County homeowners, 220 of 774 owner-occupied homes (28.4%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 18.7% (145)
- $800 to $1,499 28.4% (220)
- $1,500 to $1,999 14.0% (108)
- $2,000 to $2,999 20.4% (158)
- $3,000 or more 16.9% (131)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
12 homes here (1.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how South Dakota handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Aurora County pay a substantially higher bill, 46% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Aurora County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Aurora County's effective rate is higher than 53% of the 66 counties in South Dakota - ranking #31 of 66.
Where Aurora County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.04% more affordable than 32% 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 Aurora County moved from $1,244 in the 2020 release to $1,574 in 2024, a change of about 27%. 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.
Aurora County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Aurora County | South Dakota Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.2% | - | - |
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.
Aurora County is PAR · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · South Dakota counties.
Aurora County rate trail · PAR
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,574 +13.0% | 1.04% |
| 2023 | $1,393 +3.0% | 1.08% |
| 2022 | $1,352 +4.6% | 1.12% |
| 2021 | $1,293 +3.9% | 1.21% |
| 2020 | $1,244 | 1.44% |
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.
Aurora County: tax-to-income at 2.2%
Counties near Aurora County's effective rate
On effective rate, Aurora County sits nearest Preble County (OH), Meigs County (OH), Edgecombe County (NC).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Saginaw County (MI), Yellowstone County (MT), Grundy County (IL).
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
IRS county file: no disclosed Aurora County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Aurora County. That is a limit of the published data rather than a finding about the county: county-level figures are withheld where the counts are too small to disclose safely, which is common in places with few filers. Roughly one county in sixteen is in this position, so the filer view available elsewhere on this site is simply not available here. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data.
Other Counties in South Dakota
Aurora County rate FAQs
- How does Aurora County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Aurora County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.04% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Aurora County, South Dakota?
- The median annual property tax in Aurora County is $1,574, an effective rate of 1.04% on a $151,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Aurora County?
- Aurora County, South Dakota scores D (47/100) 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 housing pressure at A (2.08×). 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.
- Are property taxes increasing in Aurora County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Aurora County is recorded at $1,574 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,244 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 774 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 Aurora County?
- Property taxes in Aurora County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.2% of the $72,885 median household income.
What to do with Aurora County's PAR rate
Inside South Dakota, Aurora County's $1,574 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. South Dakota overview →
Aurora County ranks #31 of 66 South Dakota counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. South Dakota overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Aurora County's PAR 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: 1.04%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,574/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Aurora County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Aurora County (PAR · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR MID
Big Horn County, MT
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Aurora County at $1,574/yr; rate 1.10% vs Aurora County 1.04%.
Garfield County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Aurora County at $1,574/yr; rate 0.66% vs Aurora County 1.04%.
Lincoln County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Aurora County at $1,574/yr; rate 0.96% vs Aurora County 1.04%.
Marshall County, KS
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Aurora County at $1,574/yr; rate 1.23% vs Aurora County 1.04%.
South Dakota county set
State ACS overview for every published South Dakota county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Aurora County stamps PAR · 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 Aurora County (PAR · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.