Washington · County property tax · ACS 2024
Douglas County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Douglas County pays $3,319 a year, an effective rate of 0.77%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,319
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 0.77%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- +67%
- vs U.S. average
- #17 of 39
- rank in WA
The verdict
Homeowners in Douglas County pay a median $3,319 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.77%, more affordable than 53% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,319
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.77%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1476 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +67%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($432,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Washington. Population: 44,366. Owner-occupied homes: 11,031.
The median annual property tax in Douglas County is $3,319, which is 27% lower than the Washington state average and 67% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.77% on a median home value of $432,500. Property taxes represent 4.1% of the median household income in this county.
Why Douglas County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Douglas County pay a median annual property tax of $3,319, far above the national median and well below the Washington state median. On a $432,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.77% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Douglas County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.1% of the $80,363 median household income.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Washington counties by effective rate
Douglas County ranks #17 of 39 counties in Washington by effective rate (56% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Douglas County's 0.77% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 53%).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Douglas 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 11.1% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 55% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 51.8%, the median bill rose 35.0% to $3,319: 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 35% from $2,459 to $3,319. 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: 6,028 of 11,031 owner-occupied homes (54.6%) 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.
Top-quartile earnings meet a below-median rate, putting the median bill at 4.1% of median household income. Counties in this position span a wide range on the ratio above, because the dollar bill tracks home values rather than the rate.
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 Douglas County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Douglas County homeowners, 6,028 of 11,031 owner-occupied homes (54.6%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 11.1% (1,221)
- $800 to $1,499 6.9% (757)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.8% (862)
- $2,000 to $2,999 16.7% (1,844)
- $3,000 or more 54.6% (6,028)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
319 homes here (2.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Washington handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Douglas County, mortgaged homeowners pay 25% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
Douglas County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Douglas County's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Douglas County's median bill is 27% below the Washington median and 67% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Douglas County moved from $2,459 in the 2020 release to $3,319 in 2024, a change of about 35%. 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.
Douglas County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Douglas County | Washington Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.1% | - | - |
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.
Is Douglas County's $3,319 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Douglas County's $3,319 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $332/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Washington.
Douglas County bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,319 +4.8% | 0.77% |
| 2023 | $3,168 +6.8% | 0.79% |
| 2022 | $2,967 +14.0% | 0.81% |
| 2021 | $2,602 +5.8% | 0.85% |
| 2020 | $2,459 | 0.86% |
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.
Douglas County: tax takes 4.1% of income
Counties near Douglas County's median bill
On effective rate, Douglas County sits nearest Martinsville city (VA), Custer County (SD), Wasco County (OR).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Luna County (NM), Jefferson County (AR), Garfield County (CO).
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
Douglas County: only 6% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,210 of 21,400 returns from Douglas County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,588 - 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 Washington
Douglas County bill FAQs
- How does Douglas County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Douglas County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.77% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Douglas County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Douglas County jumped 35.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,459 to $3,319, 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 Douglas County?
- Property taxes in Douglas County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.1% of the $80,363 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Douglas County?
- Douglas County, Washington scores F (25/100) 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- (0.77%). 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 Douglas County, Washington?
- The median annual property tax in Douglas County is $3,319, an effective rate of 0.77% on a $432,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
What to do with Douglas County's HEAVY bill
Douglas County's $3,319 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Douglas County ranks #17 of 39 Washington counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Washington overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Douglas 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: 0.77%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,319/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Douglas County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Douglas County (UNDER · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER HEAVY
Calaveras County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Douglas County at $3,319/yr; rate 0.73% vs Douglas County 0.77%.
Madison County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Douglas County at $3,319/yr; rate 1.92% vs Douglas County 0.77%.
Union County, SD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,317/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.10% vs Douglas County 0.77%.
Lincoln County, OR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,322/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 0.81% vs Douglas County 0.77%.
Washington county set
State ACS overview for every published Washington county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Douglas 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 Douglas County (UNDER · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.