South Dakota · County property tax · ACS 2024
Hand County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Hand County pays $1,413 a year, an effective rate of 0.89%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,413
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 0.89%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -29%
- vs U.S. average
- #53 of 66
- rank in SD
The verdict
Homeowners in Hand County pay a median $1,413 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.89%, more affordable than 44% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,413
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.89%
- Effective rate on median home
- #1770 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -29%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($159,300). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Tax affordability score · Hand County, SD
61/100
5 ACS dimensions · release 2024
Comparative score against U.S. county percentiles on Census ACS medians (effective rate, bill, income share, mortgage gap, home-value/income). Higher means more affordable on those published medians, not a recommendation to buy, sell, appeal, or move, and not your personal tax bill. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.
Median home value relative to Hand County's median income
Median tax as a share of Hand County's median household income
Mortgaged vs free-and-clear median bill gap in Hand County
Hand County's median annual property-tax bill vs U.S. counties
Hand County's effective rate vs U.S. county percentiles (ACS 2024)
Read the chart values
- Housing pressure: 84/100 (A-) · 2.13×
- Income room: 71/100 (B) · 1.9%
- Mortgage premium: 68/100 (B-) · +$175
- Bill size: 59/100 (C) · $1,413/yr
- Rate relief: 44/100 (D) · 0.89%
Track this county alongside up to five others. Saved figures refresh when the annual source data changes.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for South Dakota. Population: 3,140. Owner-occupied homes: 920.
The median annual property tax in Hand County is $1,413, which is 48% lower than the South Dakota state average and 29% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.89% on a median home value of $159,300. Property taxes represent 1.9% of the median household income in this county.
What This Data Tells Us About Hand County
Primary signal
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Hand County pay a median annual property tax of $1,413, well below the national median and well below the South Dakota state median. On a $159,300 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.89% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 2
High among South Dakota counties by effective rate
Hand County ranks #53 of 66 counties in South Dakota by effective rate (20% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 3
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Hand County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.9% of the $74,635 median household income.
Decision signal 4
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Hand County's 0.89% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 44%).
This page is for informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures describe the median homeowner household in Hand County as reported to the Census Bureau, your own bill can differ based on your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, special districts, and municipal overlays. Always consult your county assessor, tax collector, or a qualified professional before making decisions that depend on these numbers.
Most of the market's rise reached the bill
The effective rate here moved 6.5% down between 2020 and 2024, a smaller shift than in 73% of U.S. counties. With the median home value rose 32.6%, the median bill rose 24.1% to $1,413: the rate did comparatively little to offset the market.
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 $1,139 to $1,413, a gain of 24%. 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: 278 of 920 owner-occupied homes (30.2%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
Both the income and the rate here sit in the third quarter nationally, and the median bill is 1.9% of median household income. Two above-average figures pulling in opposite directions is why the rate on its own is a poor guide.
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 Hand County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Hand County homeowners, 278 of 920 owner-occupied homes (30.2%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 30.2% (278)
- $800 to $1,499 19.2% (177)
- $1,500 to $1,999 9.6% (88)
- $2,000 to $2,999 17.8% (164)
- $3,000 or more 16.7% (154)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
59 homes here (6.4%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how South Dakota handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
In Hand County, mortgaged homeowners pay 13% more than those without a mortgage, a gap that typically tracks higher home values rather than a different tax rate.
How Hand County compares
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Hand County's effective rate is higher than 20% of the 66 counties in South Dakota - ranking #53 of 66 for property tax burden.
Where Hand County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.89% more affordable than 44% 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
Below South Dakota on both measures
Hand County's effective rate runs 16% under the South Dakota median and its bill 48% under. Both sitting on the same side means the gap is not a valuation artefact: a county can post a low rate purely because its homes are expensive, but then the bill rises to meet the state. Here it does not, so the $1,413 median bill reflects a genuinely lighter charge than the South Dakota norm rather than a different denominator. Compare it against the state page before reading anything into the county rank.
Hand County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Hand County | South Dakota Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Below-median income burden | 1.9% | - | - |
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.
Hand County stamps UNDER · LIGHT - still check the parcel card
On Hand County's published figures (UNDER · LIGHT), a $159,300 median home carries a $1,413 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $141 a year at the same rate. Whether an appeal is worth filing depends on your own parcel. Use our free Appeal Savings Estimator to run your own numbers, then read our step-by-step appeal guide for the procedure in South Dakota.
Property Tax History · UNDER · LIGHT
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,413 +2.9% | 0.89% |
| 2023 | $1,373 +12.6% | 0.90% |
| 2022 | $1,219 +1.3% | 0.81% |
| 2021 | $1,203 +5.6% | 0.96% |
| 2020 | $1,139 | 0.95% |
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.
Tax Burden
Tax Affordability Score
An effective rate modestly below the national average of 0.92% puts Hand County in the "Affordable" band for property tax burden.
How this score is calculated: a 1-10 scale derived mechanically from the ratio of this county's effective rate to the national average effective rate (0.92%) - a ratio at or below 0.5× scores 10, a ratio at or above 2.0× scores 1, with a linear scale between. It is a factual comparison of Census figures only, not a recommendation, quality rating, or endorsement of Hand County or any other county.
Counties with similar tax profiles
On effective rate, Hand County sits nearest Newport County (RI), Stark County (ND), Golden Valley County (ND).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Wayne County (KY), Gray County (TX), Callaway County (MO).
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
What tax filers report in Hand County
The IRS county file records no returns reporting real estate taxes on Schedule A for Hand 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 South Dakota
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Hand County property tax compare to the national average? ▼
What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Hand County? ▼
Are property taxes increasing in Hand County? ▼
What is the average property tax in Hand County, South Dakota? ▼
What is the tax affordability score for Hand County? ▼
What to do with Hand County's numbers
- Hand County's $1,413 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 1.9% of Hand County's $74,635 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
- Hand County ranks #53 of 66 South Dakota counties by effective rate - on the lower-burden half of the state ACS set. South Dakota overview →
- If Hand County's assessment looks high versus the $159,300 typical home, check South Dakota's filing window and evidence rules before the notice deadline passes. How to appeal →
Effective-rate definition
Effective rate is the county median tax divided by the county median home value ($159,300); your parcel's assessed value, exemptions, and local levies determine your actual bill. U.S. Census Bureau ACS · 2024.
Nationwide peers by effective rate & median bill
Two PlainPropertyTax-derived comparison paths for Hand County, both outside South Dakota so the link neighborhoods are not the same-state geography lattice. Axes stay disjoint: median-bill peers exclude the effective-rate peer set.
Similar effective rate
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS effective rate. This county: 0.89%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,413/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Hand County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Hand County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Polk County, GA
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Hand County at $1,413/yr; rate 0.75% vs Hand County 0.89%.
Cameron County, PA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,414/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.59% vs Hand County 0.89%.
Shelby County, IN
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,412/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.66% vs Hand County 0.89%.
Santa Cruz County, AZ
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,415/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.61% vs Hand County 0.89%.
South Dakota county set
State ACS overview for every published South Dakota county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Hand 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.
Share and download this county card
Editorial standards and provenance
PlainPropertyTax is rendered directly from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on the Census ACS county-level record for Hand County. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-09.