Montana · County property tax · ACS 2024
Deer Lodge County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Deer Lodge County pays $1,803 a year, an effective rate of 0.78%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,803
- Median tax / yr · Above-median bill
- 0.78%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -10%
- vs U.S. average
- #21 of 56
- rank in MT
The verdict
Homeowners in Deer Lodge County pay a median $1,803 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.78%, more affordable than 52% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,803
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.78%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1507 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -10%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($231,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Montana. Population: 9,597. Owner-occupied homes: 3,267.
The median annual property tax in Deer Lodge County is $1,803, which is 33% lower than the Montana state average and 10% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.78% on a median home value of $231,700. Property taxes represent 3.1% of the median household income in this county.
Deer Lodge County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Deer Lodge County's 0.78% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 52%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Montana median
Homeowners in Deer Lodge County pay a median annual property tax of $1,803, notably lower than the national median and well below the Montana state median. On a $231,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.78% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Montana counties by effective rate
Deer Lodge County ranks #21 of 56 counties in Montana by effective rate (63% 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 ticked up 5.7%, from $1,706 to $1,803. 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 Deer Lodge County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $57,527 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Deer Lodge 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 28% from $1,409 to $1,803. 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 fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 1,039 of 3,267 owner-occupied homes (31.8%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Both figures cluster near the middle of the national range, and the median bill comes to 3.1% 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 Deer Lodge County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Deer Lodge County homeowners, 1,039 of 3,267 owner-occupied homes (31.8%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 8.3% (270)
- $800 to $1,499 31.8% (1,039)
- $1,500 to $1,999 14.2% (465)
- $2,000 to $2,999 27.9% (910)
- $3,000 or more 15.2% (497)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
86 homes here (2.6%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Montana handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Deer Lodge County pay a substantially higher bill, 43% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Deer Lodge County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Deer Lodge County's effective rate is higher than 63% of the 56 counties in Montana - ranking #21 of 56.
Where Deer Lodge County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.78% more affordable than 52% 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 Deer Lodge County moved from $1,409 in the 2020 release to $1,803 in 2024, a change of about 28%. 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.
Deer Lodge County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Deer Lodge County | Montana Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Above-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 3.1% | - | - |
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.
Deer Lodge County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Montana counties.
Deer Lodge County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,803 +5.7% | 0.78% |
| 2023 | $1,706 +9.1% | 0.81% |
| 2022 | $1,564 -0.4% | 0.89% |
| 2021 | $1,570 +11.4% | 1.08% |
| 2020 | $1,409 | 1.09% |
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.
Deer Lodge County: tax-to-income at 3.1%
Counties near Deer Lodge County's effective rate
On effective rate, Deer Lodge County sits nearest Saline County (MO), Randolph County (MO), Pettis County (MO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Buena Vista County (IA), Baker County (OR), Dickson County (TN).
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
Deer Lodge County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 170 of 4,460 returns from Deer Lodge County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,435 - 35% 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 Montana
Deer Lodge County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Deer Lodge County?
- Deer Lodge County, Montana scores F (37/100) 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 rate relief at C- (0.78%). 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 Deer Lodge County, Montana?
- The median annual property tax in Deer Lodge County is $1,803, an effective rate of 0.78% on a $231,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- How does Deer Lodge County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Deer Lodge County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.78% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Deer Lodge County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Deer Lodge County is recorded at $1,803 in the 2024 5-year release against $1,409 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 3,267 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 Deer Lodge County?
- Property taxes in Deer Lodge County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 3.1% of the $57,527 median household income.
What to do with Deer Lodge County's UNDER rate
Inside Montana, Deer Lodge County's $1,803 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Montana overview →
Deer Lodge County ranks #21 of 56 Montana counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Montana overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Deer Lodge County's UNDER 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: 0.78%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,803/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Deer Lodge County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Deer Lodge County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Lynchburg city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,804/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.79% vs Deer Lodge County 0.78%.
Bibb County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,801/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.03% vs Deer Lodge County 0.78%.
Deaf Smith County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,801/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.48% vs Deer Lodge County 0.78%.
Ferry County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,801/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.64% vs Deer Lodge County 0.78%.
Montana county set
State ACS overview for every published Montana county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Deer Lodge County stamps UNDER · 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 Deer Lodge County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.