Kentucky · County property tax · ACS 2024
Harlan County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Harlan County pays $732 a year, an effective rate of 0.99%, far below the U.S. average.
- $732
- Median tax / yr · Low bill
- 0.99%
- Effective rate · Above-median rate
- -63%
- vs U.S. average
- #2 of 120
- rank in KY
The verdict
Homeowners in Harlan County pay a median $732 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.99%, more affordable than 36% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $732
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 0.99%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2004 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -63%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($73,700). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kentucky. Population: 25,772. Owner-occupied homes: 7,680.
The median annual property tax in Harlan County is $732, which is 53% lower than the Kentucky state average and 63% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 0.99% on a median home value of $73,700. Property taxes represent 1.8% of the median household income in this county.
Harlan County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate sits near the national middle
Harlan County's 0.99% effective rate sits near the middle of 3,135 tracked counties (more affordable than 36%).
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Harlan County pay a median annual property tax of $732, far below the national median and far below the Kentucky state median. On a $73,700 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 0.99% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Kentucky counties by effective rate
Harlan County ranks #2 of 120 counties in Kentucky by effective rate (98% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income carries a light tax share
Property taxes in Harlan County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.8% of the $41,693 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Harlan 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
Harlan County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 0.4% up, against a median home value that rose 15.0%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 15.5%, from $634 to $732.
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 $634 to $732, a gain of 15%. 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: 3,375 of 7,680 owner-occupied homes (43.9%) report annual real-estate taxes under $800. This distribution describes reported owner-occupied homes, not an affordability judgment for any property.
This county earns in the bottom quarter of the country and taxes above the median rate, so the median bill absorbs 1.8% of median household income. The rate alone understates that; it is the pairing that matters.
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
25.1% of Harlan County homes owned free and clear (1,319 of 5,257) report no property tax at all, against 6.7% 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.
Harlan County is an outlier inside Kentucky
Across the 120 Kentucky counties with a published rate, the average effective rate is 0.70%. Harlan County is at 0.99%, which sits 2.6 standard deviations above that average. Fewer than one county in twenty nationally is this far from its own state's centre, so a state-level average is a poor guide to what is owed here.
Standard deviations are computed across every county in the state with a published effective rate for 2024; states with fewer than five such counties are not assessed.
What Harlan County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Harlan County homeowners, 3,375 of 7,680 owner-occupied homes (43.9%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 43.9% (3,375)
- $800 to $1,499 23.7% (1,821)
- $1,500 to $1,999 5.5% (422)
- $2,000 to $2,999 5.9% (456)
- $3,000 or more 1.6% (124)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
1,482 homes here (19.3%) report no real estate tax at all, a sizeable minority for a county this size. Exemptions are set by state: how Kentucky handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Harlan County pay more than double the bill of those without one (+62%), the widest kind of value gap this dataset tracks.
Harlan County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Harlan County's effective rate is higher than 98% of the 120 counties in Kentucky - ranking #2 of 120.
Where Harlan County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
0.99% more affordable than 36% 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
A high rate, a smaller bill
Harlan County taxes property at 0.99%, about 32% above the Kentucky average, yet its median bill of $732 lands roughly 53% below it. The effective rate is the bill divided by the home's value, so a county can only sit on opposite sides of the state average this way when its homes are worth materially less than the state norm. The rate is the policy; the bill is what the housing market does with it.
Harlan County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Harlan County | Kentucky Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Low bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Above-median rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Light income burden | 1.8% | - | - |
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.
Harlan County is UNDER · LIGHT on ACS medians, still verify your parcel card before quoting the county figure. Estimate appeal savings · Kentucky counties.
Harlan County rate trail · UNDER
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $732 +1.4% | 0.99% |
| 2023 | $722 +4.3% | 0.99% |
| 2022 | $692 +6.5% | 0.97% |
| 2021 | $650 +2.5% | 1.00% |
| 2020 | $634 | 0.99% |
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.
Harlan County: tax takes only 1.8% of income
Counties near Harlan County's effective rate
On effective rate, Harlan County sits nearest Cherokee County (IA), Lincoln County (GA), Clay County (GA).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Grand Traverse County (MI), Hettinger County (ND), Luzerne County (PA).
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
Harlan County: only 1% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 80 of 8,390 returns from Harlan County reported real estate taxes, averaging $2,525 - 38% of those reporters sat in the $25-50k 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 Kentucky
Harlan County rate FAQs
- How does Harlan County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Harlan County run far below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 0.99% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Harlan County, Kentucky?
- The median annual property tax in Harlan County is $732, an effective rate of 0.99% on a $73,700 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What is the tax affordability score for Harlan County?
- Harlan County, Kentucky scores C+ (64/100) 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+ (1.77×). 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 Harlan County?
- Property taxes in Harlan County run a bit below the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 1.8% of the $41,693 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Harlan County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Harlan County climbed 15.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $634 to $732, 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 Harlan County's UNDER rate
Harlan County's $732 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 1.8% of Harlan County's $41,693 median household income goes to the property-tax bill.
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Harlan 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: 0.99%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $732/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Harlan County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Harlan County (UNDER · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
UNDER LIGHT
Crittenden County, KY
ABS(median_tax) peer · $731/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.57% vs Harlan County 0.99%.
Izard County, AR
ABS(median_tax) peer · $731/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.57% vs Harlan County 0.99%.
Marshall County, AL
ABS(median_tax) peer · $733/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.36% vs Harlan County 0.99%.
Blaine County, OK
ABS(median_tax) peer · $730/yr (near-tied bill ABS $2); rate 0.58% vs Harlan County 0.99%.
Kentucky county set
State ACS overview for every published Kentucky county rate and median bill.
Assessment cycle basics
Harlan 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 Harlan County (UNDER · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.