Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Carter County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Carter County pays $649 a year, an effective rate of 0.49%, far below the U.S. average.
- $649
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.49%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -67%
- vs U.S. average
- #119 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Carter County pay a median $649 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.49%, more affordable than 84% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $649
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.49%
- Effective rate on median home
- #486 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -67%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($132,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 26,341. Owner-occupied homes: 8,639.
The median annual property tax in Carter County is $649, which is 58% lower than the Kentucky state average and 67% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.49% on a median home value of $132,800. Property taxes represent 1.3% of the median household income in this county.
Carter County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Carter County's 0.49% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 84%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Carter County pay a median annual property tax of $649, far below the national median and far below the Kentucky state median. On a $132,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.49% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among Kentucky counties by effective rate
Carter County ranks #119 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (1% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Carter County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.3% of the $51,235 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Carter 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 held while the market moved
Carter County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.6% up, against a median home value that rose 21.3%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 22.0%, from $532 to $649.
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 $532 to $649, a gain of 22%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 4,160 of 8,639 owner-occupied homes (48.2%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both sides of this comparison sit low: household income here is in the bottom quarter of US counties, and so is the effective tax rate. The median bill works out at 1.3% of median household income, which is the arithmetic of a modest levy on modest earnings rather than of any deliberate relief.
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
24.9% of Carter County homes owned free and clear (1,319 of 5,296) report no property tax at all, against 7.9% 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 Carter County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Carter County homeowners, 4,160 of 8,639 owner-occupied homes (48.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 48.2% (4,160)
- $800 to $1,499 18.6% (1,610)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.0% (601)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.2% (450)
- $3,000 or more 2.7% (235)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,583 homes here (18.3%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Kentucky handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Carter County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+123%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Carter County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Carter County's effective rate is higher than 1% of the 120 counties in Kentucky - ranking #119 of 120.
Where Carter County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.49% Among the most affordable more affordable than 84% 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
Below Kentucky on both measures
Carter County's effective rate runs 35% under the Kentucky median and its bill 58% 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 $649 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the Kentucky norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Carter County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Carter County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Very light income burden | 1.3% | - | - |
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.
Carter County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Carter County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $649 +4.3% | 0.49% |
| 2023 | $622 +2.6% | 0.49% |
| 2022 | $606 +12.0% | 0.50% |
| 2021 | $541 +1.7% | 0.51% |
| 2020 | $532 | 0.49% |
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.
Carter County: tax takes only 1.3% of income
Counties near Carter County's effective rate
On effective rate, Carter County sits nearest Parke County (IN), Morgan County (IN), Jackson County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Fayette County (AL), Chatham County (GA), Elmore County (AL).
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
Carter County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 160 of 10,320 returns from Carter County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,250 - 38% 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 Kentucky
Carter County rate FAQs
- How does Carter County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Carter County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.49% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Carter County?
- Carter County, Kentucky scores B+ (77/100) 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 income room at A+ (1.3%). 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 Carter County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Carter County is $649, an effective rate of 0.49% on a $132,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Carter County?
- Property taxes in Carter County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.3% of the $51,235 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Carter County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Carter County jumped 22.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $532 to $649, 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 Carter County's QUIET rate
Carter County's $649 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 →
Income burden is light here: about 1.3% of Carter County's $51,235 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Carter County's QUIET 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: 0.49%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $649/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Carter County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Carter County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Newton County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Carter County at $649/yr; rate 0.38% vs Carter County 0.49%.
Johnston County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $650/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.56% vs Carter County 0.49%.
Letcher County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $648/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.96% vs Carter County 0.49%.
Darlington County, SC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $652/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.41% vs Carter County 0.49%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Carter County stamps QUIET · 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 Carter County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.