New Hampshire · County property tax · ACS 2024
Belknap County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Belknap County pays $4,924 a year, an effective rate of 1.31%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,924
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.31%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +147%
- vs U.S. average
- #9 of 10
- rank in NH
The verdict
Homeowners in Belknap County pay a median $4,924 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.31%, more affordable than 18% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,924
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.31%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2558 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +147%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($374,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for New Hampshire. Population: 64,659. Owner-occupied homes: 21,097.
The median annual property tax in Belknap County is $4,924, which is 26% lower than the New Hampshire state average and 147% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.31% on a median home value of $374,900. Property taxes represent 5.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Belknap County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Belknap County pay a median annual property tax of $4,924, far above the national median and well below the New Hampshire state median. On a $374,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.31% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Belknap County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $92,783 median household income.
Decision signal 3
High among New Hampshire counties by effective rate
Belknap County ranks #9 of 10 counties in New Hampshire by effective rate (10% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Belknap County's 1.31% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 18%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Belknap 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.
The rate gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Belknap County rose 61.6%, from $232,000 to $374,900. The effective rate fell 27.3% over the same span, a steeper move than in 95% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 17.4%, to $4,924. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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.
How to read this county's bill
Bills rose across 2020-2024, from $4,193 to $4,924, a gain of 17%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 16,917 of 21,097 owner-occupied homes (80.2%) 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.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 5.3% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
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 Belknap County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Belknap County homeowners, 16,917 of 21,097 owner-occupied homes (80.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 4.3% (908)
- $800 to $1,499 2.5% (531)
- $1,500 to $1,999 3.6% (756)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.6% (1,612)
- $3,000 or more 80.2% (16,917)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
373 homes here (1.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how New Hampshire handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Belknap County pay about the same bill, a 6% gap.
Belknap County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Belknap County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Belknap County's median bill is 26% below the New Hampshire median and 147% above the U.S. median.
Below New Hampshire on both measures
Belknap County's effective rate runs 21% under the New Hampshire median and its bill 26% 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 $4,924 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the New Hampshire norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Belknap County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Belknap County | New Hampshire Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.3% | - | - |
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 Belknap County's $4,924 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Belknap County's $4,924 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $492/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for New Hampshire.
Belknap County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,924 +0.6% | 1.31% |
| 2023 | $4,897 +4.0% | 1.44% |
| 2022 | $4,707 +7.7% | 1.59% |
| 2021 | $4,369 +4.2% | 1.72% |
| 2020 | $4,193 | 1.81% |
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.
Belknap County: tax takes 5.3% of income
Counties near Belknap County's median bill
On effective rate, Belknap County sits nearest Dawson County (NE), Shiawassee County (MI), Saline County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Lenawee County (MI), Warren County (VA), Polk County (TN).
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
Belknap County: only 5% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,910 of 35,280 returns from Belknap County reported real estate taxes, averaging $11,324 - 36% of those reporters sat in the $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 New Hampshire
Belknap County bill FAQs
- How does Belknap County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Belknap County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.31% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Belknap County, New Hampshire?
- The median annual property tax in Belknap County is $4,924, an effective rate of 1.31% on a $374,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Belknap County?
- Property taxes in Belknap County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $92,783 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Belknap County?
- Belknap County, New Hampshire scores F (16/100) 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 mortgage premium at C- (+$299). 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 Belknap County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Belknap County climbed 17.4% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $4,193 to $4,924, 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 Belknap County's HEAVY bill
Belknap County's $4,924 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Income burden is elevated here: about 5.3% of Belknap County's $92,783 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Belknap 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: 1.31%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,924/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Belknap County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Belknap County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Manassas city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,923/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.09% vs Belknap County 1.31%.
Washington County, OR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,929/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.84% vs Belknap County 1.31%.
Monterey County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,910/yr (near-tied bill ABS $14); rate 0.63% vs Belknap County 1.31%.
Kent County, RI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,957/yr (near-tied bill ABS $33); rate 1.35% vs Belknap County 1.31%.
New Hampshire county set
State ACS overview for every published New Hampshire county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Belknap County stamps STEEP · HEAVY - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Belknap County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.