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Montana · County property tax · ACS 2024

Chouteau County Property Taxes

The median homeowner in Chouteau County pays $1,566 a year, an effective rate of 0.75%, notably lower than the U.S. average.

$1,566
Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
0.75%
Effective rate · Below-median rate
-21%
vs U.S. average
#24 of 56
rank in MT

The verdict

Homeowners in Chouteau County pay a median $1,566 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.75%, more affordable than 55% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).

$1,566
Median annual tax bill, 2024
0.75%
Effective rate on median home
#1425 of 3135
U.S. counties by tax burden
-21%
vs the national average bill

Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($207,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.

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Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Montana. Population: 5,906. Owner-occupied homes: 1,472.

The median annual property tax in Chouteau County is $1,566, which is 42% lower than the Montana state average and 21% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.75% on a median home value of $207,800. Property taxes represent 2.7% of the median household income in this county.

Chouteau County's rate standing among U.S. counties

Primary signal

The effective rate sits near the national middle

Chouteau County's 0.75% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 55%).

Decision signal 2

The bill sits below the Montana median

Homeowners in Chouteau County pay a median annual property tax of $1,566, notably lower than the national median and well below the Montana state median. On a $207,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.75% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.

Decision signal 3

The latest release moved the bill up

Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 8.3%, from $1,446 to $1,566. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.

Decision signal 4

Near the middle of Montana counties by effective rate

Chouteau County ranks #24 of 56 counties in Montana by effective rate (57% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).

Decision signal 5

Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band

Property taxes in Chouteau County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $58,218 median household income.

Informational notice

Figures describe the median homeowner household in Chouteau 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.

Median Annual Tax
$1,566
Below-median bill
-42% vs State -21% vs US
Median Home Value
$207,800
-45% vs State -9% vs US
Effective Tax Rate
0.75%
Below-median rate
+4% vs State -18% vs US

How to read this county's bill

The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 26% from $1,239 to $1,566. 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 fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 470 of 1,472 owner-occupied homes (31.9%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.

Both figures cluster near the middle of the national range, and the median bill comes to 2.7% of median household income. Counties like this are the reason a national average exists at all, and also the reason it explains so little.

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 Chouteau County Homeowners Actually Pay

The single largest group of Chouteau County homeowners, 470 of 1,472 owner-occupied homes (31.9%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.

  • Less than $800 12.6% (186)
  • $800 to $1,499 31.9% (470)
  • $1,500 to $1,999 12.6% (185)
  • $2,000 to $2,999 17.7% (260)
  • $3,000 or more 17.7% (260)

Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.

111 homes here (7.5%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Montana handles assessments and appeals.

With vs Without Mortgage

With Mortgage
$1,648
$137/mo
Without Mortgage
$1,532
$128/mo

Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Chouteau County pay about the same bill, a 8% gap.

Chouteau County's effective rate vs peers

Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.

Chouteau County 0.75%
Montana average 0.72%
U.S. average 0.92%

Chouteau County's effective rate is higher than 57% of the 56 counties in Montana - ranking #24 of 56.

Where Chouteau County sits among every U.S. county

Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)

0.75% more affordable than 55% of 3,135 U.S. counties

Show national distribution This county 0.00% 4.00% every U.S. county, bucketed by value

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 Chouteau County moved from $1,239 in the 2020 release to $1,566 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.

Chouteau County vs Benchmarks

Metric Chouteau County Montana Avg U.S. Avg
Median Annual Tax Below-median bill $1,566 $2,693 $1,993
Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate 0.75% 0.72% 0.92%
Median Home Value $207,800 $375,800 $227,791
Tax as % of income Above-median income burden 2.7% - -

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.

Chouteau County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Montana counties.

Chouteau County rate trail · UNDER

$1,200$1,300$1,400$1,500$1,600 20202021202220232024 $1,566
Chouteau County ACS median tax 2020–2024: +26% ($1,239 → $1,566).
Year Median Tax (vs prior release) Effective Rate
2024 $1,566 +8.3% 0.75%
2023 $1,446 +6.6% 0.78%
2022 $1,356 +7.4% 0.79%
2021 $1,263 +1.9% 0.80%
2020 $1,239 0.80%

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.

Chouteau County: tax-to-income at 2.7%

Tax-to-Income Ratio
2.7%
of median household income
Median Income
$58,218
per year
Monthly Tax
$131
per month

Counties near Chouteau County's effective rate

On effective rate, Chouteau County sits nearest Marion County (MS), McCracken County (KY), Anderson County (KY).

On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are George County (MS), Arlington County (VA), Lavaca County (TX).

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.

Chouteau County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax

Tax year 2022: 70 of 2,330 returns from Chouteau County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,671 - 57% of those reporters sat in the $50-75k 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 Montana

View all counties in Montana →

Chouteau County rate FAQs

How does Chouteau County property tax compare to the national average?
Property taxes in Chouteau County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.75% versus 0.92% nationally.
What is the average property tax in Chouteau County, Montana?
The median annual property tax in Chouteau County is $1,566, an effective rate of 0.75% on a $207,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What is the tax affordability score for Chouteau County?
Chouteau County, Montana scores C- (52/100) 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 mortgage premium at B+ (+$116). 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 Chouteau County?
The ACS median property-tax bill for Chouteau County is recorded at $1,566 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,239 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 1,472 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 Chouteau County?
Property taxes in Chouteau County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $58,218 median household income.

What to do with Chouteau County's UNDER rate

Inside Montana, Chouteau County's $1,566 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Montana overview →

Chouteau County ranks #24 of 56 Montana counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Montana overview →

Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)

Rate-first peers for Chouteau County's UNDER 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: 0.75%.

Similar median bill

Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,566/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.

Read with Chouteau County

Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Chouteau County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.

UNDER MID

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 Chouteau County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.