Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Clay County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Clay County pays $2,182 a year, an effective rate of 1.27%, modestly above the U.S. average.
- $2,182
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 1.27%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +9%
- vs U.S. average
- #100 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Clay County pay a median $2,182 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.27%, more affordable than 20% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $2,182
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.27%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2505 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +9%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($171,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 10,495. Owner-occupied homes: 3,602.
The median annual property tax in Clay County is $2,182, which is 48% lower than the Texas state average and 9% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.27% on a median home value of $171,500. Property taxes represent 2.7% 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 1.27% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 20%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Texas median
Homeowners in Clay County pay a median annual property tax of $2,182, modestly above the national median and well below the Texas state median. On a $171,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.27% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Texas counties by effective rate
Clay County ranks #100 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (60% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Clay County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $80,114 median household income.
Decision signal 5
The latest release held the bill roughly steady
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has held roughly steady, down 0.5%, from $2,194 to $2,182. 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 29% from $1,685 to $2,182. 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 heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 1,197 of 3,602 owner-occupied homes (33.2%) 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 2.7% 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 Clay County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Clay County homeowners, 1,197 of 3,602 owner-occupied homes (33.2%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 17.9% (644)
- $800 to $1,499 18.8% (677)
- $1,500 to $1,999 8.6% (309)
- $2,000 to $2,999 18.9% (680)
- $3,000 or more 33.2% (1,197)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
95 homes here (2.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Clay County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+70%), 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 60% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #100 of 250.
Where Clay County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.27% more affordable than 20% 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 $1,685 in the 2020 release to $2,182 in 2024, a change of about 29%. 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 | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| 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.
Clay County is PAR · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Texas counties.
Clay County rate trail · PAR
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,182 -0.5% | 1.27% |
| 2023 | $2,194 +10.0% | 1.36% |
| 2022 | $1,994 +5.7% | 1.43% |
| 2021 | $1,887 +12.0% | 1.60% |
| 2020 | $1,685 | 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.
Clay County: tax-to-income at 2.7%
Counties near Clay County's effective rate
On effective rate, Clay County sits nearest Bon Homme County (SD), Venango County (PA), Greene County (PA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Salt Lake County (UT), Summers County (WV), Sarpy County (NE).
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 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 180 of 4,880 returns from Clay County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,672 - 39% 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 Texas
Clay County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Clay County?
- Clay County, Texas scores F (32/100) 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 A- (2.14×). 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.
- How does Clay County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Clay County run modestly above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.27% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Clay County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Clay County is $2,182, an effective rate of 1.27% on a $171,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Clay County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Clay County is recorded at $2,182 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,685 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 3,602 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 within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.7% of the $80,114 median household income.
What to do with Clay County's PAR rate
Inside Texas, Clay County's $2,182 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Texas overview →
Clay County ranks #100 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Clay County's PAR 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: 1.27%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $2,182/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 (PAR · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR MID
Clayton County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,181/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.29% vs Clay County 1.27%.
Dawes County, NE
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,183/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.45% vs Clay County 1.27%.
Turner County, SD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,181/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.98% vs Clay County 1.27%.
Mercer County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · $2,184/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.10% vs Clay County 1.27%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Clay County stamps PAR · MID - 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 (PAR · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.