Massachusetts · County property tax · ACS 2024
Dukes County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Dukes County pays $5,828 a year, an effective rate of 0.50%, far above the U.S. average.
- $5,828
- Median tax / yr · Highest-decile bill
- 0.50%
- Effective rate · Low rate
- +192%
- vs U.S. average
- #13 of 14
- rank in MA
The verdict
Homeowners in Dukes County pay a median $5,828 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.50%, more affordable than 84% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $5,828
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.50%
- Effective rate on median home
- #514 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +192%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($1,165,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Massachusetts. Population: 20,933. Owner-occupied homes: 6,225.
The median annual property tax in Dukes County is $5,828, which is 3% lower than the Massachusetts state average and 192% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.50% on a median home value of $1,165,800. Property taxes represent 4.6% of the median household income in this county.
Why Dukes County's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Dukes County pay a median annual property tax of $5,828, far above the national median and modestly below the Massachusetts state median. On a $1,165,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.50% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among Massachusetts counties by effective rate
Dukes County ranks #13 of 14 counties in Massachusetts by effective rate (7% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Dukes County's 0.50% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 84%).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Dukes County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.6% of the $125,786 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Dukes 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
Dukes County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 5.0% down, against a median home value that rose 46.8%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 39.5%, from $4,177 to $5,828.
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 40% from $4,177 to $5,828. 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: 4,908 of 6,225 owner-occupied homes (78.8%) 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.
The most forgiving PAIRING in the data, top-quartile household income with a bottom-quartile effective rate, puts the median bill at 4.6% of median household income. Home values still drive the dollar figure, which is why the ratio above varies widely among counties that share this position.
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 Dukes County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Dukes County homeowners, 4,908 of 6,225 owner-occupied homes (78.8%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 1.6% (102)
- $800 to $1,499 0.8% (52)
- $1,500 to $1,999 0.8% (51)
- $2,000 to $2,999 16.6% (1,035)
- $3,000 or more 78.8% (4,908)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
77 homes here (1.2%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Massachusetts handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Dukes County, mortgaged homeowners pay 34% less than those without a mortgage, a striking inversion from the national norm that's worth cross-checking against the historical table above.
Dukes County's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Dukes County's SPIKE ACS 2024 figure.
Dukes County's median bill is 3% below the Massachusetts median and 192% above the U.S. median.
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Dukes County moved from $4,177 in the 2020 release to $5,828 in 2024, a change of about 40%. 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.
Dukes County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Dukes County | Massachusetts Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Highest-decile bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Highest-decile income burden | 4.6% | - | - |
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 Dukes County's $5,828 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Dukes County's $5,828 ACS median (SPIKE), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $583/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Massachusetts.
Dukes County bill trail · SPIKE
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $5,828 +5.9% | 0.50% |
| 2023 | $5,503 +10.7% | 0.50% |
| 2022 | $4,970 +9.8% | 0.50% |
| 2021 | $4,527 +8.4% | 0.53% |
| 2020 | $4,177 | 0.53% |
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.
Dukes County: tax takes 4.6% of income
Counties near Dukes County's median bill
On effective rate, Dukes County sits nearest Plaquemines Parish (LA), Warren County (IN), Shoshone County (ID).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Orleans Parish (LA), Sac County (IA), West Feliciana Parish (LA).
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
Dukes County: only 14% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,770 of 12,450 returns from Dukes County reported real estate taxes, averaging $8,108 - 32% of those reporters sat in the $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 Massachusetts
Dukes County bill FAQs
- How does Dukes County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Dukes County run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.50% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Dukes County, Massachusetts?
- The median annual property tax in Dukes County is $5,828, an effective rate of 0.50% on a $1,165,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Dukes County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Dukes County jumped 39.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $4,177 to $5,828, 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 Dukes County?
- Property taxes in Dukes County run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.6% of the $125,786 median household income.
- What is the tax affordability score for Dukes County?
- Dukes County, Massachusetts scores D (42/100) on PlainPropertyTax's tax affordability composite across 5 Census ACS dimensions (effective rate, bill size, income share, mortgage gap, and home-value/income). Its strongest scored dimension here is mortgage premium at A+ ($-2,428). 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 to do with Dukes County's SPIKE bill
Dukes County's $5,828 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Dukes County ranks #13 of 14 Massachusetts counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. Massachusetts overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Dukes County's SPIKE 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: 0.50%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $5,828/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Dukes County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Dukes County (QUIET · SPIKE), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET SPIKE
Bucks County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $5,826/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.31% vs Dukes County 0.50%.
Placer County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $5,812/yr (near-tied bill ABS $16); rate 0.84% vs Dukes County 0.50%.
Montgomery County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $5,875/yr (near-tied bill ABS $47); rate 1.35% vs Dukes County 0.50%.
San Diego County, CA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $5,774/yr (lower bill ABS $54); rate 0.68% vs Dukes County 0.50%.
Massachusetts county set
State ACS overview for every published Massachusetts county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Dukes County stamps QUIET · SPIKE - 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 Dukes County (QUIET · SPIKE) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.