Montana · County property tax · ACS 2024
Garfield County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Garfield County pays $1,052 a year, an effective rate of 0.62%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,052
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.62%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -47%
- vs U.S. average
- #32 of 56
- rank in MT
The verdict
Homeowners in Garfield County pay a median $1,052 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.62%, more affordable than 69% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,052
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.62%
- Effective rate on median home
- #974 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -47%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($169,900). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Montana. Population: 1,094. Owner-occupied homes: 312.
The median annual property tax in Garfield County is $1,052, which is 61% lower than the Montana state average and 47% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.62% on a median home value of $169,900. Property taxes represent 1.5% of the median household income in this county.
Garfield County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Garfield County's 0.62% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 69%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Garfield County pay a median annual property tax of $1,052, well below the national median and far below the Montana state median. On a $169,900 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.62% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Garfield County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.5% of the $69,583 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Montana counties by effective rate
Garfield County ranks #32 of 56 counties in Montana by effective rate (43% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Garfield 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 Garfield County rose 9.4%, from $155,300 to $169,900. The effective rate fell 29.7% over the same span, a steeper move than in 97% of U.S. counties.
The median bill still fell 23.0%, to $1,052. 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
This is one of the counties where the typical bill came down, from $1,367 in 2020 to $1,052 in 2024, a fall of 23%. The source reports the change but does not distinguish among rate, value, or household-composition effects.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 120 of 312 owner-occupied homes (38.5%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 1.5% of median household income. That is the comfortable middle of this dataset, and comfortable middles are easy to overlook when only rankings get published.
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.
The published bill went DOWN here
Between the 2020 and 2024 ACS releases the median annual property tax in Garfield County fell from $1,367 to $1,052, a change of -23.0%. Fewer than three counties in a hundred recorded any decline over this period; nearly everywhere else the published figure rose. A fall can reflect reassessment, a shifting mix of the homes surveyed, or genuine rate relief, and these estimates cannot separate those causes.
What Garfield County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Garfield County homeowners, 120 of 312 owner-occupied homes (38.5%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 38.5% (120)
- $800 to $1,499 18.9% (59)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.4% (17)
- $2,000 to $2,999 16.7% (52)
- $3,000 or more 10.6% (33)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
31 homes here (9.9%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Montana handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Garfield County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+116%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Garfield County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Garfield County's effective rate is higher than 43% of the 56 counties in Montana - ranking #32 of 56.
Where Garfield County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.62% Among the most affordable more affordable than 69% 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
Garfield County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Garfield County | Montana Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.5% | - | - |
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.
Garfield County is QUIET · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Montana counties.
Garfield County rate trail · QUIET
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,052 -10.0% | 0.62% |
| 2023 | $1,169 -12.9% | 0.66% |
| 2022 | $1,342 +2.4% | 0.81% |
| 2021 | $1,311 -4.1% | 0.85% |
| 2020 | $1,367 | 0.88% |
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.
Garfield County: tax takes only 1.5% of income
Counties near Garfield County's effective rate
On effective rate, Garfield County sits nearest Scott County (MO), Dade County (MO), Cedar County (MO).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Amite County (MS), Wichita County (KS), Hoonah-Angoon Census Area (AK).
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
IRS county file: no disclosed Garfield County Schedule A rows
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Garfield County. That is a limit of the published data rather than a finding about the county: county-level figures are withheld where the counts are too small to disclose safely, which is common in places with few filers. Roughly one county in sixteen is in this position, so the filer view available elsewhere on this site is simply not available here. Source: IRS Statistics of Income county data.
Other Counties in Montana
Garfield County rate FAQs
- How does Garfield County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Garfield County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.62% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Garfield County, Montana?
- The median annual property tax in Garfield County is $1,052, an effective rate of 0.62% on a $169,900 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Garfield County?
- Garfield County, Montana scores B- (66/100) 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 income room at A- (1.5%). 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 Garfield County?
- Property taxes in Garfield County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.5% of the $69,583 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Garfield County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Garfield County dropped sharply 23.0% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,367 to $1,052, 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 Garfield County's QUIET rate
Garfield County's $1,052 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 1.5% of Garfield County's $69,583 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Garfield 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: 0.62%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,052/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Garfield County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Garfield County (QUIET · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
QUIET LIGHT
Delaware County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,051/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.60% vs Garfield County 0.62%.
Jones County, MS
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,053/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.74% vs Garfield County 0.62%.
Sequatchie County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,051/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.45% vs Garfield County 0.62%.
Dewey County, SD
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,050/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.51% vs Garfield County 0.62%.
Montana county set
State ACS overview for every published Montana county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Garfield 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 Garfield County (QUIET · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.