South Dakota · County property tax · ACS 2024
Dewey County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Dewey County pays $1,050 a year, an effective rate of 1.51%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,050
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 1.51%
- Effective rate · High rate
- -47%
- vs U.S. average
- #3 of 66
- rank in SD
The verdict
Homeowners in Dewey County pay a median $1,050 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.51%, more affordable than 10% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,050
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.51%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2808 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -47%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($69,600). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for South Dakota. Population: 5,205. Owner-occupied homes: 1,036.
The median annual property tax in Dewey County is $1,050, which is 61% lower than the South Dakota state average and 47% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.51% on a median home value of $69,600. Property taxes represent 1.9% of the median household income in this county.
Dewey County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national headwind
Dewey County's 1.51% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 90% pay more.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Dewey County pay a median annual property tax of $1,050, well below the national median and far below the South Dakota state median. On a $69,600 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.51% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among South Dakota counties by effective rate
Dewey County ranks #3 of 66 counties in South Dakota by effective rate (95% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Dewey County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $54,104 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Dewey 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
Dewey County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 4.7% up, against a median home value that rose 5.6%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 10.5%, from $950 to $1,050.
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 $950 to $1,050, a gain of 11%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest single group of owner-occupied homes in this county reports no real estate tax at all: 419 of 1,036 homes (40.4%). When that group leads, the county median does not describe the most common reported amount.
This is the least forgiving PAIRING in the data, bottom-quartile household income with a top-quartile effective rate, putting the median bill at 1.9% 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 Dewey County Homeowners Actually Pay
Most Dewey County homeowners are not billed at all: 419 of 1,036 owner-occupied homes (40.4%) report no real estate tax. A median bill describes only the minority who pay one.
- Less than $800 22.3% (231)
- $800 to $1,499 17.5% (181)
- $1,500 to $1,999 6.5% (67)
- $2,000 to $2,999 7.2% (75)
- $3,000 or more 6.1% (63)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
419 homes here (40.4%) report no real estate tax at all, an unusually large share, high enough that the median bill above describes a minority of Dewey County homeowners. Exemptions are set by state: how South Dakota handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Dewey County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+63%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Dewey County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Dewey County's effective rate is higher than 95% of the 66 counties in South Dakota - ranking #3 of 66.
Where Dewey County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.51% more affordable than 10% 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
Dewey County taxes property at 1.51%, about 42% above the South Dakota average, yet its median bill of $1,050 lands roughly 61% 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.
Dewey County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Dewey County | South Dakota Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 1.9% | - | - |
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.
Dewey County's STEEP · LIGHT lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Dewey County's published figures (STEEP · LIGHT), a $69,600 median home carries a $1,050 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $105 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for South Dakota.
Dewey County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,050 +4.1% | 1.51% |
| 2023 | $1,009 +0.1% | 1.34% |
| 2022 | $1,008 -1.6% | 1.35% |
| 2021 | $1,024 +7.8% | 1.58% |
| 2020 | $950 | 1.44% |
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.
Dewey County: tax takes only 1.9% of income
Counties near Dewey County's effective rate
On effective rate, Dewey County sits nearest Hamilton County (OH), Westchester County (NY), Box Butte County (NE).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Fluvanna County (VA), Runnels County (TX), Piscataquis County (ME).
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 Dewey County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Dewey 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 South Dakota
Dewey County rate FAQs
- How does Dewey County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Dewey County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.51% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Dewey County, South Dakota?
- The median annual property tax in Dewey County is $1,050, an effective rate of 1.51% on a $69,600 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Dewey County?
- Dewey County, South Dakota scores D (49/100) 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+ (1.29×). 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 Dewey County?
- Property taxes in Dewey County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $54,104 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Dewey County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Dewey County climbed 10.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $950 to $1,050, 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 to do with Dewey County's STEEP rate
Dewey County's $1,050 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 1.9% of Dewey County's $54,104 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Dewey 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: 1.51%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,050/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Dewey County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Dewey County (STEEP · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP LIGHT
Delaware County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,051/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.60% vs Dewey County 1.51%.
Heard County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,049/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.56% vs Dewey County 1.51%.
Lawrence County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,049/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.60% vs Dewey County 1.51%.
Sequatchie County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,051/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.45% vs Dewey County 1.51%.
South Dakota county set
State ACS overview for every published South Dakota county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Dewey County stamps STEEP · LIGHT - 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 Dewey County (STEEP · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.