Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Bath County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Bath County pays $850 a year, an effective rate of 0.65%, far below the U.S. average.
- $850
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.65%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -57%
- vs U.S. average
- #82 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Bath County pay a median $850 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.65%, more affordable than 66% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $850
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.65%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1074 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -57%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($129,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 12,851. Owner-occupied homes: 3,510.
The median annual property tax in Bath County is $850, which is 45% lower than the Kentucky state average and 57% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.65% on a median home value of $129,800. Property taxes represent 1.5% of the median household income in this county.
Bath County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Bath County's 0.65% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 66%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Bath County pay a median annual property tax of $850, far below the national median and well below the Kentucky state median. On a $129,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.65% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Bath County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.5% of the $56,541 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Kentucky counties by effective rate
Bath County ranks #82 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (32% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has ticked up 4.0%, from $817 to $850. 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 Bath 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 $677 to $850. 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 1,488 of 3,510 owner-occupied homes (42.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 1.5% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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 Bath County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Bath County homeowners, 1,488 of 3,510 owner-occupied homes (42.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 42.4% (1,488)
- $800 to $1,499 30.0% (1,054)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.1% (248)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.5% (264)
- $3,000 or more 3.4% (121)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
335 homes here (9.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Kentucky handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Bath County pay a substantially higher bill, 57% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Bath County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Bath County's effective rate is higher than 32% of the 120 counties in Kentucky - ranking #82 of 120.
Where Bath County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.65% Among the most affordable more affordable than 66% 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 Bath County moved from $677 in the 2020 release to $850 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.
Bath County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Bath County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.5% | - | - |
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.
Bath County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Bath County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $850 +4.0% | 0.65% |
| 2023 | $817 -1.6% | 0.73% |
| 2022 | $830 +9.2% | 0.82% |
| 2021 | $760 +12.3% | 0.87% |
| 2020 | $677 | 0.81% |
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.
Bath County: tax takes only 1.5% of income
Counties near Bath County's effective rate
On effective rate, Bath County sits nearest Tipton County (IN), Scott County (IN), Rush County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Martin County (IN), Santa Barbara County (CA), Lancaster County (NE).
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
Bath County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 50 of 4,940 returns from Bath County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,920 - 60% of those reporters sat in the $50-75k 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 Kentucky
Bath County rate FAQs
- How does Bath County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Bath County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.65% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Bath County?
- Bath County, Kentucky scores B (72/100) 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 A- (1.5%). 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 is the average property tax in Bath County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Bath County is $850, an effective rate of 0.65% on a $129,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Bath County?
- Property taxes in Bath County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.5% of the $56,541 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Bath County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Bath County is recorded at $850 in the 2024 5-year release against $677 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 3,510 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 to do with Bath County's QUIET rate
Bath County's $850 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 1.5% of Bath County's $56,541 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Bath 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: 0.65%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $850/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Bath County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Bath County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Fountain County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $849/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.59% vs Bath County 0.65%.
Whitley County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $849/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.64% vs Bath County 0.65%.
Hardeman County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $848/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.04% vs Bath County 0.65%.
Bland County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $846/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 0.56% vs Bath County 0.65%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Bath County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - 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 Bath County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.