Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Bell County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Bell County pays $3,476 a year, an effective rate of 1.44%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,476
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 1.44%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +74%
- vs U.S. average
- #59 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Bell County pay a median $3,476 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.44%, more affordable than 13% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,476
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.44%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2718 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +74%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($241,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 386,897. Owner-occupied homes: 80,418.
The median annual property tax in Bell County is $3,476, which is 18% lower than the Texas state average and 74% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.44% on a median home value of $241,000. Property taxes represent 5.0% of the median household income in this county.
Bell County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Bell County's 1.44% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 13%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Bell County pay a median annual property tax of $3,476, far above the national median and notably lower than the Texas state median. On a $241,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.44% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Bell County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $68,865 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Low among Texas counties by effective rate
Bell County ranks #59 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (76% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Bell 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 Bell County rose 57.0%, from $153,500 to $241,000. The effective rate fell 20.0% over the same span, a steeper move than in 82% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 25.6%, to $3,476. 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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 26% from $2,767 to $3,476. 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: 38,740 of 80,418 owner-occupied homes (48.2%) 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.
The rate is in the national top quarter while earnings are only moderately above the midpoint, so the median bill claims 5.0% of median household income. A high rate is affordable only relative to something, and this is what it is relative to here.
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 Bell County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Bell County homeowners, 38,740 of 80,418 owner-occupied homes (48.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 8.7% (6,986)
- $800 to $1,499 7.3% (5,841)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.0% (4,810)
- $2,000 to $2,999 13.7% (11,036)
- $3,000 or more 48.2% (38,740)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
13,005 homes here (16.2%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Bell County pay a substantially higher bill, 53% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Bell County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Bell County's effective rate is higher than 76% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #59 of 250.
Where Bell County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.44% more affordable than 13% 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 Bell County moved from $2,767 in the 2020 release to $3,476 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.
Bell County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Bell County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 5.0% | - | - |
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.
Bell County's STEEP · HEAVY lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Bell County's published figures (STEEP · HEAVY), a $241,000 median home carries a $3,476 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $348 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
Bell County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,476 +2.0% | 1.44% |
| 2023 | $3,409 +7.0% | 1.54% |
| 2022 | $3,186 +8.5% | 1.62% |
| 2021 | $2,937 +6.1% | 1.79% |
| 2020 | $2,767 | 1.80% |
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.
Bell County: tax takes 5.0% of income
Counties near Bell County's effective rate
On effective rate, Bell County sits nearest Nemaha County (NE), Buffalo County (NE), Finney County (KS).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Franklin County (WA), Preble County (OH), Wayne 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
Bell County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 5,730 of 169,120 returns from Bell County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,288 - 31% 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 Texas
Bell County rate FAQs
- How does Bell County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Bell County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.44% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Bell County?
- Bell County, Texas scores F (10/100) 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 F (3.50×). 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 Bell County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Bell County is $3,476, an effective rate of 1.44% on a $241,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Bell County?
- Property taxes in Bell County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.0% of the $68,865 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Bell County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Bell County jumped 25.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,767 to $3,476, 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 Bell County's STEEP rate
Bell County's $3,476 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 5.0% of Bell County's $68,865 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Bell County's STEEP 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: 1.44%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,476/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Bell County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Bell County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Lake County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,475/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.62% vs Bell County 1.44%.
Yates County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,477/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.88% vs Bell County 1.44%.
Chambers County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,474/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.05% vs Bell County 1.44%.
St. Charles County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,480/yr (near-tied bill ABS $4); rate 1.08% vs Bell County 1.44%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Bell 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 Bell County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.