Nebraska · County property tax · ACS 2024
Buffalo County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Buffalo County pays $3,555 a year, an effective rate of 1.44%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,555
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 1.44%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +78%
- vs U.S. average
- #18 of 93
- rank in NE
The verdict
Homeowners in Buffalo County pay a median $3,555 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.44%, more affordable than 13% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,555
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.44%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2718 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +78%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($246,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Buffalo County, NE
25/100
5 ACS dimensions · release 2024
Comparative score against U.S. county percentiles on Census ACS medians (effective rate, bill, income share, mortgage gap, home-value/income). Higher means more affordable on those published medians, not a recommendation to buy, sell, appeal, or move, and not your personal tax bill. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Buffalo County
Median home value relative to Buffalo County's median income
Buffalo County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Buffalo County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Median tax as a share of Buffalo County's median household income
Buffalo County affordability profile (scored ACS dimensions)
Read the chart values
- Mortgage premium: 90/100 (A) · $-4
- Housing pressure: 39/100 (F) · 3.25×
- Rate relief: 13/100 (F) · 1.44%
- Bill size: 10/100 (F) · $3,555/yr
- Income room: 8/100 (F) · 4.7%
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Nebraska. Population: 50,579. Owner-occupied homes: 13,269.
The median annual property tax in Buffalo County is $3,555, which is 0% higher than the Nebraska state average and 78% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.44% on a median home value of $246,400. Property taxes represent 4.7% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Buffalo County
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Buffalo County pay a median annual property tax of $3,555, far above the national median and roughly in line with the Nebraska state median. On a $246,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.44% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Buffalo County's 1.44% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 13%).
Decision signal 3
Low among Nebraska counties by effective rate
Buffalo County ranks #18 of 93 counties in Nebraska by effective rate (81% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Buffalo County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.7% of the $75,911 median household income.
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Buffalo County as reported to the Census Bureau, your own bill can differ based on your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, special districts, and municipal overlays. Always consult your county assessor, tax collector, or a qualified professional before making decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 6.0% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 75% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 33.0%, the median bill rose 25.0% to $3,555: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 $2,844 to $3,555, a gain of 25%. 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: 7,790 of 13,269 owner-occupied homes (58.7%) 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 4.7% 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 Buffalo County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Buffalo County homeowners, 7,790 of 13,269 owner-occupied homes (58.7%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 6.3% (835)
- $800 to $1,499 5.3% (709)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.9% (780)
- $2,000 to $2,999 19.4% (2,569)
- $3,000 or more 58.7% (7,790)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
586 homes here (4.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Nebraska handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Buffalo County pay about the same bill, a 0% gap.
How Buffalo County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Buffalo County's effective rate is higher than 81% of the 93 counties in Nebraska - ranking #18 of 93 for property tax burden.
Where Buffalo 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 Buffalo County moved from $2,844 in the 2020 release to $3,555 in 2024, a change of about 25%. 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.
Buffalo County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Buffalo County | Nebraska 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 | 4.7% | - | - |
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.
Think your Buffalo County property tax bill is too high?
On Buffalo County's published figures, a $246,400 median home carries a $3,555 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $356 a year at the same rate. Whether an appeal is worth filing depends on your own parcel. Use our free Appeal Savings Estimator to run your own numbers, then read our step-by-step appeal guide for the procedure in Nebraska.
Property Tax History
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,555 +3.5% | 1.44% |
| 2023 | $3,435 +4.1% | 1.45% |
| 2022 | $3,299 +10.3% | 1.51% |
| 2021 | $2,992 +5.2% | 1.56% |
| 2020 | $2,844 | 1.53% |
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.
Tax Burden
Tax Affordability Score
An effective rate far above the national average of 0.92% puts Buffalo County in the "Expensive" band for property tax burden.
How this score is calculated: a 1-10 scale derived mechanically from the ratio of this county's effective rate to the national average effective rate (0.92%) - a ratio at or below 0.5× scores 10, a ratio at or above 2.0× scores 1, with a linear scale between. It is a factual comparison of Census figures only, not a recommendation, quality rating, or endorsement of Buffalo County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Buffalo County sits nearest Finney County (KS), Bell County (TX), Dickens County (TX).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Winona County (MN), Chaves County (NM), Richmond County (NY).
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
What tax filers report in Buffalo County
Of the 23,380 federal returns filed from Buffalo County in 2022, 1,030 (4.4% of filers) itemised and reported real estate taxes on Schedule A, averaging $5,774 each. The largest group was filers with adjusted gross income of $100-200k, who accounted for 33% of the county's reporting returns.
Two things this does not say. The amount is what filers reported, recorded before the $10,000 cap on combined state and local tax deductions applies, so it is not the amount deducted. And the share is of everyone who files a return, not of homeowners: most filers now take the standard deduction, so a minority itemise at all. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data, tax year 2022.
Other Counties in Nebraska
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Buffalo County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Buffalo County? ▼
What is the average property tax in Buffalo County, Nebraska? ▼
Are property taxes increasing in Buffalo County? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Buffalo County? ▼
What to do with Buffalo County's numbers
- Buffalo County's $3,555 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
- Buffalo County ranks #18 of 93 Nebraska counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state board. Nebraska overview →
- If Buffalo County's assessment looks high versus the $246,400 typical home, check Nebraska's filing window and evidence rules before the notice deadline passes. How to appeal →
Effective-rate definition
Effective rate is the county median tax divided by the county median home value ($246,400); your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, and local levies determine your actual bill. U.S. Census Bureau ACS · 2024.
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.
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Editorial standards and provenance
PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the Census ACS county-level record for Buffalo County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.