Mississippi · County property tax · ACS 2024
Hancock County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Hancock County pays $1,583 a year, an effective rate of 0.71%, notably lower than the U.S. average.
- $1,583
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.71%
- Effective rate · Below-median rate
- -21%
- vs U.S. average
- #37 of 81
- rank in MS
The verdict
Homeowners in Hancock County pay a median $1,583 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.71%, more affordable than 58% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,583
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.71%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1302 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -21%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($224,200). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Mississippi. Population: 46,167. Owner-occupied homes: 16,035.
The median annual property tax in Hancock County is $1,583, which is 30% higher than the Mississippi state average and 21% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.71% on a median home value of $224,200. Property taxes represent 2.3% of the median household income in this county.
Hancock County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Hancock County's 0.71% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 58%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits above the Mississippi median
Homeowners in Hancock County pay a median annual property tax of $1,583, notably lower than the national median and well above the Mississippi state median. On a $224,200 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.71% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Hancock County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.3% of the $67,708 median household income.
Decision signal 4
Near the middle of Mississippi counties by effective rate
Hancock County ranks #37 of 81 counties in Mississippi by effective rate (54% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Hancock 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
Hancock County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 3.3% down, against a median home value that rose 33.7%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 29.2%, from $1,225 to $1,583.
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 29% from $1,225 to $1,583. 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 fullest band here is the $800 to $1,499 range, holding 3,421 of 16,035 owner-occupied homes (21.3%). The band shows where the largest share of reported owner-occupied households falls; it is not an individual-bill estimate.
Above-median earnings meet a slightly-below-median rate, and the median bill amounts to 2.3% 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.
What Hancock County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Hancock County homeowners, 3,421 of 16,035 owner-occupied homes (21.3%), pays $800 to $1,499 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 20.0% (3,207)
- $800 to $1,499 21.3% (3,421)
- $1,500 to $1,999 10.8% (1,735)
- $2,000 to $2,999 14.9% (2,390)
- $3,000 or more 19.2% (3,079)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
2,203 homes here (13.7%) 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 Hancock County pay a substantially higher bill, 41% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Hancock County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Hancock County's effective rate is higher than 54% of the 81 counties in Mississippi - ranking #37 of 81.
Where Hancock County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.71% more affordable than 58% 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
What changed since 2020
The median bill in Hancock County moved from $1,225 in the 2020 release to $1,583 in 2024, a change of about 29%. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates compared across releases that share only one sample year, which is why this page never compares consecutive releases: those overlap in four years of the same households and move mostly on sampling.
Hancock County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Hancock County | Mississippi Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Below-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 2.3% | - | - |
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.
Hancock County is UNDER · MID on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Mississippi counties.
Hancock County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,583 +6.6% | 0.71% |
| 2023 | $1,485 -5.5% | 0.72% |
| 2022 | $1,572 +17.5% | 0.80% |
| 2021 | $1,338 +9.2% | 0.79% |
| 2020 | $1,225 | 0.73% |
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.
Hancock County: tax-to-income at 2.3%
Counties near Hancock County's effective rate
On effective rate, Hancock County sits nearest Rock County (MN), St. Tammany Parish (LA), Owsley County (KY).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Logan County (AR), Polk County (NC), Duplin County (NC).
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
Hancock County: only 4% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 740 of 19,290 returns from Hancock County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,691 - 38% 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 Mississippi
Hancock County rate FAQs
- What is the average property tax in Hancock County, Mississippi?
- The median annual property tax in Hancock County is $1,583, an effective rate of 0.71% on a $224,200 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Hancock County?
- Hancock County, Mississippi scores D (49/100) 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 rate relief at C (0.71%). 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 Hancock County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Hancock County run notably lower than the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.71% versus 0.92% nationally.
- Are property taxes increasing in Hancock County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Hancock County jumped 29.2% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,225 to $1,583, 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 Hancock County?
- Property taxes in Hancock County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.3% of the $67,708 median household income.
What to do with Hancock County's UNDER rate
Inside Mississippi, Hancock County's $1,583 median bill runs high versus the state median - compare the rest of the state before judging the burden. Mississippi overview →
Hancock County ranks #37 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 Hancock 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: 0.71%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,583/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Hancock County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Hancock County (UNDER · MID), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER MID
Brooks County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Hancock County at $1,583/yr; rate 1.14% vs Hancock County 0.71%.
Haywood County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Hancock County at $1,583/yr; rate 0.57% vs Hancock County 0.71%.
Cheatham County, TN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,582/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.47% vs Hancock County 0.71%.
Darke County, OH
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,584/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.91% vs Hancock County 0.71%.
Mississippi county set
State ACS overview for every published Mississippi county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Hancock County stamps UNDER · MID - 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 Hancock County (UNDER · MID) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.