Georgia · County property tax · ACS 2024
Ben Hill County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Ben Hill County pays $1,210 a year, an effective rate of 1.07%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,210
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 1.07%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -39%
- vs U.S. average
- #25 of 158
- rank in GA
The verdict
Homeowners in Ben Hill County pay a median $1,210 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.07%, more affordable than 30% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,210
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.07%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2185 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -39%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($112,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Georgia. Population: 17,089. Owner-occupied homes: 4,481.
The median annual property tax in Ben Hill County is $1,210, which is 48% lower than the Georgia state average and 39% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.07% on a median home value of $112,700. Property taxes represent 2.9% of the median household income in this county.
Ben Hill County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Ben Hill County's 1.07% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 30%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Ben Hill County pay a median annual property tax of $1,210, well below the national median and well below the Georgia state median. On a $112,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.07% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Georgia counties by effective rate
Ben Hill County ranks #25 of 158 counties in Georgia by effective rate (84% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Ben Hill County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $41,758 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The latest release held the bill roughly steady
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has held roughly steady, down 0.5%, from $1,216 to $1,210. 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 Ben Hill 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 33% from $913 to $1,210. 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: 1,220 of 4,481 owner-occupied homes (27.2%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This county earns in the bottom quarter of the country and taxes above the median rate, so the median bill absorbs 2.9% of median household income. The rate alone understates that; it is the pairing that matters.
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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
20.0% of Ben Hill County homes owned free and clear (532 of 2,655) report no property tax at all, against 3.3% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What Ben Hill County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Ben Hill County homeowners, 1,220 of 4,481 owner-occupied homes (27.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 27.2% (1,220)
- $800 to $1,499 25.2% (1,131)
- $1,500 to $1,999 10.8% (483)
- $2,000 to $2,999 12.0% (538)
- $3,000 or more 11.5% (516)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
593 homes here (13.2%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Georgia handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Ben Hill County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+66%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Ben Hill County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Ben Hill County's effective rate is higher than 84% of the 158 counties in Georgia - ranking #25 of 158.
Where Ben Hill County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.07% more affordable than 30% 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
A high rate, a smaller bill
Ben Hill County taxes property at 1.07%, about 39% above the Georgia average, yet its median bill of $1,210 lands roughly 48% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Ben Hill County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Ben Hill County | Georgia Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.9% | - | - |
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.
Ben Hill County is PAR · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Georgia counties.
Ben Hill County rate trail · PAR
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,210 -0.5% | 1.07% |
| 2023 | $1,216 +18.3% | 1.06% |
| 2022 | $1,028 +15.1% | 1.03% |
| 2021 | $893 -2.2% | 1.04% |
| 2020 | $913 | 1.07% |
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.
Ben Hill County: tax-to-income at 2.9%
Counties near Ben Hill County's effective rate
On effective rate, Ben Hill County sits nearest Plymouth County (IA), Doniphan County (KS), Baltimore County (MD).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Hubbard County (MN), Letcher County (KY), Phillips County (AR).
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
Ben Hill County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 240 of 6,490 returns from Ben Hill County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,421 - 29% 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 Georgia
Ben Hill County rate FAQs
- How does Ben Hill County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Ben Hill County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.07% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Ben Hill County, Georgia?
- The median annual property tax in Ben Hill County is $1,210, an effective rate of 1.07% on a $112,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Ben Hill County?
- Ben Hill County, Georgia scores D (42/100) 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 bill size at B- ($1,210/yr). 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 Ben Hill County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Ben Hill County is recorded at $1,210 in the 2024 5-year release against $913 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 4,481 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 Ben Hill County?
- Property taxes in Ben Hill County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $41,758 median household income.
What to do with Ben Hill County's PAR rate
Ben Hill County's $1,210 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 →
Ben Hill County ranks #25 of 158 Georgia counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Georgia overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Ben Hill 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: 1.07%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,210/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Ben Hill County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Ben Hill County (PAR · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR LIGHT
Billings County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,211/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.37% vs Ben Hill County 1.07%.
Hart County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,209/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.56% vs Ben Hill County 1.07%.
King and Queen County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,209/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.52% vs Ben Hill County 1.07%.
Lonoke County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,211/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.63% vs Ben Hill County 1.07%.
Georgia county set
State ACS overview for every published Georgia county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Ben Hill County stamps PAR · 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 Ben Hill County (PAR · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.