Mississippi · County property tax · ACS 2024
Covington County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Covington County pays $619 a year, an effective rate of 0.59%, far below the U.S. average.
- $619
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.59%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -69%
- vs U.S. average
- #68 of 81
- rank in MS
The verdict
Homeowners in Covington County pay a median $619 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.59%, more affordable than 73% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $619
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.59%
- Effective rate on median home
- #846 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -69%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($105,100). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Mississippi. Population: 18,148. Owner-occupied homes: 5,677.
The median annual property tax in Covington County is $619, which is 49% lower than the Mississippi state average and 69% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.59% on a median home value of $105,100. Property taxes represent 1.4% of the median household income in this county.
Covington County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Covington County's 0.59% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 73%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Covington County pay a median annual property tax of $619, far below the national median and well below the Mississippi state median. On a $105,100 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.59% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
High among Mississippi counties by effective rate
Covington County ranks #68 of 81 counties in Mississippi by effective rate (16% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Covington County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $45,051 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Covington 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
Covington County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 5.6% down, against a median home value that rose 54.3%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 45.6%, from $425 to $619.
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
The bill here climbed steeply over 2020-2024, up 46% from $425 to $619. 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: 2,125 of 5,677 owner-occupied homes (37.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 1.4% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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
37.9% of Covington County homes owned free and clear (1,237 of 3,262) report no property tax at all, against 25.8% 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 Covington County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Covington County homeowners, 2,125 of 5,677 owner-occupied homes (37.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 37.4% (2,125)
- $800 to $1,499 14.4% (818)
- $1,500 to $1,999 4.4% (251)
- $2,000 to $2,999 8.2% (465)
- $3,000 or more 2.8% (158)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,860 homes here (32.8%) report no real estate tax at all, an unusually large share, high enough that the median bill above describes a minority of Covington County homeowners. Exemptions are set by state: how Mississippi handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Covington County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+276%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Covington County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Covington County's effective rate is higher than 16% of the 81 counties in Mississippi - ranking #68 of 81.
Where Covington County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.59% Among the most affordable more affordable than 73% 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 Covington County moved from $425 in the 2020 release to $619 in 2024, a change of about 46%. 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.
Covington County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Covington County | Mississippi Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very 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.
Covington County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Mississippi counties.
Covington County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $619 -9.4% | 0.59% |
| 2023 | $683 +17.6% | 0.69% |
| 2022 | $581 -3.8% | 0.76% |
| 2021 | $604 +42.1% | 0.78% |
| 2020 | $425 | 0.62% |
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.
Covington County: tax takes only 1.4% of income
Counties near Covington County's effective rate
On effective rate, Covington County sits nearest St. Charles Parish (LA), Nicholas County (KY), Franklin County (IN).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Emery County (UT), Dunn County (ND), Big Horn County (MT).
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
Covington County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 210 of 7,900 returns from Covington County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,514 - 33% 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 Mississippi
Covington County rate FAQs
- How does Covington County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Covington County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.59% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Covington County?
- Covington County, Mississippi scores B (72/100) 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+ ($619/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.
- What is the average property tax in Covington County, Mississippi?
- The median annual property tax in Covington County is $619, an effective rate of 0.59% on a $105,100 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Covington County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Covington County jumped 45.6% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $425 to $619, 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Covington County?
- Property taxes in Covington County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.4% of the $45,051 median household income.
What to do with Covington County's QUIET rate
Covington County's $619 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 Covington County's $45,051 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Covington 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: 0.59%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $619/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Covington County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Covington County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
McNairy County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Covington County at $619/yr; rate 0.38% vs Covington County 0.59%.
Boone County, WV
ABS(median_tax) peer · $620/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.67% vs Covington County 0.59%.
Washita County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $620/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.52% vs Covington County 0.59%.
Lewis County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $617/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.64% vs Covington County 0.59%.
Atkinson County (rate-lane contrast)
Near Covington County on ACS median bill yet stamps a different effective-rate lane (0.79% vs 0.59%).
Mississippi county set
State ACS overview for every published Mississippi county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Covington 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 Covington County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.