Pennsylvania · County property tax · ACS 2024
Berks County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Berks County pays $4,239 a year, an effective rate of 1.65%, far above the U.S. average.
- $4,239
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 1.65%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- +113%
- vs U.S. average
- #3 of 67
- rank in PA
The verdict
Homeowners in Berks County pay a median $4,239 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.65%, more affordable than 7% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $4,239
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.65%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2914 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +113%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($257,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Pennsylvania. Population: 433,015. Owner-occupied homes: 116,334.
The median annual property tax in Berks County is $4,239, which is 28% higher than the Pennsylvania state average and 113% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.65% on a median home value of $257,300. Property taxes represent 5.3% of the median household income in this county.
Why Berks County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Berks County pay a median annual property tax of $4,239, far above the national median and well above the Pennsylvania state median. On a $257,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.65% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among Pennsylvania counties by effective rate
Berks County ranks #3 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania by effective rate (96% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate is a national headwind
Berks County's 1.65% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 93% pay more.
Decision signal 4
Income carries a heavy tax share
Property taxes in Berks County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $79,777 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Berks 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 Berks County rose 37.2%, from $187,600 to $257,300. The effective rate fell 19.6% over the same span, a steeper move than in 81% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 10.3%, to $4,239. 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 $3,843 to $4,239, a gain of 10%. 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: 80,009 of 116,334 owner-occupied homes (68.8%) 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 Berks County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Berks County homeowners, 80,009 of 116,334 owner-occupied homes (68.8%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 4.3% (5,014)
- $800 to $1,499 7.8% (9,020)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.9% (6,861)
- $2,000 to $2,999 11.5% (13,321)
- $3,000 or more 68.8% (80,009)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,109 homes here (1.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Pennsylvania handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Berks County, mortgaged homeowners pay 14% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Berks County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Berks County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Berks County's median bill is 28% above the Pennsylvania median and 113% above the U.S. median.
Among the highest-taxed counties in the country
At 1.65%, Berks County sits in the top 7% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. That is the rate, not the bill: a high rate on a modest home can still produce a smaller cheque than a low rate on an expensive one, which is why the $4,239 median bill is the number to compare against another county.
Berks County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Berks County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile 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 Berks County's $4,239 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Berks County's $4,239 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $424/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Pennsylvania.
Berks County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $4,239 +0.0% | 1.65% |
| 2023 | $4,238 +0.9% | 1.77% |
| 2022 | $4,202 +7.9% | 1.86% |
| 2021 | $3,893 +1.3% | 1.99% |
| 2020 | $3,843 | 2.05% |
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.
Berks County: tax takes 5.3% of income
Counties near Berks County's median bill
On effective rate, Berks County sits nearest Ocean County (NJ), Monmouth County (NJ), Cheyenne County (NE).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Cumberland County (KY), McKenzie County (ND), Riley County (KS).
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
Berks County: only 5% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 10,100 of 214,000 returns from Berks County reported real estate taxes, averaging $7,380 - 33% 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 Pennsylvania
Berks County bill FAQs
- How does Berks County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Berks County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.65% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Berks County?
- Property taxes in Berks County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 5.3% of the $79,777 median household income.
- What is the average property tax in Berks County, Pennsylvania?
- The median annual property tax in Berks County is $4,239, an effective rate of 1.65% on a $257,300 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Berks County?
- Berks County, Pennsylvania scores F (11/100) 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 (3.23×). 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 Berks County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Berks County climbed 10.3% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $3,843 to $4,239, 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 Berks County's HEAVY bill
Berks County's $4,239 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 Berks County's $79,777 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Berks 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: 1.65%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $4,239/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Berks County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Berks County (STEEP · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP HEAVY
Barnstable County, MA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Berks County at $4,239/yr; rate 0.67% vs Berks County 1.65%.
Franklin County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,244/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 1.47% vs Berks County 1.65%.
Scott County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,230/yr (near-tied bill ABS $9); rate 1.01% vs Berks County 1.65%.
Wayne County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $4,250/yr (near-tied bill ABS $11); rate 2.50% vs Berks County 1.65%.
Pennsylvania county set
State ACS overview for every published Pennsylvania county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Berks 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 Berks County (STEEP · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.