Alabama · County property tax · ACS 2024
Escambia County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Escambia County pays $530 a year, an effective rate of 0.39%, far below the U.S. average.
- $530
- Median tax / yr · Very low bill
- 0.39%
- Effective rate · Very low rate
- -73%
- vs U.S. average
- #18 of 67
- rank in AL
The verdict
Homeowners in Escambia County pay a median $530 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.39%, more affordable than 94% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $530
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.39%
- Effective rate on median home
- #199 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -73%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($136,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Alabama. Population: 36,629. Owner-occupied homes: 9,087.
The median annual property tax in Escambia County is $530, which is 33% lower than the Alabama state average and 73% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.39% on a median home value of $136,500. Property taxes represent 1.1% of the median household income in this county.
Escambia County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national tailwind
Escambia County's 0.39% effective rate is among the lowest of 3,135 tracked counties: roughly 94% pay a higher rate.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Escambia County pay a median annual property tax of $530, far below the national median and well below the Alabama state median. On a $136,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.39% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Escambia County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.1% of the $48,225 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Alabama counties by effective rate
Escambia County ranks #18 of 67 counties in Alabama by effective rate (73% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Escambia 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
Escambia County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.4% up, against a median home value that rose 35.4%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 35.9%, from $390 to $530.
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 36% from $390 to $530. 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: 4,507 of 9,087 owner-occupied homes (49.6%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both sides of this comparison sit low: household income here is in the bottom quarter of US counties, and so is the effective tax rate. The median bill works out at 1.1% of median household income, which is the arithmetic of a modest levy on modest earnings rather than of any deliberate relief.
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.
Paying off the mortgage changes the picture here
35.9% of Escambia County homes owned free and clear (1,975 of 5,507) report no property tax at all, against 21.9% of homes still carrying a mortgage. A reported zero is not proof of an exemption: it can equally mean a bill paid by another party, or a reporting artefact. But a gap this size is where age- and disability-based relief usually shows up, because those programmes reach owners who have finished paying.
What Escambia County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Escambia County homeowners, 4,507 of 9,087 owner-occupied homes (49.6%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 49.6% (4,507)
- $800 to $1,499 14.9% (1,351)
- $1,500 to $1,999 2.1% (195)
- $2,000 to $2,999 2.1% (192)
- $3,000 or more 0.9% (83)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,759 homes here (30.4%) report no real estate tax at all, an unusually large share, high enough that the median bill above describes a minority of Escambia County homeowners. Exemptions are set by state: how Alabama handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Escambia County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+66%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Escambia County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Escambia County's effective rate is higher than 73% of the 67 counties in Alabama - ranking #18 of 67.
Where Escambia County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.39% Among the most affordable more affordable than 94% 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
Among the lowest-taxed counties in the country
At 0.39%, Escambia County sits in the lowest 6% of all U.S. counties by effective property-tax rate. A low rate does not by itself mean a low bill: the median here is $530, and what a homeowner actually pays depends as much on local home values as on the rate.
Escambia County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Escambia County | Alabama Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Very low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Very low rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Very light income burden | 1.1% | - | - |
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.
Escambia County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Alabama counties.
Escambia County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $530 +9.3% | 0.39% |
| 2023 | $485 +5.4% | 0.40% |
| 2022 | $460 +8.0% | 0.38% |
| 2021 | $426 +9.2% | 0.39% |
| 2020 | $390 | 0.39% |
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.
Escambia County: tax takes only 1.1% of income
Counties near Escambia County's effective rate
On effective rate, Escambia County sits nearest Clear Creek County (CO), Custer County (CO), Rio Grande County (CO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Bell County (KY), Larimer County (CO), Gwinnett County (GA).
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
Escambia County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 400 of 14,410 returns from Escambia County reported real estate taxes, averaging $1,823 - 33% 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 Alabama
Escambia County rate FAQs
- How does Escambia County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Escambia County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.39% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Escambia County?
- Escambia County, Alabama scores A (86/100) 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 bill size at A+ ($530/yr). 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 Escambia County, Alabama?
- The median annual property tax in Escambia County is $530, an effective rate of 0.39% on a $136,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Escambia County?
- Property taxes in Escambia County run well below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.1% of the $48,225 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Escambia County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Escambia County jumped 35.9% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $390 to $530, 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 Escambia County's QUIET rate
Escambia County's $530 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 1.1% of Escambia County's $48,225 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Escambia County's QUIET 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: 0.39%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $530/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Escambia County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Escambia County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Morehouse Parish, LA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Escambia County at $530/yr; rate 0.45% vs Escambia County 0.39%.
Hidalgo County, NM
ABS(median_tax) peer · $531/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.48% vs Escambia County 0.39%.
LaSalle Parish, LA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $532/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.45% vs Escambia County 0.39%.
McCurtain County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $528/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.37% vs Escambia County 0.39%.
Alabama county set
State ACS overview for every published Alabama county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Escambia County stamps QUIET · LIGHT - 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 Escambia County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.