Texas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Hale County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Hale County pays $1,525 a year, an effective rate of 1.31%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,525
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 1.31%
- Effective rate · High rate
- -23%
- vs U.S. average
- #86 of 250
- rank in TX
The verdict
Homeowners in Hale County pay a median $1,525 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.31%, more affordable than 18% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,525
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.31%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2558 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -23%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($116,500). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Texas. Population: 32,131. Owner-occupied homes: 6,674.
The median annual property tax in Hale County is $1,525, which is 64% lower than the Texas state average and 23% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.31% on a median home value of $116,500. Property taxes represent 2.9% of the median household income in this county.
Hale County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Hale County's 1.31% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 18%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits below the Texas median
Homeowners in Hale County pay a median annual property tax of $1,525, notably lower than the national median and far below the Texas state median. On a $116,500 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.31% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Near the middle of Texas counties by effective rate
Hale County ranks #86 of 250 counties in Texas by effective rate (66% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Hale County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $51,897 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Hale 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.
A falling rate took the edge off
Hale County's effective rate fell 12.8% across the 4-year span while its median home value rose 37.9%, leaving the median bill 20.2% higher at $1,525. That rate move is larger than the one in 53% of counties, so a good deal of the market's rise never reached the bill.
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 $1,269 to $1,525, 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 largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 1,762 of 6,674 owner-occupied homes (26.4%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This is the least forgiving PAIRING in the data, bottom-quartile household income with a top-quartile effective rate, putting the median bill at 2.9% of median household income. Neither figure is remarkable on its own; the combination is, and the ratio above is the only part of it a household actually feels.
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 Hale County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Hale County homeowners, 1,762 of 6,674 owner-occupied homes (26.4%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 26.4% (1,762)
- $800 to $1,499 20.4% (1,364)
- $1,500 to $1,999 10.0% (667)
- $2,000 to $2,999 14.6% (976)
- $3,000 or more 23.2% (1,550)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
355 homes here (5.3%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Texas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Hale County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+160%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Hale County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Hale County's effective rate is higher than 66% of the 250 counties in Texas - ranking #86 of 250.
Where Hale County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.31% more affordable than 18% 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
Hale County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Hale County | Texas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate High rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.9% | - | - |
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.
Hale County's STEEP · MID lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Hale County's published figures (STEEP · MID), a $116,500 median home carries a $1,525 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $153 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Texas.
Hale County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,525 +3.7% | 1.31% |
| 2023 | $1,471 +5.2% | 1.39% |
| 2022 | $1,398 +9.6% | 1.43% |
| 2021 | $1,276 +0.6% | 1.53% |
| 2020 | $1,269 | 1.50% |
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.
Hale County: tax-to-income at 2.9%
Counties near Hale County's effective rate
On effective rate, Hale County sits nearest Walworth County (SD), Wyoming County (PA), Lycoming County (PA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Jefferson County (OH), Fairfax city (VA), Chemung 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
Hale County: only 2% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 280 of 12,800 returns from Hale County reported real estate taxes, averaging $5,482 - 36% 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 Texas
Hale County rate FAQs
- How does Hale County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Hale County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.31% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the tax affordability score for Hale County?
- Hale County, Texas scores F (34/100) 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 A- (2.24×). 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 Hale County, Texas?
- The median annual property tax in Hale County is $1,525, an effective rate of 1.31% on a $116,500 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- Are property taxes increasing in Hale County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Hale County jumped 20.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,269 to $1,525, 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 Hale County?
- Property taxes in Hale County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.9% of the $51,897 median household income.
What to do with Hale County's STEEP rate
Inside Texas, Hale County's $1,525 median bill runs low versus the state median - check peer counties before assuming the lowest bill is the best move. Texas overview →
Hale County ranks #86 of 250 Texas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Texas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Hale County's STEEP 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: 1.31%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,525/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Hale County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Hale County (STEEP · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP MID
Live Oak County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Hale County at $1,525/yr; rate 0.96% vs Hale County 1.31%.
Columbiana County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,527/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 1.01% vs Hale County 1.31%.
Petersburg city, VA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,523/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.81% vs Hale County 1.31%.
Uintah County, UT
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,523/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.51% vs Hale County 1.31%.
Texas county set
State ACS overview for every published Texas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Hale County stamps STEEP · MID - review notice deadlines before quoting the ACS median.
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 Hale County (STEEP · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.