Minnesota · County property tax · ACS 2024
Dakota County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Dakota County pays $3,749 a year, an effective rate of 0.98%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,749
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.98%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- +88%
- vs U.S. average
- #48 of 87
- rank in MN
The verdict
Homeowners in Dakota County pay a median $3,749 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.98%, more affordable than 37% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,749
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.98%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1972 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +88%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($381,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Minnesota. Population: 445,771. Owner-occupied homes: 130,675.
The median annual property tax in Dakota County is $3,749, which is 12% higher than the Minnesota state average and 88% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.98% on a median home value of $381,000. Property taxes represent 3.5% of the median household income in this county.
Why Dakota County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Dakota County pay a median annual property tax of $3,749, far above the national median and notably higher than the Minnesota state median. On a $381,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.98% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Dakota County's 0.98% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 37%).
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Dakota County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.5% of the $106,318 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Minnesota counties by effective rate
Dakota County ranks #48 of 87 counties in Minnesota by effective rate (45% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Dakota 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.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 7.4% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 70% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 35.9%, the median bill rose 25.8% to $3,749: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 26% from $2,979 to $3,749. 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: 86,195 of 130,675 owner-occupied homes (66.0%) 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.
Earnings are in the national top quarter and the rate is above the midpoint, so the median bill represents 3.5% of median household income. A headline bill conflates the dollar figure with the proportion; the two come apart here, and the ratio above is the second of them.
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 Dakota County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Dakota County homeowners, 86,195 of 130,675 owner-occupied homes (66.0%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 3.3% (4,283)
- $800 to $1,499 4.3% (5,660)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.0% (6,572)
- $2,000 to $2,999 19.3% (25,225)
- $3,000 or more 66.0% (86,195)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,740 homes here (2.1%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Minnesota handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged and non-mortgaged homeowners in Dakota County pay about the same bill, a 1% gap.
Dakota County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Dakota County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Dakota County's median bill is 12% above the Minnesota median and 88% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Dakota County moved from $2,979 in the 2020 release to $3,749 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.
Dakota County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Dakota County | Minnesota Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 3.5% | - | - |
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.
Is Dakota County's $3,749 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Dakota County's $3,749 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $375/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Minnesota.
Dakota County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,749 +3.9% | 0.98% |
| 2023 | $3,610 +5.0% | 1.00% |
| 2022 | $3,439 +8.1% | 1.01% |
| 2021 | $3,180 +6.7% | 1.08% |
| 2020 | $2,979 | 1.06% |
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.
Dakota County: tax-to-income at 3.5%
Counties near Dakota County's median bill
On effective rate, Dakota County sits nearest Missaukee County (MI), Luce County (MI), Kenton County (KY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Taylor County (FL), Rockingham County (VA), Placer County (CA).
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
Dakota County: only 9% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 21,340 of 230,590 returns from Dakota County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,014 - 36% 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 Minnesota
Dakota County bill FAQs
- How does Dakota County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Dakota County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.98% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Dakota County, Minnesota?
- The median annual property tax in Dakota County is $3,749, an effective rate of 0.98% on a $381,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Dakota County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Dakota County jumped 25.8% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,979 to $3,749, 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 tax affordability score for Dakota County?
- Dakota County, Minnesota scores F (34/100) 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 A- (+$54). 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 percentage of income goes to property taxes in Dakota County?
- Property taxes in Dakota County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.5% of the $106,318 median household income.
What to do with Dakota County's HEAVY bill
Dakota County's $3,749 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Dakota County ranks #48 of 87 Minnesota counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Minnesota overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Dakota County's HEAVY 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: 0.98%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,749/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Dakota County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Dakota County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Tioga County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,751/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 2.33% vs Dakota County 0.98%.
Miami-Dade County, FL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,744/yr (near-tied bill ABS $5); rate 0.81% vs Dakota County 0.98%.
Sauk County, WI
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,755/yr (near-tied bill ABS $6); rate 1.45% vs Dakota County 0.98%.
Cayuga County, NY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,740/yr (near-tied bill ABS $9); rate 2.19% vs Dakota County 0.98%.
Minnesota county set
State ACS overview for every published Minnesota county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Dakota County stamps UNDER · HEAVY - 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 Dakota County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.