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Missouri · County property tax · ACS 2024

Bates County Property Taxes

The median homeowner in Bates County pays $1,039 a year, an effective rate of 0.61%, well below the U.S. average.

$1,039
Median tax / yr · Low bill
0.61%
Effective rate · Below-median rate
-48%
vs U.S. average
#84 of 115
rank in MO

The verdict

Homeowners in Bates County pay a median $1,039 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.61%, more affordable than 70% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).

$1,039
Median annual tax bill, 2024
0.61%
Effective rate on median home
#932 of 3135
U.S. counties by tax burden
-48%
vs the national average bill

Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($170,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.

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Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Missouri. Population: 16,186. Owner-occupied homes: 4,614.

The median annual property tax in Bates County is $1,039, which is 47% lower than the Missouri state average and 48% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.61% on a median home value of $170,800. Property taxes represent 1.7% of the median household income in this county.

Bates County's rate standing among U.S. counties

Primary signal

The effective rate sits near the national middle

Bates County's 0.61% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 70%).

Decision signal 2

The bill sits well below the national median

Homeowners in Bates County pay a median annual property tax of $1,039, well below the national median and well below the Missouri state median. On a $170,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.61% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.

Decision signal 3

Income carries a light tax share

Property taxes in Bates County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $60,733 median household income.

Decision signal 4

Near the middle of Missouri counties by effective rate

Bates County ranks #84 of 115 counties in Missouri by effective rate (27% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).

Informational notice

Figures describe the median homeowner household in Bates 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.

A falling rate took the edge off

Bates County's effective rate fell 16.6% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 42.8%, leaving the median bill 19.2% higher at $1,039. That rate move is larger than the one in 71% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.

Effective rate is the published median bill divided by the published median home value, so the two multiply back to the bill exactly; the rate's movement here is derived from those two figures rather than read from the rounded published rate. Both are ACS 5-year survey estimates for the median owner-occupied household, compared across non-overlapping releases. They describe what the Census published, not a local policy, assessment, or exemption change.

Median Annual Tax
$1,039
Low bill
-47% vs State -48% vs US
Median Home Value
$170,800
-26% vs State -25% vs US
Effective Tax Rate
0.61%
Below-median rate
-28% vs State -34% vs US

How to read this county's bill

Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $872 to $1,039, a gain of 19%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.

The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 1,689 of 4,614 owner-occupied homes (36.6%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.

Both figures cluster near the middle of the national range, and the median bill comes to 1.7% of median household income. Counties like this are the reason a national average exists at all, and also the reason it explains so little.

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 Bates County Homeowners Actually Pay

The single largest group of Bates County homeowners, 1,689 of 4,614 owner-occupied homes (36.6%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.

  • Less than $800 36.6% (1,689)
  • $800 to $1,499 31.4% (1,448)
  • $1,500 to $1,999 6.5% (302)
  • $2,000 to $2,999 13.9% (640)
  • $3,000 or more 9.1% (421)

Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.

114 homes here (2.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Missouri handles assessments and appeals.

With vs Without Mortgage

With Mortgage
$1,236
$103/mo
Without Mortgage
$868
$72/mo

Mortgaged homeowners in Bates County pay a substantially higher bill, 42% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.

Bates County's effective rate vs peers

Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.

Bates County 0.61%
Missouri average 0.85%
U.S. average 0.92%

Bates County's effective rate is higher than 27% of the 115 counties in Missouri - ranking #84 of 115.

Where Bates County sits among every U.S. county

Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)

0.61% Among the most affordable more affordable than 70% of 3,135 U.S. counties

Show national distribution This county 0.00% 4.00% every U.S. county, bucketed by value

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

Below Missouri on both measures

Bates County's effective rate runs 28% under the Missouri median and its bill 47% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $1,039 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Missouri norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.

Bates County vs Benchmarks

Metric Bates County Missouri Avg U.S. Avg
Median Annual Tax Low bill $1,039 $1,948 $1,993
Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate 0.61% 0.85% 0.92%
Median Home Value $170,800 $230,300 $227,791
Tax as % of income Light income burden 1.7% - -

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.

Bates County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Missouri counties.

Bates County rate trail · QUIET

$850$900$950$1,000$1,050 20202021202220232024 $1,039
Bates County ACS median tax 2020–2024: +19% ($872 → $1,039).
Year Median Tax (vs prior release) Effective Rate
2024 $1,039 +8.0% 0.61%
2023 $962 +3.1% 0.62%
2022 $933 +1.9% 0.62%
2021 $916 +5.0% 0.71%
2020 $872 0.73%

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.

Bates County: tax takes only 1.7% of income

Tax-to-Income Ratio
1.7%
of median household income
Median Income
$60,733
per year
Monthly Tax
$87
per month

Counties near Bates County's effective rate

On effective rate, Bates County sits nearest Tallahatchie County (MS), Simpson County (MS), St. Helena Parish (LA).

On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Greenwood County (SC), Hardee County (FL), Johnson County (IA).

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.

Bates County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax

Tax year 2022: 160 of 7,280 returns from Bates County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,231 - 38% 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 Missouri

View all counties in Missouri →

Bates County rate FAQs

How does Bates County property tax compare to the national average?
Property taxes in Bates County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.61% versus 0.92% nationally.
What is the average property tax in Bates County, Missouri?
The median annual property tax in Bates County is $1,039, an effective rate of 0.61% on a $170,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What is the tax affordability score for Bates County?
Bates County, Missouri scores B- (68/100) 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 income room at B+ (1.7%). 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Bates County?
Property taxes in Bates County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.7% of the $60,733 median household income.
Are property taxes increasing in Bates County?
The ACS median property-tax bill for Bates County climbed 19.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $872 to $1,039, a 4-year span. These are survey estimates covering five years each, so this compares the two releases furthest apart rather than consecutive ones, which overlap and would mostly measure the same households twice.

What to do with Bates County's QUIET rate

Bates County's $1,039 median bill sits well below the U.S. median - still size a parcel estimate; local millage and exemptions move the real bill. Estimate your bill →

Income burden is light here: about 1.7% of Bates County's $60,733 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.

Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)

Rate-first peers for Bates County's QUIET 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: 0.61%.

Similar median bill

Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,039/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.

Read with Bates County

Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Bates County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.

QUIET LIGHT

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 Bates County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.