Tennessee · County property tax · ACS 2024
Clay County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Clay County pays $769 a year, an effective rate of 0.56%, far below the U.S. average.
- $769
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.56%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- -61%
- vs U.S. average
- #17 of 95
- rank in TN
The verdict
Homeowners in Clay County pay a median $769 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.56%, more affordable than 76% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $769
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.56%
- Effective rate on median home
- #740 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -61%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($136,400). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Tennessee. Population: 7,670. Owner-occupied homes: 2,593.
The median annual property tax in Clay County is $769, which is 47% lower than the Tennessee state average and 61% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.56% on a median home value of $136,400. Property taxes represent 1.9% of the median household income in this county.
Clay County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Clay County's 0.56% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 76%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Clay County pay a median annual property tax of $769, far below the national median and well below the Tennessee state median. On a $136,400 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.56% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Tennessee counties by effective rate
Clay County ranks #17 of 95 counties in Tennessee by effective rate (82% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Clay County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $39,972 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The latest release moved the bill down
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has declined 8.6%, from $841 to $769. 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 Clay 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 26% from $610 to $769. 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: 1,172 of 2,593 owner-occupied homes (45.2%) 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 1.9% 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.
What Clay County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Clay County homeowners, 1,172 of 2,593 owner-occupied homes (45.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 45.2% (1,172)
- $800 to $1,499 27.4% (711)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.2% (160)
- $2,000 to $2,999 6.5% (168)
- $3,000 or more 2.0% (52)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
330 homes here (12.7%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Tennessee handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Clay County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+61%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Clay County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Clay County's effective rate is higher than 82% of the 95 counties in Tennessee - ranking #17 of 95.
Where Clay County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.56% Among the most affordable more affordable than 76% 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 Clay County moved from $610 in the 2020 release to $769 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.
Clay County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Clay County | Tennessee Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 1.9% | - | - |
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.
Clay County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Tennessee counties.
Clay County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $769 -8.6% | 0.56% |
| 2023 | $841 +6.9% | 0.61% |
| 2022 | $787 +10.1% | 0.59% |
| 2021 | $715 +17.2% | 0.59% |
| 2020 | $610 | 0.57% |
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.
Clay County: tax takes only 1.9% of income
Counties near Clay County's effective rate
On effective rate, Clay County sits nearest Union County (SC), McCormick County (SC), Dorchester County (SC).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Doña Ana County (NM), Cass County (ND), Norman County (MN).
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
Clay County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 50 of 3,200 returns from Clay County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,880 - 100% 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 Tennessee
Clay County rate FAQs
- How does Clay County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Clay County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.56% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Clay County, Tennessee?
- The median annual property tax in Clay County is $769, an effective rate of 0.56% on a $136,400 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Clay County?
- Clay County, Tennessee scores B- (67/100) 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 A ($769/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 Clay County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Clay County is recorded at $769 in the 2024 5-year release against $610 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 2,593 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 Clay County?
- Property taxes in Clay County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $39,972 median household income.
What to do with Clay County's QUIET rate
Clay County's $769 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 1.9% of Clay County's $39,972 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Clay 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: 0.56%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $769/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Clay County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Clay County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Culberson County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Clay County at $769/yr; rate 0.97% vs Clay County 0.56%.
Livingston County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $770/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.61% vs Clay County 0.56%.
Pike County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $772/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.69% vs Clay County 0.56%.
Danville city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $774/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.65% vs Clay County 0.56%.
Tennessee county set
State ACS overview for every published Tennessee county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Clay 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 Clay County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.