Kansas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Decatur County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Decatur County pays $1,604 a year, an effective rate of 1.79%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,604
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 1.79%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- -20%
- vs U.S. average
- #19 of 105
- rank in KS
The verdict
Homeowners in Decatur County pay a median $1,604 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.79%, more affordable than 5% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,604
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.79%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2984 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -20%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($89,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kansas. Population: 2,726. Owner-occupied homes: 1,031.
The median annual property tax in Decatur County is $1,604, which is 43% lower than the Kansas state average and 20% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.79% on a median home value of $89,500. Property taxes represent 3.0% of the median household income in this county.
Decatur County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national headwind
Decatur County's 1.79% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 95% pay more.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Kansas median
Homeowners in Decatur County pay a median annual property tax of $1,604, notably lower than the national median and well below the Kansas state median. On a $89,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.79% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Kansas counties by effective rate
Decatur County ranks #19 of 105 counties in Kansas by effective rate (82% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The latest release moved the bill up
Since 2023, the published ACS median estimate has climbed 13.9%, from $1,408 to $1,604. This compares two release estimates; it does not identify a local policy, assessment, exemption, or household-bill cause.
Decision signal 5
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Decatur County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.0% of the $53,870 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Decatur 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 37% from $1,173 to $1,604. 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: 260 of 1,031 owner-occupied homes (25.2%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This is the least forgiving PAIRING in the data, bottom-quartile household income with a top-quartile effective rate, putting the median bill at 3.0% of median household income. Neither figure is remarkable on its own; the combination is, and the ratio above is the only part of it a household actually feels.
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 Decatur County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Decatur County homeowners, 260 of 1,031 owner-occupied homes (25.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 25.2% (260)
- $800 to $1,499 21.5% (222)
- $1,500 to $1,999 14.2% (146)
- $2,000 to $2,999 22.2% (229)
- $3,000 or more 16.3% (168)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Decatur County, mortgaged homeowners actually pay 11% less than those without a mortgage, a mild inversion from the national norm worth cross-checking against the historical table above.
Decatur County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Decatur County's effective rate is higher than 82% of the 105 counties in Kansas - ranking #19 of 105.
Where Decatur County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.79% more affordable than 5% 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
A high rate, a smaller bill
Decatur County taxes property at 1.79%, about 39% above the Kansas average, yet its median bill of $1,604 lands roughly 43% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Decatur County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Decatur County | Kansas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.0% | - | - |
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.
Decatur County's STEEP · MID lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Decatur County's published figures (STEEP · MID), a $89,500 median home carries a $1,604 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $160 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Kansas.
Decatur County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,604 +13.9% | 1.79% |
| 2023 | $1,408 +9.4% | 1.79% |
| 2022 | $1,287 +7.2% | 1.69% |
| 2021 | $1,201 +2.4% | 1.82% |
| 2020 | $1,173 | 1.71% |
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.
Decatur County: tax-to-income at 3.0%
Counties near Decatur County's effective rate
On effective rate, Decatur County sits nearest Stonewall County (TX), Moultrie County (IL), Union County (IA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Davis County (UT), Fulton County (IN), York County (SC).
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
IRS county file: no disclosed Decatur County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Decatur County. That is a limit of the published data rather than a finding about the county: county-level figures are withheld where the counts are too small to disclose safely, which is common in places with few filers. Roughly one county in sixteen is in this position, so the filer view available elsewhere on this site is simply not available here. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data.
Other Counties in Kansas
Decatur County rate FAQs
- How does Decatur County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Decatur County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.79% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Decatur County, Kansas?
- The median annual property tax in Decatur County is $1,604, an effective rate of 1.79% on a $89,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Decatur County?
- Decatur County, Kansas scores D (45/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-190). 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 Decatur County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Decatur County is recorded at $1,604 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,173 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 1,031 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 Decatur County?
- Property taxes in Decatur County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.0% of the $53,870 median household income.
What to do with Decatur County's STEEP rate
Inside Kansas, Decatur County's $1,604 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Kansas overview →
Decatur County ranks #19 of 105 Kansas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Kansas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Decatur County's STEEP 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: 1.79%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,604/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Decatur County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Decatur County (STEEP · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP MID
Pierce County, ND
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Decatur County at $1,604/yr; rate 1.09% vs Decatur County 1.79%.
Roscommon County, MI
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Decatur County at $1,604/yr; rate 1.01% vs Decatur County 1.79%.
Hutchinson County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,602/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.35% vs Decatur County 1.79%.
Yellow Medicine County, MN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,606/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.04% vs Decatur County 1.79%.
Kansas county set
State ACS overview for every published Kansas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Decatur County stamps STEEP · MID - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Decatur County (STEEP · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.