Alaska · County property tax · ACS 2024
Fairbanks North Star Borough Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Fairbanks North Star Borough pays $3,550 a year, an effective rate of 1.19%, far above the U.S. average.
- $3,550
- Median tax / yr · High bill
- 1.19%
- Effective rate · High rate
- +78%
- vs U.S. average
- #5 of 28
- rank in AK
The verdict
Homeowners in Fairbanks North Star Borough pay a median $3,550 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.19%, more affordable than 24% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $3,550
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.19%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2395 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- +78%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($298,200). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Alaska. Population: 95,460. Owner-occupied homes: 22,424.
The median annual property tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough is $3,550, which is 9% lower than the Alaska state average and 78% above the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.19% on a median home value of $298,200. Property taxes represent 4.0% of the median household income in this county.
Why Fairbanks North Star Borough's ACS bill runs high vs the U.S.
Primary signal
The bill sits well above the national median
Homeowners in Fairbanks North Star Borough pay a median annual property tax of $3,550, far above the national median and modestly below the Alaska state median. On a $298,200 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.19% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
Low among Alaska counties by effective rate
Fairbanks North Star Borough ranks #5 of 28 counties in Alaska by effective rate (82% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Fairbanks North Star Borough's 1.19% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 24%).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Fairbanks North Star Borough run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.0% of the $88,267 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Fairbanks North Star Borough 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
Fairbanks North Star Borough sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 3.2% down, against a median home value that rose 24.1%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 20.1%, from $2,955 to $3,550.
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 $2,955 to $3,550, a gain of 20%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The heaviest band is also the fullest one here: 11,999 of 22,424 owner-occupied homes (53.5%) 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.
Both figures are in the national top quarter, and the median bill still equals only 4.0% of median household income. A high rate on high earnings produces a large dollar figure, and only the dollar figure tends to get quoted; the ratio above is the other half.
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 Fairbanks North Star Borough Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Fairbanks North Star Borough homeowners, 11,999 of 22,424 owner-occupied homes (53.5%), pays $3,000 or more a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 8.9% (2,003)
- $800 to $1,499 5.8% (1,295)
- $1,500 to $1,999 7.8% (1,748)
- $2,000 to $2,999 15.1% (3,388)
- $3,000 or more 53.5% (11,999)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,991 homes here (8.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Alaska handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Fairbanks North Star Borough pay a substantially higher bill, 45% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Fairbanks North Star Borough's bill vs state & U.S. medians
Median annual bill bars around Fairbanks North Star Borough's HEAVY ACS 2024 figure.
Fairbanks North Star Borough's median bill is 9% below the Alaska median and 78% above the U.S. median.
Close to the Alaska median on both measures
Rate and bill both land within 10% of the Alaska medians here, which makes Fairbanks North Star Borough a reasonable stand-in for the state when comparing against counties elsewhere. It also means the county-level figure adds little beyond the state figure for this particular comparison; the $3,550 median bill and the state median tell substantially the same story.
Fairbanks North Star Borough vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Fairbanks North Star Borough | Alaska Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax High bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Heavy income burden | 4.0% | - | - |
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 Fairbanks North Star Borough's $3,550 median bill appeal-worthy?
At Fairbanks North Star Borough's $3,550 ACS median (HEAVY), a 10% assessment cut is worth about $355/yr before exemptions. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Alaska.
Fairbanks North Star Borough bill trail · HEAVY
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3,550 -0.6% | 1.19% |
| 2023 | $3,570 +2.9% | 1.26% |
| 2022 | $3,470 +7.3% | 1.25% |
| 2021 | $3,234 +9.4% | 1.32% |
| 2020 | $2,955 | 1.23% |
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.
Fairbanks North Star Borough: tax takes 4.0% of income
Counties near Fairbanks North Star Borough's median bill
On effective rate, Fairbanks North Star Borough sits nearest Brantley County (GA), Huron County (MI), York County (NE).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Franklin County (GA), Baldwin County (GA), Potter County (SD).
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
Fairbanks North Star Borough: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,500 of 45,640 returns from Fairbanks North Star Borough reported real estate taxes, averaging $6,621 - 39% 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 Alaska
Fairbanks North Star Borough bill FAQs
- How does Fairbanks North Star Borough property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Fairbanks North Star Borough run far above the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.19% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska?
- The median annual property tax in Fairbanks North Star Borough is $3,550, an effective rate of 1.19% on a $298,200 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Fairbanks North Star Borough?
- Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska scores F (17/100) 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 F (3.38×). 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 Fairbanks North Star Borough?
- Property taxes in Fairbanks North Star Borough run a bit above the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 4.0% of the $88,267 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Fairbanks North Star Borough?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Fairbanks North Star Borough jumped 20.1% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $2,955 to $3,550, 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 Fairbanks North Star Borough's HEAVY bill
Fairbanks North Star Borough's $3,550 median bill sits well above the U.S. median - size a personal estimate before treating the county headline as your budget. Estimate your bill →
Fairbanks North Star Borough ranks #5 of 28 Alaska counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Alaska overview →
Nationwide peers by median bill (then rate)
Bill-first peers for Fairbanks North Star Borough'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: 1.19%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $3,550/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Fairbanks North Star Borough
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Fairbanks North Star Borough (PAR · HEAVY), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
PAR HEAVY
Hamilton County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,549/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.88% vs Fairbanks North Star Borough 1.19%.
Kittitas County, WA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,552/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.71% vs Fairbanks North Star Borough 1.19%.
Peoria County, IL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,552/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 2.24% vs Fairbanks North Star Borough 1.19%.
Linn County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $3,547/yr (near-tied bill ABS $3); rate 1.66% vs Fairbanks North Star Borough 1.19%.
Alaska county set
State ACS overview for every published Alaska county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Fairbanks North Star Borough stamps PAR · 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 Fairbanks North Star Borough (PAR · HEAVY) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.