Oklahoma · County property tax · ACS 2024
Cotton County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Cotton County pays $840 a year, an effective rate of 0.74%, far below the U.S. average.
- $840
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.74%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -58%
- vs U.S. average
- #18 of 77
- rank in OK
The verdict
Homeowners in Cotton County pay a median $840 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.74%, more affordable than 56% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $840
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.74%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1390 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -58%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($113,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Oklahoma. Population: 5,485. Owner-occupied homes: 1,639.
The median annual property tax in Cotton County is $840, which is 47% lower than the Oklahoma state average and 58% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.74% on a median home value of $113,900. Property taxes represent 1.4% of the median household income in this county.
Why Cotton County's ACS bill runs light vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Cotton County pay a median annual property tax of $840, far below the national median and well below the Oklahoma state median. On a $113,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.74% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Cotton County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $58,425 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Low among Oklahoma counties by effective rate
Cotton County ranks #18 of 77 counties in Oklahoma by effective rate (77% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Cotton County's 0.74% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 56%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Cotton 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 gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Cotton County rose 50.7%, from $75,600 to $113,900. The effective rate fell 19.1% over the same span, a steeper move than in 79% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 21.9%, to $840. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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 $689 to $840, 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: 711 of 1,639 owner-occupied homes (43.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both figures cluster near the middle of the national range, and the median bill comes to 1.4% 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 Cotton County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Cotton County homeowners, 711 of 1,639 owner-occupied homes (43.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 43.4% (711)
- $800 to $1,499 22.6% (370)
- $1,500 to $1,999 11.9% (195)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.7% (127)
- $3,000 or more 5.6% (91)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
145 homes here (8.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Oklahoma handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Cotton County, mortgaged homeowners pay 17% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Cotton County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Cotton County's LIGHT ACS 2024 figure.
Cotton County's median bill is 47% below the Oklahoma median and 58% below the U.S. median.
Same rate as Oklahoma, a smaller bill
The effective rate here sits within 7% of the Oklahoma median, yet the median bill runs 47% below it. When the rate matches and the cheque does not, the difference is in what is being taxed, not how heavily: the same percentage applied to cheaper housing produces $840 here. That is why comparing counties on rate alone can invert the answer a homeowner actually cares about.
Cotton County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Cotton County | Oklahoma Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.4% | - | - |
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.
Cotton County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Oklahoma counties.
Cotton County bill trail · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $840 +18.0% | 0.74% |
| 2023 | $712 -0.7% | 0.63% |
| 2022 | $717 +2.0% | 0.68% |
| 2021 | $703 +2.0% | 0.75% |
| 2020 | $689 | 0.91% |
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.
Cotton County: tax takes only 1.4% of income
Counties near Cotton County's median bill
On effective rate, Cotton County sits nearest Lee County (NC), Jones County (NC), Mineral County (NV).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Marion County (IA), DeSoto County (MS), Bon Homme County (SD).
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
Cotton County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 50 of 2,380 returns from Cotton County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,440 - 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 Oklahoma
Cotton County bill FAQs
- How does Cotton County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Cotton County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.74% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Cotton County?
- Property taxes in Cotton County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $58,425 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Cotton County?
- Cotton County, Oklahoma scores B+ (75/100) 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+ (1.95×). 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 Cotton County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Cotton County jumped 21.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $689 to $840, 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 is the average property tax in Cotton County, Oklahoma?
- The median annual property tax in Cotton County is $840, an effective rate of 0.74% on a $113,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What to do with Cotton County's LIGHT bill
Cotton County's $840 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 1.4% of Cotton County's $58,425 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Cotton County's LIGHT median, then a disjoint out-of-state rate set, not the same-state geography lattice.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.74%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $840/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Cotton County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Cotton County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Knox County, MO
ABS(median_tax) peer · $842/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.83% vs Cotton County 0.74%.
Socorro County, NM
ABS(median_tax) peer · $838/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.61% vs Cotton County 0.74%.
Taylor County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $838/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.96% vs Cotton County 0.74%.
White County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $838/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.40% vs Cotton County 0.74%.
Oklahoma county set
State ACS overview for every published Oklahoma county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Cotton County stamps UNDER · 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 Cotton County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.