Mississippi · County property tax · ACS 2024
Forrest County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Forrest County pays $1,361 a year, an effective rate of 0.81%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,361
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.81%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -32%
- vs U.S. average
- #21 of 81
- rank in MS
The verdict
Homeowners in Forrest County pay a median $1,361 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.81%, more affordable than 49% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,361
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.81%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1591 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -32%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($168,000). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Mississippi. Population: 78,272. Owner-occupied homes: 17,224.
The median annual property tax in Forrest County is $1,361, which is 12% higher than the Mississippi state average and 32% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.81% on a median home value of $168,000. Property taxes represent 2.5% of the median household income in this county.
Forrest County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Forrest County's 0.81% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 49%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Forrest County pay a median annual property tax of $1,361, well below the national median and notably higher than the Mississippi state median. On a $168,000 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.81% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Mississippi counties by effective rate
Forrest County ranks #21 of 81 counties in Mississippi by effective rate (74% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Forrest County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.5% of the $53,640 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Forrest 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 gave way faster than almost anywhere
Between the 2020 and 2024 releases the median home value in Forrest County rose 42.3%, from $118,100 to $168,000. The effective rate fell 18.8% over the same span, a steeper move than in 78% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still rose 15.5%, to $1,361. Where the rate drops this far and the bill rises anyway, what changed is the value the rate is applied to.
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 $1,178 to $1,361, a gain of 16%. This is a comparison of published ACS medians, not an explanation of a particular property's assessment or tax bill.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 4,096 of 17,224 owner-occupied homes (23.8%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Incomes here are in the lowest quarter nationally while the rate sits just below the middle, and the median bill lands at 2.5% of median household income. The rate reads as unremarkable in a national ranking; the earnings behind it are not, and the ratio above is where the two meet.
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
28.9% of Forrest County homes owned free and clear (2,312 of 8,003) report no property tax at all, against 14.3% 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 Forrest County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Forrest County homeowners, 4,096 of 17,224 owner-occupied homes (23.8%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 23.8% (4,096)
- $800 to $1,499 19.7% (3,397)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.7% (1,675)
- $2,000 to $2,999 14.4% (2,484)
- $3,000 or more 11.3% (1,945)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
3,627 homes here (21.1%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Mississippi handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Forrest County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+65%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Forrest County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Forrest County's effective rate is higher than 74% of the 81 counties in Mississippi - ranking #21 of 81.
Where Forrest County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.81% more affordable than 49% 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
Forrest County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Forrest County | Mississippi Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.5% | - | - |
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.
Forrest County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Mississippi counties.
Forrest County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,361 +6.0% | 0.81% |
| 2023 | $1,284 -2.4% | 0.84% |
| 2022 | $1,315 +7.7% | 0.91% |
| 2021 | $1,221 +3.7% | 0.94% |
| 2020 | $1,178 | 1.00% |
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.
Forrest County: tax-to-income at 2.5%
Counties near Forrest County's effective rate
On effective rate, Forrest County sits nearest Stevens County (MN), Henry County (KY), Bell County (KY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Iowa County (WI), Lake County (IL), Greene County (NY).
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
Forrest County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 1,260 of 30,860 returns from Forrest County reported real estate taxes, averaging $4,583 - 37% 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 Mississippi
Forrest County rate FAQs
- What is the average property tax in Forrest County, Mississippi?
- The median annual property tax in Forrest County is $1,361, an effective rate of 0.81% on a $168,000 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Forrest County?
- Forrest County, Mississippi scores D (46/100) 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 C+ ($1,361/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.
- How does Forrest County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Forrest County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.81% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Forrest County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Forrest County climbed 15.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,178 to $1,361, 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 Forrest County?
- Property taxes in Forrest County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.5% of the $53,640 median household income.
What to do with Forrest County's UNDER rate
Forrest County's $1,361 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 →
Forrest County ranks #21 of 81 Mississippi counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Mississippi overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Forrest County's UNDER 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: 0.81%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,361/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Forrest County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Forrest County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Cumberland County, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Forrest County at $1,361/yr; rate 0.57% vs Forrest County 0.81%.
Madison County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,362/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.48% vs Forrest County 0.81%.
Marshall County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,362/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.66% vs Forrest County 0.81%.
Nash County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,362/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.71% vs Forrest County 0.81%.
Mississippi county set
State ACS overview for every published Mississippi county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Forrest County stamps UNDER · 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 Forrest County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.