Kansas · County property tax · ACS 2024
Harper County Property Taxes
The median homeowner in Harper County pays $1,495 a year, an effective rate of 1.78%, well below the U.S. average.
- $1,495
- Median tax / yr · Below-median bill
- 1.78%
- Effective rate · Highest-decile rate
- -25%
- vs U.S. average
- #20 of 105
- rank in KS
The verdict
Homeowners in Harper County pay a median $1,495 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.78%, more affordable than 5% of U.S. counties (Census ACS 2024).
- $1,495
- Median annual tax bill, 2024
- 1.78%
- Effective rate on median home
- #2981 of 3135
- U.S. counties by tax burden
- -25%
- vs the national average bill
Effective rate is the median property tax bill divided by the median home value ($83,800). U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2024.
Census Bureau ACS property tax data for Kansas. Population: 5,400. Owner-occupied homes: 1,657.
The median annual property tax in Harper County is $1,495, which is 47% lower than the Kansas state average and 25% below the national average. The effective tax rate is 1.78% on a median home value of $83,800. Property taxes represent 2.8% of the median household income in this county.
Harper County's rate standing among U.S. counties
Primary signal
The effective rate is a national headwind
Harper County's 1.78% effective rate is among the highest of 3,135 tracked counties: only about 95% pay more.
Decision signal 2
The bill sits well below the national median
Homeowners in Harper County pay a median annual property tax of $1,495, well below the national median and well below the Kansas state median. On a $83,800 median home, that works out to an effective rate of 1.78% once the local assessment base and millage are combined.
Decision signal 3
Low among Kansas counties by effective rate
Harper County ranks #20 of 105 counties in Kansas by effective rate (81% of in-state counties pay a lower rate).
Decision signal 4
Income and the tax bill sit in the middle band
Property taxes in Harper County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.8% of the $53,488 median household income.
Informational notice
Figures describe the median homeowner household in Harper 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
Harper County sits in the quarter of U.S. counties whose effective rate moved least over this span: 4.4% down, against a median home value that rose 11.4%.
A near-steady rate on a moving market passes that movement straight through: the median bill rose 6.5%, from $1,404 to $1,495.
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
Very little moved here between 2020 and 2024: the typical bill went from $1,404 to $1,495, a change of 6%. The comparison describes county-level medians only; individual assessments and bills can differ.
The largest reported group here falls at the bottom of the national range: 420 of 1,657 owner-occupied homes (25.3%) 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 2.8% 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 Harper County Homeowners Actually Pay
The single largest group of Harper County homeowners, 420 of 1,657 owner-occupied homes (25.3%), pays less than $800 a year. The median is one point in this spread, not a typical bill.
- Less than $800 25.3% (420)
- $800 to $1,499 24.0% (397)
- $1,500 to $1,999 15.0% (249)
- $2,000 to $2,999 13.3% (220)
- $3,000 or more 20.6% (342)
Census ACS 2024, table B25102. Bands and the no-tax share sum to 100%.
29 homes here (1.8%) report no real estate tax at all. Exemptions are set by state: how Kansas handles assessments and appeals.
With vs Without Mortgage
Mortgaged homeowners in Harper County pay a substantially higher bill, 42% more, pointing to a wide home-value gap between the two groups.
Harper County's effective rate vs peers
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value), ACS 2024.
Harper County's effective rate is higher than 81% of the 105 counties in Kansas - ranking #20 of 105.
Where Harper County sits among every U.S. county
Effective property tax rate (median tax ÷ median home value)
1.78% more affordable than 5% 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
Harper County taxes property at 1.78%, about 38% above the Kansas average, yet its median bill of $1,495 lands roughly 47% 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.
Harper County vs Benchmarks
| Metric | Harper County | Kansas Avg | U.S. Avg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Annual Tax Below-median bill | |||
| Effective Tax Rate Highest-decile rate | |||
| Median Home Value | |||
| Tax as % of income Above-median income burden | 2.8% | - | - |
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.
Harper County's STEEP · LIGHT lane - is an appeal worth running?
On Harper County's published figures (STEEP · LIGHT), a $83,800 median home carries a $1,495 median bill, so every 10% off an assessed value is worth about $150 a year at the same rate. Appeal Savings Estimator · appeal guide for Kansas.
Harper County rate trail · STEEP
| Year | Median Tax (vs prior release) | Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1,495 +8.4% | 1.78% |
| 2023 | $1,379 -6.4% | 1.78% |
| 2022 | $1,474 +4.2% | 1.82% |
| 2021 | $1,415 +0.8% | 1.97% |
| 2020 | $1,404 | 1.87% |
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.
Harper County: tax-to-income at 2.8%
Counties near Harper County's effective rate
On effective rate, Harper County sits nearest Schuyler County (IL), De Witt County (IL), Lynn County (TX).
On published median-tax change, the nearest matches are Clark County (MO), Fayette County (WV), Martin County (TX).
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
Harper County: only 3% of returns show Schedule A real-estate tax
Tax year 2022: 80 of 2,430 returns from Harper County reported real estate taxes, averaging $3,500 - 50% of those reporters sat in the $50-75k 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 Kansas
Harper County rate FAQs
- What is the tax affordability score for Harper County?
- Harper County, Kansas scores F (36/100) 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+ (1.57×). 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 Harper County property tax compare to the national average?
- Property taxes in Harper County run well below the national median of $1,993, an effective rate of 1.78% versus 0.92% nationally.
- What is the average property tax in Harper County, Kansas?
- The median annual property tax in Harper County is $1,495, an effective rate of 1.78% on a $83,800 median home (Census ACS, 2024).
- What percentage of income goes to property taxes in Harper County?
- Property taxes in Harper County run within the commonly cited 2%-4% national benchmark, at about 2.8% of the $53,488 median household income.
- Are property taxes increasing in Harper County?
- The ACS median property-tax bill for Harper County ticked up 6.5% between the 2020 and 2024 5-year releases, from $1,404 to $1,495, 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 Harper County's STEEP rate
Harper County's $1,495 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 →
Harper County ranks #20 of 105 Kansas counties by effective rate - on the higher-burden half of the state ACS set. Kansas overview →
Nationwide peers by effective rate (then bill)
Rate-first peers for Harper 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: 1.78%.
Similar median bill
Nearest out-of-state counties by ACS median annual tax. This county: $1,495/yr. Rate peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Read with Harper County
Nearest ABS(median_tax) ACS peers for Harper County (STEEP · LIGHT), replacing the old fixed Keep exploring strip.
STEEP LIGHT
Escambia County, FL
ABS(median_tax) peer · tied with Harper County at $1,495/yr; rate 0.58% vs Harper County 1.78%.
Alamance County, NC
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,494/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 0.62% vs Harper County 1.78%.
Childress County, TX
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,496/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.19% vs Harper County 1.78%.
Keokuk County, IA
ABS(median_tax) peer · $1,494/yr (near-tied bill ABS $1); rate 1.26% vs Harper County 1.78%.
Kansas county set
State ACS overview for every published Kansas county rate and median bill.
Appeal filing windows
Harper County stamps STEEP · LIGHT - 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 Harper County (STEEP · LIGHT) - ACS medians, not a parcel bill.